Chapter 11

In the morning, I head into the one bathroom with a bottle of peroxide, a cotton swab, and a fresh bandage. After peeling away the old bandage, I notice the cut on my thigh is a light red color, and it throbs gently when I touch it. The cut is healing, but I don't want to take any chance it'll get infected. So I clean it carefully, dry it, and stick a new bandage on it.

Then I dress for the day in the new clothes that Tobe grabbed for me, and I feel fantastic. For the first time in months, my clothes aren't dirty, torn, or covered in blood. They're nice, fresh, and clean, and I feel like a brand new person wearing them. It's strange to think that something as simple as brand new clothes could lift the mood, but they do.

When I join Ryder and Reese, they're sitting at the small, circular dining room table. Each of them has a bottle of expensive Fiji water in their hands, and they both look incredibly happy about something. When I sit down bes