Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods-3 by Suzanne Collins

from the pipes in it.

    They sure didn't go out and spend four bucks on a bottle of glacier water! Gregor ran his thumb over the price tag on the bottle uncertainly. "Urn, I don't know. I mean, I think it's just water,"
    said Gregor. But Mareth looked a little disappointed so he added, "But I bet it's really clean, because it was frozen a while ago, before there was so much pollution. Yeah, look right here on the label, 'extra pure.'"

    "Ah," said Mareth, gratified. "Pure water is not always easy to find, especially where you are going. I brought one more thing, although I am not sure exactly what it is. But it has a sense of happiness about it. I thought carrying it might remind you of home."

    Mareth pulled a packet of bubble gum from the pocket. The paper was bright pink and had cartoon pictures of pop-eyed kids blowing giant bubbles.

    Gregor laughed. "All right, bubble gum. My sister Lizzie loves this stuff. You know, it does remind me of home. Thanks, Mareth."

    Underlanders showed up with trays of food and began to place them on the table in front of the couch. Mareth rose to go.

    "Don't go. There's tons of food. Stay and eat with me," Gregor said.

    Mareth hesitated. Gregor was pretty sure he was worried about breaking some kind of rule. Soldiers probably never ate in the luxury room.

    "Come on, Mareth. You must be hungry. Everybody knows that hospital food is lousy,"
    said Gregor. Actually, when Gregor would go to visit his friend Larry in the hospital when he had bad asthma attacks, the food usually looked pretty decent to him. But the patients were always complaining about it. Lying around a hospital, especially if you felt bad, probably gave you a lot of opportunity to dislike the food.

    Mareth grinned. "It is somewhat bland," he admitted. "Although one has only to think of eating raw fish on our last journey to appreciate a simple meal."

    "So stay. I don't want to eat alone," said Gregor. "Please."

    Mareth sat back on the couch and put his crutch aside. "This is quite a feast."

    It was. It ranked right up there with the food that had been prepared for Nerissa's coronation. There was a savory egg-and-cheese pie, stuffed mushrooms, steak, tiny raw vegetables with a dip, and a dish Gregor had come across a few times before, shrimp in cream sauce.

    Gregor pointed to the shrimp. "That's Ripred's favorite. Last time I was here he stuck his whole face in a pot of it and scarfed it down."

    "I do not blame him," said Mareth, taking a small serving of shrimp.

    "Shoot, you can eat more than that," said Gregor, dumping another large ladle of the stuff on Mareth's plate. He took a piece of egg-and-cheese pie for himself. His stomach was still rocky and acidic from throwing up, but he knew he had to eat if he were heading out on the road. It helped that the pie tasted amazing.

    "Hey, Mareth, what was the deal with you guys starving out the rats?" he said.

    Mareth took a few moments before he answered. "It was Solovet's way to show them that whenever they attack us, there will be consequences."

    "But that means the pups are starving to death, too. Not just the big rats," said Gregor.
    "Doesn't that bother you?"

    "Of course it bothers me!" Mareth shook his head and sighed. "It is so hard for you to know what it is like for us here, Gregor. We are raised in a world where one must kill or be killed. Sometimes I try to imagine what it would be like if we did not always have to devote ourselves to the possibility of war. Who would we be? What would we do?"

    "Well, what would you do?" asked Gregor.

    "I do not know...to live without war. It seems like...a fairy story," said Mareth. "Do you have those in the Overland?"

    "Fairy tales, yeah," said Gregor.

    "It seems like that," said Mareth.

    When the Underlander came back to clear away the dishes at the end of the meal, Gregor pointed to the rest of the shrimp. "Can I take that with me?"

    The Underlander looked confused. "Take it with you...to where?"

    "On the trip.