Read Online Quarantine #2: The Saints by Lex Thomas - Free Book Online Page A

them. He’d tried so hard to not let it happen, he’d tried with everything he had in him … He just wasn’t strong enough.

9
    THE MARKET BUZZED WITH EXCITEMENT. This was the third one since the parents’ arrival. The first two had been disorganized and halfhearted, but not this one. This market was like Lucy remembered them, back when the military had still been feeding them. The wide hallway bustled with activity, with deals going down everywhere she looked.
    Lucy stood with Ritchie, Mort, Leonard, Colin, and Belinda at the edge of the market. They watched kids from other gangs, with their hair freshly dyed, walk with their friends, joking and laughing, from one trading room to the next. Life was returning to normal, better than normal actually, because there was more food to go around. Varsity hadn’t hoarded most of the food this time. They’d only taken their share, a reasonable amount to support a gang, and didn’t try for any more. It had people talking. Had Varsity actually dethroned Sam as their leader? It looked that way. They didn’tseem concerned with keeping a mountain of food on display behind their trading tables to taunt the rest of the school. Without Varsity hoarding the lion’s share of the food, every gang ended up securing more supplies than they ever had. Every gang but the Loners.
    They’d failed at the drop again. They weren’t gelling as a team. Will hadn’t gone because he said he had a cold, but Lucy thought that maybe he was too embarrassed to show his face in the quad. She understood, they all were embarrassed. Without Will, there were only six of them remaining, and they felt stupid standing with all the huge gangs, fully aware that everyone had seen them get trashed by Sam two weeks before. By the time this drop had started, almost every gang had sent a representative over to pitch joining their gang to the Loners. They all talked like it was an inevitability, like Violent had said, that the Loners were finished and now was the time to pick a new gang. Once the drop started, none of the Loners took the lead. Ritchie did well on his own, but all together they’d barely gathered enough stuff to trade for the eight rolls of toilet paper, two boxes of tampons, five packets of instant oatmeal, and the twelve-pack of ramen noodles that they held in their hands now.
    Ritchie dropped the toilet paper rolls on the market floor.
    “I’m going Skaters,” Ritchie said.
    “What?” Lucy said.
    “You heard me.”
    Lucy began to panic.
    “No, don’t. Ritchie, we need you. You’re our best fighter.”
    “I gotta look out for myself.”
    Mort stepped forward. “Lucy? Uh … I’m really sorry, but, I’m joining the Freaks.”
    “So am I,” Colin said.
    “Guys, come on. We’re just down on our luck right now,” Lucy said, but she barely believed it herself. She could understand why they wanted to leave. She still felt the sting of Sam’s palm on her cheek. She didn’t honestly know how they would survive as a gang, but she felt an overpowering need to stop them from going.
    “They said we could have our own rooms,” Colin said.
    “But, we’re the Loners. You guys don’t want to walk away from that. That means something,” Lucy said.
    “David was the Loners,” Ritchie said, “and whatever we are right now, whatever this is? I’m not into it.”
    “But …,” Lucy said.
    “See you guys around,” Ritchie said, unwilling or unable to look anyone in the eye. He turned and walked off.
    “I guess we should …,” Mort said, pointing his thumb toward the Freak trading post. He attempted a smile, but it was eighty percent cringe.
    Lucy couldn’t summon words. What else could she say to get them to stay? She thought of Will back in the Stairs. He’d bedevastated when he heard they’d lost three more. He’d never stop blaming himself.
    “I’m sorry,” Mort said. “I’m bad at good-byes. Take care of yourselves.”
    “You … too,” Lucy said.
    Mort and Colin