Free Life Before Legend: Stories of the Criminal and the Prodigy by Marie Lu Page B

running out. I pull my pocketknife from where it’s tucked neatly against my
     shoe, and then jam it into the side of one of the wooden crates until it breaks through.
     I hack away in silence, careful to keep an eye on which direction the guards are looking.
     Most of them have wandered away by now, thankfully. Only two still remain, and even
     they stand a good distance away from the crates, lost in mindless chatter.
    This shipment’s definitely stuffed with canned goodies. My mouth waters as I fantasize
     again about what I might find inside. Hot dogs and sardines. Meats of all kinds. Corn,
     pickled eggs, beans. Maybe even peaches or pear slices. I’d once managed to steal
     a fresh peach, and it was the best thing I’d ever eaten in my life. My stomach lets
     out a loud rumble.
    “Hey.”
    I jump. My eyes dart up to see a teenage girl leaning against the crates, chewing
     on a toothpick and watching me work with an amused grin on her face. All my food fantasies
     vanish. Instantly I yank my knife out of the crate and make a run for it. The other
     men on the pier see me, shout something, and give chase.
    I run as fast as I can down the pier. My bad knee burns from the sudden movement,
     but I ignore it. Bad knee won’t matter if I’m dead. I brace myself, waiting for the
     searing agony of a bullet in my back.
    “Charlie!” one of them yells. “Get that little con!”
    The girl replies with something I can’t hear.
    I stumble through a pair of bewildered port workers, reach the pier’s end and the
     beginning of Lake’s streets, and run toward the closest alley I can see. Behind me,
     I can still hear the sounds of my pursuers. Stupid, so stupid. I should’ve been quieter,
     or waited until nightfall. But I’m
so
hungry. Now I just hope I can lose them in the maze of Lake’s alleys. My cap flips
     off my head, but I’m too scared to stop and go get it. My white-blond hair tumbles
     down past my shoulders in a wild mess.
    Someone tackles me from behind. I squirm right out of his grasp, then try to make
     a leap for the wall and get a grip on the second-floor ledge. But my bad knee—already
     weak from my hurried escape—finally gives way, and I collapse to the ground in the
     shadows of the alley. All the breath in my lungs gets knocked out in one whoosh, but
     I still twist around and bare my teeth, ready to sink them into whoever’s grabbing
     me.
    “Hey, chill out!” It’s the girl who had first spotted me. She has a nonthreatening
     face, but she pins me firmly to the ground. “It’s just me. I told my dad’s crew that
     I’d track you down. They’re all still back at the pier.”
    I keep struggling.
    “Look, we could do this all day.” The girl tilts her head at me and gives me a frown.
     I keep expecting her to slide a knife against my throat. But she doesn’t. After a
     few long seconds, I calm down. She nods at me when I do. “What were you trying to
     steal from my father’s shipment?” she asks.
    “Just some food,” I reply. I’m still having trouble catching my breath, and the pain
     in my knee isn’t helping any. “I haven’t eaten in two days.”
    “You from the Lake sector, cousin?”
    I give her a smile. I hope she can’t see how nervous I am. “As much as you,” I say,
     noting her slang. “You’re probably even from the same neighborhood as me.”
    She studies me for a moment. Now that I finally get a good look at her, I can see
     that she’s kind of pretty, with brown skin and frizzy black hair pulled back into
     two haphazard braids. She has a light smattering of freckles on her nose, and her
     eyes are golden brown. Her eyebrows look permanently set at an amused angle. She’s
     probably somewhere in her mid or late teens, although she looks small. A grin spreads
     on her face as she notices the way I’m checking her out. She carefully lets me sit
     up, but she doesn’t release my arm.
    “You gonna let me go anytime soon?” I ask. “Or are you gonna