Free Among the Betrayed by Margaret Peterson Haddix Page B

rolling on down the hill.The food sack bumped against her legs. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Matthias stayed behind, pulling the window down behind him.
    â€œCome on!” Percy hissed in Nina’s ear. “Head for the trees.”
    Half running, half falling, Nina dashed blindly behind Percy and Alia. They were fast. In the darkness Nina was terrified that she’d lose them. She found herself navigating more by sound than by sight. As long as she could hear the other kids panting, she was okay.
    The grass she was running through grew thicker, pulled more at her ankles. No, it wasn’t grass—it was scrub brush on the floor of the woods. They were surrounded by trees now.
    â€œAll right,” Matthias said softly, right behind her. Somehow he’d caught up. “Let’s stop and watch now.”
    Nina wanted to keep running, but Percy put his hand on her shoulder, held her in place. The other kids crouched down, so Nina did, too, peering back at the prison.
    Now that she was away from the prison, Nina could see that what the hating man had told her was true—the prison did have high barbed-wire fences and guard stations and bright lights at the back. The officers’ quarters, where they’d escaped from, was just a small, one-story addition on an unprotected side. It was swathed in darkness. Nina had to squint to see it against the glare of the rest of the prison.
    â€œThey’re not looking for us yet,” Matthias mumbled.
    â€œNo—there! Look!” Percy breathed, pointing.
    A dim light—a flashlight?—shone briefly through the window they’d climbed out of. Then the light disappeared, and reappeared in another window of the officers’ quarters.
    â€œNobody’s coming outside,” Matthias muttered. “We fooled them.”
    Nina shivered, thinking about what might have happened if Matthias had left the window open; if Alia had cut the security system wire straight out, instead of making it look like the work of an animal’s teeth.
    â€œWhat would we have done if they’d come looking for us?” Nina asked.
    â€œHidden,” Percy said matter-of-factly. “We’re good at hiding.”
    â€œYou’re good at a lot of things,” Nina said wonderingly. “I . . .” She wanted to thank them, to admit that she wouldn’t have been able to escape without them. But the other three were already standing up, getting ready to move on.
    â€œMoon’s coming up over there, so that’s east,” Percy said. “Which direction is this safe place you were telling us about?”
    Nina looked, around, from the full moon’s glow to the glare of the prison lights to the darkness of the woods beyond. The panic that had been threatening all night finally overwhelmed her.
    â€œI don’t know!” she wailed. “I don’t know how to get there!”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
    T he other three kids didn’t even look surprised. Nina felt more ashamed than ever, that they had expected her not to know, expected her to be stupid and ignorant.
    â€œCalm down,” Matthias said, none too gently. “We can think this through.” He looked over at Percy expectantly.
    â€œThe place you think is safe, it’s by the school you used to go to, right?” Percy asked.
    Nina nodded.
    â€œAnd the Population Police brought you to prison from your school, right?”
    Nina nodded again.
    â€œWhat time of day was it when they brought you here?”
    For a minute Nina was afraid she wasn’t even going to be able to answer that question. But she recovered quickly, her mind supplying a frightening jumble of images.
    â€œMorning,” she said. “They arrested me at breakfast.” She could still smell the oatmeal, could still see those three lonely raisins hiding among the oats. The memory made her want to gag.
    â€œOkay. Good,” Percy said encouragingly, like he