1269_UgliesFreeBook

FAMILIAR SIGHTS
They reached the edge of the desert the next night, on
schedule, then followed a river for three days, all the way to
the sea. It took them still farther north, and the October
chill turned as cold as any winter Tally had ever felt. David
unpacked city-made arctic gear of shiny silver Mylar, which
Tally wore over her handmade sweater, her only possession
left from the Smoke. She was glad she’d dropped off to
sleep in it the night before the Specials had invaded, so it
hadn’t been lost that day like everything else.
The nights spent on board seemed to pass quickly. On
this journey, there were none of Shay’s cryptic clues to
puzzle through, no brush fires to escape, and no antique
Rusty machines descending to scare her to death. The
world seemed to be empty except for the occasional ruins,
as if Tally and David were the last people alive.
They augmented their diet with fish caught from the
river, and Tally roasted a rabbit on a fire she’d built herself.
She watched David repair his leather clothes and decided
she would never be able to manage a needle and thread