Page 60 of Ned
“Shae.”
Her eyes shot open. She rolled off the bed and scooted under it. “Judah?”
“Oh, wow, I was so worried. Are you okay?”
His voice, saying her words. “Are you kidding me? I saw them put you in the infirmary truck. I thought you—you were really bleeding.”
“Head wounds bleed a lot.”
“And your ribs and—”
“Shh. I’m fine. Or will be. But look, I got this.” He reached his hand through the hole, and she found it.
Into her palm he pressed a key card.
What?
“I pulled it off Boris when he hit me.”
“You didwhat?”
“It was perfect. He came over, and there it was, in his shirt. Bam. Street tricks I learned too long ago.”
Street tricks?
“I want you to take it and get out of here.”
She stilled. “What?”
“Yeah. I did go to the infirmary today. And Eighty-One died a couple hours ago. He’ll be in that black bag tomorrow morning when they drop it into the sea. You should be in it too.”
What? “Get in the bag with a dead person?”
“He’ll cushion your fall into the sea, and then just cut yourself out.”
“With what?”
“This.” He handed her a spoon, but chiseled at one end was a point.
“What is this, a shiv?”
“No. It’s a tool. For getting out of a body bag.”
“How long have you been planning this?”
“I’ve been here for a while. But the body bag trick—just since we got to the ship.”
“Why don’t I just go down the stairs?”
“They lower a metal gate in front of them at night. There’s no way off.”
Except in a body bag.
She let that sink in for a moment.
“Oh, by the way. I have your hat.” She rolled out and opened the mattress, grabbed his hat and the powder, then shoved it through the hole.
Silence. Then, “Shae, you’re fantastic.”
