But Colin was the worst, not because he went out of his way to be cruel—just the opposite, he tried to comfort her.

“When I first got here,” he said, “half the cadets wouldn’t even talk to me because I was from North City, and my dad isn’t even . . .”

Mony shot him a look—bless her—and Colin trailed off as they reached the cafeteria.

The place was packed.

With this many people, it should have been easy to disappear by degrees, lose a step here and there, fall to the back of the pack and then just slip away. But every time Colin’s attention drifted, Mony was there to pick up the slack.

“This is nothing,” she said as they wove through the crowd.

“Yeah,” said Colin. “There are nearly ten million people under the FTF’s protection just in South City, and fifty thousand of them are active soldiers—”

“Oh God,” muttered Mony, “he’s like a wind-up toy.”

Colin didn’t seem to care. “Everyone has to be willing to serve, but there are different ways to do that. There’s recon, supply, management, but everyone goes through training, first . . .”

Kate’s attention slid toward the polished steel of the utensils—she took a sandwich instead. “How many people live here?” she asked.

Mony groaned. “Don’t encourage him.”

“Only about fifteen hundred people live in the Compound. The rest of the soldiers are spread out across two square blocks. It’s high-density living, but it allows them to keep the power on.”

Kate frowned. “Where does it come from?”

Colin opened his mouth to answer, but Mony cut him off.

“Solar generators,” she said. “Now dear God, before I die of boredom, let me eat.”

The whole team moved toward a table with the automatic flow of routine, and Kate followed. It was clear she was expected to sit with them—and equally clear they didn’t want her there. Bodies twisted away. Conversations lowered to a buzz in her good ear. Even Colin and Mony were growing tense under the scrutiny.

She was picking at her food, appetite fading, when Colin lowered his voice and leaned toward her.

“Can I ask you something?” he said, and Kate didn’t answer, because it was obvious he was going to ask either way. “Where have you been?” Mony raised a brow. “Sorry, I know it’s none of my business, it’s just—there’s kind of a pool going. I don’t normally bet, but there’s a candy bar in the pot and, like, half the squads thought you were dead but I’ve got five that you were hiding in the Waste and—”

“Prosperity.”

His eyes widened. “Seriously? Why would you come back?”

“Oh, you know,” she said, “monsters, mayhem, revenge.”

She got to her feet. “Look,” she said, “playing soldier seems fun, but I have work to do.”

Colin’s head shot up. “Where are you going?”

“The bathroom,” she said, and then, when Colin made a move to rise. “I think I can find my way.”

His attention twitched between his food and her, clearly torn.

But it was Mony who spoke up. “Fifteen minutes,” she said, tapping her watch. “If you’re not back in the training hall, the whole team pays for it.”

Kate nodded. “I’ll be there.”

Kate headed for Sublevel 1.

Nobody stopped her, not when she passed the bathrooms or the bank of elevators, not when she slipped into the stairwell and started down.

The benefits of walking with purpose, she thought. People didn’t just assume you knew where you were going—they assumed you were supposed to be going there.

At least until she pushed open the door and stepped into the weapons cache. A man sat at a desk, the wide corridor beyond him lined with armored vests and helmets. She glimpsed weapons through several open doors.

He was skimming something on his tablet, but his head snapped up when she walked in. His eyes instantly narrowed.

Kate forced a lightness into her voice. “Is this the lost and found?”

“Does this look like a lost and found?”

“Hey, I’m just following orders. My captain lost some equipment and it’s my job to find it.”

“What kind of equipment?”

“A pair of spikes. Iron. About the length of my forearm.”

“That’s not something we issue.”

Your loss, thought Kate, but she only shrugged. “She’s from North City. Must have been a relic.”

“Squad?”

“Twenty-Four.”

“Name?”

“The instructor’s?”

“Yours.”

“Mony,” said Kate, instantly regretting it. He was clearly waiting for a last name, but she hadn’t learned it. “Look, never mind, I’m sure the spikes will turn up—”

Something lit up on the man’s screen, and Kate didn’t know if it was a red flag or an ordinary message, but his expression went stony and her pulse rose. She took a step back.

“Stay put,” he said, two words that made Kate want to do the opposite. Her gaze flicked from the weapons on the walls to the one holstered at the man’s hip, but the elevator doors were already opening behind her. And Ilsa stepped out.