10/03/2026 01:40

---

” I could feel the heat in my cheeks. She had pulled out half a dozen cardboard flats— broken-down sections ofbig Kotex cartons from the Food Emporium, the half dozen she had not sold “ What’ re you going to do?” “ You want to get out of here?” She nodded. We’ re safe.

I’ m going back to bed. It’s like swimming or riding a bike: once you learn, you never forget . I clawed some money out of my pants pocket and jammed it into Jeffty’s hand. And whatever that was,we want to rent it for a while, we want to bring it back.