1269_UgliesFreeBook

UGLIES 71
“Yeah, it was.”
Tally looked down. The dark buildings below were
filled with phantom flickers of light, echoes of the sparkler
burned into her eyes. Suddenly very aware of how blind
she was, Tally felt a drop of cold sweat creep down her
spine. “Who are we meeting, anyway?”
“His name’s David.”
“David? That’s a weird name.” It sounded made up, to
Tally. She decided again that this was all a joke. “So he’s just
going to show up here? This guy doesn’t really live in the
ruins, does he?”
“No. He lives pretty far away. But he might be close by.
He comes here sometimes.”
“You mean, he’s from another city?”
Shay looked at her, but Tally couldn’t read her expression
in the darkness. “Something like that.”
Shay returned her gaze to the horizon, as if looking for
a signal in answer to her own. Tally wrapped herself in her
jacket. Standing still, she began to realize how cold it had
become. She wondered how late it was. Without her interface
ring, she couldn’t just ask.
The almost full moon was descending in the sky, so it
had to be past midnight, Tally remembered from astronomy.
That was one thing about being outside the city: It
made all that nature stuff they taught in school seem a lot
more useful. She remembered now how rainwater fell on
the mountains, and soaked into the ground before bubbling