Marigold and Daisy trot at an even pace, but Charlotte keeps Daisy well ahead of us on the way back, refusing to so much as look at me. Part of me wants to march up and start explaining but experience has taught me better.

  If I insist on having this conversation right now, it will be a fight.

  Besides, the kid behind me would automatically mean there is an audience.

  Benji’s posture grows tighter with every moment, like he’s winding himself up for something. “You’re both like me?”

  “Huh?” I look over my shoulder, but I can’t see his expression at this angle. Only the hunch of his shoulders and the top of his shaggy blond head.

  “You’re both from Westwood.” His gulp is loud. “Charlotte looks normal.”

  The implied question doesn’t bother me. Maybe that’s because the kid is one of us, so I know he means it in the same way that the Ortiz’s would.

  “Charlotte wasn’t left at Westwood because of her own problems.” I swallow and look ahead again, debating how much I can tell him.

  It’s technically Charlotte’s story, but I know she won’t be able to get it out. Even writing it feels wrong. But I’m tired, and I need to talk to someone.

  “Charlotte stayed for her brother.”

  There’s a pensive pause, where all I hear is Marigold’s clip-clops. The kid just waits while I organize my thoughts. I’ve never talked about this; I’m not sure where to start.

  “Does the principal still offer kids to the petting zoo?”

  “Yeah, they stop by every month. That’s why Jonathan and I were at the mall.”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I blink for a moment, letting that sink in. “She had you two on the roster?”

  “We weren’t listening,” Benji whimpered.

  My hands ache as I clench Marigold’s rein. “Well, Arthur couldn’t listen.”

  Just saying his name brings a sad smile to my lips. “Their parents died, and Charlotte refused to leave him behind.”

  In many ways, Rufus reminds me of Arthur. Maybe that’s why I’m so protective of the big guy.

  “Arthur couldn’t talk, but Charlotte understood him. So, she stayed. He obviously couldn’t participate in target practice, gunfire sent him into tantrums that no-one could manage. So they tried to put him on cleaning duty.”

  He wasn’t made for this world. Something so sweet and tender deserved a better existence than picking up the rotting blood and gore. I still remember those mindless screams. Poor Arthur sounded more like a panicked animal than a tortured kid.

  “He couldn’t do it.”

  “They grounded him,” Benji states glumly.

  “Yeah,” I let out in a sigh. “It made everything worse. He started acting out, hitting and even biting. Mother–”

  I stop too late, biting my tongue. He tenses behind me, his breath growing sharp.

  Nothing for it now. I shake my head and press on, “Mother said if he was going to act like a zombie, he could live with them. Charlotte went with him, said she was running away to join the circus.” The last world comes out choked.

  I take in a shaky breath, swallowing several times, but my eyes still ache as I force them to look ahead. Everything wavers with the tears I can’t let myself cry. It makes the sun bounce on Charlotte’s hair. I keep watching that messy bun bob, like if I just stare long enough, I’ll see inside her head.

  “They tried a new act,” I finally say. “Norman thought it’d be good to save a kid in front of the audience. He’d never try it with his other castoffs, but Charlotte…” My sentence trails again. I can’t bring myself to describe it. “He didn’t think about Arthur’s reaction.”

  Even now, I can hear the tent flapping loudly, the ravenous moans of the undead while I rendered his flesh. Charlotte’s choked sobs as she watched, just barely out of reach.

  “It took us hours to clear all the undead.”

  “The principal doesn’t bring recruits on jobs,” Benji mutters, though his tone isn’t nearly as suspicious as it should be.

  “She made us clear the bodies. She wanted to be sure we understood our options in the future.” I gulp, watching our gate finally come into view.

  The first time I acted in defiance was defending Charlotte. I made the horrible mistake of pointing out that Charlotte only left because my mother refused to find other uses for Arthur. And for that, she’d grounded her own daughter.