The words stabbed Thomas, and he could only imagine how Minho felt.
“Show us where he is,” his friend ordered curtly.
The guard held up his hands. “Did you not hear what I just said?”
“Your job’s not done,” Thomas insisted. He was with Minho one hundred percent. It didn’t matter what
Newt had said—if they were this close, they were going to talk to him.
The shorter guard shook his head adamantly. “No way. You asked us to find your friend and we did.
Give us our money.”
“Does it look like we’re with him yet?” Jorge asked. “No one makes a dollar until you get us all
together.”
Brenda didn’t say anything, but she stood next to Jorge and nodded to show her support. Thomas was
relieved that everyone was on board to go to Newt despite the message he’d sent.
The two guards didn’t look happy at all, and they whispered back and forth, arguing.
“Hey!” Minho barked. “If you want that money, let’s go!”
“Fine,” the guard with the mustache finally said. His partner gave him an exasperated glare. “Follow
us.” They turned and headed back in the direction they’d come. Minho was right on their heels, and then
everyone else.
As they made their way deeper into the compound, Thomas kept thinking things couldn’t get worse, but
they did. The buildings were shabbier, the streets dirtier. He saw several people lying on the sidewalks,
their heads resting on filthy bags or wadded-up pieces of clothing. Each one of them stared at the sky with
a glazed expression, a look of oblivious glee. The Bliss was aptly named, Thomas thought.
The guards marched ahead, sweeping their Launchers left and right at anyone who got within a dozen
feet of them. At one point they passed a ravaged-looking man—his clothes torn, his hair matted with some
kind of black goo, skin covered in rashes—as he fell on a drugged-out teenager and started beating him.
Thomas stopped, wondering if they should help.
“Don’t even think about it,” the short guard said before Thomas could get a word out. “Keep moving.”
“But isn’t it your job to—”
The other guard cut him off. “Shut up and let us handle things. If we meddled in every squabble and
catfight we saw, we’d never be done. We’d probably be dead. Those two can sort out their own
problems.”
“Just get us to Newt,” Minho said evenly.
They continued, and Thomas tried to ignore the gargled scream that suddenly rose behind them.
Finally, they reached a high wall with a big archway that led to an open area full of people. A sign at
the top of the arch proclaimed in bright letters that this was the Central Zone. Thomas couldn’t quite make
out what was going on inside, but everyone seemed busy.
The guards stopped, and the one with the mustache addressed the group. “I’m only going to ask once.
Are you sure you want to go in there?”
“Yes,” Minho answered quickly.
“Okay, then. Your friend is at the bowling alley. As soon as we point him out, I want our money.”
“Let’s just get moving,” Jorge growled.
They followed the guards through the arch and entered the Central Zone. Then they stopped to take it all
in.
The first word that popped into Thomas’s mind was madhouse, and he realized that it was almost
literally true.
Cranks were everywhere.
They milled about in a circular area several hundred feet across that was bordered by what had
apparently once been shops and restaurants and entertainment venues. Most of them were run-down and
closed. The majority of the infected didn’t seem quite as gone as the matted-hair fellow they’d seen out in
the streets, but there was a frenzied air about the groups of people. To Thomas, everyone’s actions and
mannerisms seemed … exaggerated. Some people were laughing hysterically, a wildness in their eyes, as
they slapped each other’s backs roughly. Others cried uncontrollably, sobbing all alone on the ground or
walking in circles, faces in their hands. Small fights had broken out everywhere, and here and there you’d
find a man or woman standing still and screaming at the top of their lungs, faces red and necks corded.
There were also those who huddled in groups, arms folded and heads snapping left and right as if they
expected to be attacked at any second. And just as Thomas had seen in the outer rings, some of the Cranks
were lost in the haze of the Bliss, smiling as they sat or lay on the ground and ignored the chaos. A few
guards walked around, weapons held at the ready, but they were vastly outnumbered.
“Remind me not to buy any real estate here,” Minho quipped.
Thomas couldn’t bring himself to laugh. He was filled with anxiety, and he desperately wanted to get
this over with.
“Where’s the bowling alley?” he asked.
“Over this way,” the shorter guard said.
He headed to the left, sticking close to the wall as Thomas and the others followed. Brenda walked
beside Thomas, their arms brushing with every step. He wanted to take her hand, but he didn’t want to
make any move that would call attention to himself. Everything about this place was so unpredictable he
didn’t want to do anything he didn’t absolutely have to.
Most of the Cranks stopped their feverish activities and stared at the small group of newcomers as they
approached and walked past. Thomas kept his gaze lowered, scared that if he made eye contact with
anyone, they might get hostile or try to talk to him. There were catcalls and whistles, lots of crude jokes or
insults thrown their way as they kept moving. They passed a dilapidated convenience store, and Thomas
could see through the open windows—the glass was long gone—that almost all the shelves were empty.
There was a doctor’s office and a sandwich shop, but no lights shone in either one.
Someone grabbed Thomas’s shirt at the shoulder. He spun to see who it was as he swatted the hand
away. A woman stood there, her dark hair messy and a scratch on her chin, but otherwise she seemed
somewhat normal. Her face was drooping in a frown, and she stared at him for a moment before opening
her mouth as wide as it would go, revealing teeth that were in good shape other than looking as if they
hadn’t been brushed in a while, and a tongue that was swollen and discolored. Then she closed her mouth
again.
“I want to kiss you,” the woman said. “What do you say, Munie?” She laughed, a manic cackle that was
full of snorts, and ran her hand lightly down Thomas’s chest.
Thomas jerked away and continued walking—he noticed that the guards hadn’t even stopped to make
sure nothing bad happened.
Brenda leaned closer and whispered to him. “That might’ve been the creepiest thing yet.”
Thomas just nodded and kept going.
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