Z 2136 (Z 2134 Series Book 3) by Sean Platt, David W. Wright Page A

met Ana’s eyes. “Katrina has a point. We’ve no idea what we’ll run into. I’d rather you stay here safe too.”
    “No!” Ana said. “Besides, now you’re half blind. You need me.”
    “Even half blind, I’m still a better shot.” Liam laughed.
    Katrina laughed too, and Ana tried not to glare at her. She told herself that Katrina was playing along or laughing at Ana’s lack of shooting prowess. She hated comparing herself to the battle-hardened woman. It felt so irrational, and she had prided herself on being in control of her emotions—just like her father.
    Fuck that.
    “I’m going,” Ana said.
    A knock at the door cut into their argument.
    “Come in,” Katrina said.
    Calla opened the door, joined by the older, olive-skinned boy with bright golden eyes, whom they now knew as Elijah. Though he was tall, he didn’t look much older than Calla. His belt hung low from his blaster’s weight. Ana was certain that the gun was their contingency plan in case the girl turned.
    “Dinner’s ready,” Calla said.
***
    The table was long and perfectly centered in a room that was even more beautiful than the one Ana had seen when first introduced to The Station.
    Somehow, the old and no-longer-abandoned train depot—with its musty-scented mineshaft corridors, chunks of wall either rotten or missing, and chipped tiles scattered along the wall leading into the common area—still looked more like a home than any Ana had seen since the one she’d grown up in. She still pictured her childhood home each day, often with her mother wearing the old ice-blue apron with the silver script that read Molly Knows Best.
    The ceiling was ivory and hung low with a coil of colored lights strung from one corner to the other, on both diagonals and crisscrossed through the middle. The walls were yellow, in various shades of gold, daffodil, and canary. The many yellows made Ana think of the fancy fabric stores on the bottom floor of the stores on Park, back in City 6.
    Calla sat across from Ana, with Egan by the girl’s side. A brown-haired dwarf introduced to her as Father Truth was sitting beside Egan and mumbled only a word or two after she sat, seemingly unable to move his eyes away from any one of the three newcomers. It felt as if he were analyzing them for some reason, and that sent a chill up Ana’s spine.
    It didn’t help that the rest of the room was pretty empty. While there were two dozen chairs, most were unoccupied, as Egan said he’d wanted the dinner to be just for those closest to him and his special guests, so they could speak freely.
    Liam sat to Ana’s right, squeezing her hand under the table in support. She loved that he sensed how hard it was for her to sit near a girl she was likely consigning to death by her departure.
    Oswald sat beside Katrina to Ana’s left, and the two of them were chatting about everything that had happened since his flight from Hydrangea. The scientist said that Sutherland went into a rage after they left, accusing everyone—including Oswald—of conspiring to help the three of them flee. He’d even held trials and wound up finding someone guilty and hanging him.
    “Oh God,” Ana said.
    “Yes, I felt awful but wasn’t about to step forward and admit my guilt. At that point, I started making plans to escape myself.”
    “Thank God.” Father Truth raised his wine glass to toast their success.
    Ana raised hers—though she wasn’t feeling very celebratory at all—as did most of the others around the table,
    “So, have you made a decision yet, Ana?”
    Ana glared across the table at Egan.
    How dare he put me on the spot in front of Calla like this?
    “I already gave you my decision.” Ana wondered how much Calla knew. “I have to find my brother.”
    Egan lifted a hunk of bread to his mouth and took a bite. “It would be much easier to find him if you knew where he was. I can tell your friends exactly where to find him and can even lend you another body—along with some