The walk north took three days.
They met two Closers on the first day and a pack of scavengers on the second. Nobody was badly hurt. By now, killing small Enders had started to feel almost ordinary. That worried Almond more than anything else.
"Don't get used to it," Orla said, when he mentioned it. "The ones you get used to aren't the ones that kill you."
On the second night, Big D sat down beside Almond at the small fire.
He did not say anything for a while. He poked at the coals with a stick. Then he spoke without looking up.
"She's been holding her stomach for four days," he said. "Every time she thinks nobody's looking."
Almond went still.
"Kayla didn't tell me anything," Big D went on. "Kayla's very good at not telling me anything. But I've been watching people for ten thousand years. I know what that looks like."
"She wanted to tell you herself," Almond said quietly.
