Rafferty's hair was a pale, dusty color that almost exactly matched the rock she was lying on. The sun was directly overhead, and the rock was nearly too hot to bear, which was just the way she liked it.

Vincent had chastened her about her purple hair, saying it would stand out too much in the wide open Breaks, so she changed it. The look on his face when she did made Rafferty think he just liked watching her do it.

The group had settled in a jagged outcropping with a good view of where the Roughcoats said the meeting between Alex and Dead Eric would take place. They had been here two days. So far, there hadn't been much to do.

Trevor was nearby, sitting against Rafferty's rock talking to Miles, Harriet's Jack from D Hall. Rafferty didn't know Miles very well, but guessed he was sort of cute, so that explained that.

What about Hallway Boy?

Cody never seemed to be far away from Trevor, which wasn't surprising either. She was perched on the rock across the way, and stole looks at Rafferty's Jack whenever she thought he wasn't looking.

Rafferty also noticed that Cody was painting her fingernails. The sparkly Blue polish gave the little blonde, already one of the strongest Hunters in the Abbey, even more wallop. The other girls in the hall were excited when she'd first gotten it, thinking they'd all be able to use it, but so far none of them had been able to control the little wrist flick that activated it. The last time she tried, Rafferty had managed to break her own nose.

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The rest of D Hall was playing some sort of card game. It had been going on since yesterday. Rafferty was sure it was very competitive and had lots of rules. Hayden had the largest pile of pebbles in front of her, so Rafferty assumed she was winning.

They should invite Sheridan. She'd be all over something like this.

Speaking of Sheridan, J Hall's archer was acting very un-Sheridan like. She'd been shadowing the Roughcoat named Jason for most of the the last two days. She was laughing a lot when he talked, laughing way louder than Sheridan normally laughed, and once Rafferty thought she even caught her flipping her hair.

Blaspheme had latched on to the other Roughcoat, Strikes, but Rafferty was pretty sure she was only interested in his cool rifle. He'd let her take some shots with it, and seemed impressed when she hit a white piece of rock far off in the distance.

Vincent was tending to the Roughcoats' horses. Rafferty was always surprised the Roughcoats used actual horses to travel. Vincent explained that everyone's vehicles were breaking down, no one was making new parts, and the whole world was running out of gasoline anyway. The Roughcoats, he said, used a tried and true method of travel that could self-replicate at no cost.

When he'd asked if she wanted him to explain that last part, she had told him to shut up.

There was a development in D Hall's card game. Harker had laid down a long line of cards, and was patiently enduring a lecture from Holden on why it shouldn't count. When she was satisfied that Holden was finished, Harker's eyes flicked over to Hayden. Hayden only paused a moment before shifting some of Holden's pebbles to Harker's pile. Holden howled in frustration.

---

Lena heard it first. Sheridan's Jack was always on duty.

She stood up straight, and let out a short whistle. The card game stopped. Harker picked up her crossbow. Holden gathered her long hair, and was starting to tie it back. Cody put down the little bottle of nail polish, and shook her hand before resting it on her hammer.

Rafferty heard it now too.

The sound of an engine, carrying across the emptiness.

They were here.