Crossed

Cassia looks at all the faces in the village and quickly realizes Ky isn’t there. She announces that she’s looking for a boy “with dark hair and blue eyes […]. He came from a city, but he knows this land, too. He has words” (85). A boy with burned hands tells Cassia that Ky is dead, but she refuses to believe him. The next day, Cassia bribes the boy with food, and he tells her about a boy he knew in a previous camp who recited poetry for the dead. Two nights ago, Ky and Vick took Eli and ran into the Carving during a firing. Officers transported the boy with burned hands and five other survivors to the new camp soon after. Cassia offers the boy medical supplies in exchange for precise directions to Ky’s path. Indie declares her intent to come along.

Cassia, Indie, and the boy with burned hands run all night to reach the Carving by dawn. At first, Cassia finds the experience exhilarating, but eventually starts to flounder. The trio takes turns leading, and Indie recommends that Cassia lead them at the very end. Indie tells the story of the first marathon: Someone ran 26 miles to deliver a message and died.