The Defiant by Lisa M. Stasse

me take you to your bedroom for the night.”
    I nod and follow her. This will be my last night of freedom before I am captured.
    But I’m not really thinking about myself. I’m thinking about the fact that David is still alive. He looks so different, but there are flashes of the old David that I remember.
    I vow to talk to him more in the morning before I get sent to the rebel cell, and then on to the Hellgrounds. I only now realize how much I’ve missed David, and I’m grateful for the chance to spend more time with him before I get sent away.

6 THE REBELS
    T HE NEXT MORNING I wake up in my shabby bedroom. My back hurts from the sagging mattress. It takes me a second to remember that I really am back in the UNA. I stare up at the stained ceiling. Then I shake off the strange feeling, get dressed, and leave the room.
    I don’t search for Kelley and Shawn. I just go straight upstairs to the door of David’s room. I need to talk to him before I leave the safe house. I know he probably won’t answer any questions about my journey, but I want to make sure that he’s doing okay.
    I knock softly on the door. There’s no answer. I turn the doorknob, expecting it to be locked, but it turns easily in my hand.
    â€œDavid?” I ask, surprised.
    I push against the door, opening it and stepping inside.
    The blinds are open, and gray light floods the room from the large windows. The curtains have been pulled back. The desk is still there, along with the mattress and the computers on the dusty wooden floor. But there is no sign of David. It’s like he was never there in the first place.
    â€œDavid?” I ask hesitantly.
    â€œHe’s already gone,” a voice says from behind my shoulder.
    I turn around. Kelley is watching me.
    â€œWhen did he leave?” I ask her.
    â€œLast night. When you finally went to sleep.”
    â€œIs he somewhere else in the house?”
    â€œNo. He couldn’t risk it.”
    I nod. I don’t need to ask any questions about why. I know why he left. So that if I’m caught and interrogated, I can’t give away his location.
    â€œIs he safe?” I ask Kelley.
    She nods. “David will be fine. He’s a survivor. And he’s a key figure in our plans for a revolution.”
    â€œHow did he get so much power?” I ask her. “It almost seems like he’s running things.”
    â€œHe’s not, but he’s vitally important. Since he was twelve, he was groomed to revolt against the UNA—” She breaks off suddenly. “I shouldn’t say more. Ask him yourself if you see him again. You two were close on Island Alpha, right?”
    I nod. “Yes.”
    She looks at me. “Was there something between the two of you? On the wheel? More than friendship?”
    The question comes out of nowhere. I can’t believe she just asked me something so personal. “No,” I tell her awkwardly. “Why would you think that?”
    â€œIntuition.” She shrugs. “Guess I was wrong.”
    â€œDid David say something about me?”
    She shakes her head. “No. But he left you a note downstairs on the kitchen table.”
    I move past her quickly, immediately heading down the stairs to get it.
    â€œI didn’t read it,” she calls out behind me. “It’s still sealed.”
    I get downstairs and head into the kitchen. Shawn is sitting there in a wooden seat, his eyes glued to a digital display.
    â€œThey’re looking for us already,” he says glumly.
    â€œOf course they are,” I tell him. “What did you expect?”
    I see the letter on the table and I snatch it up. As Kelley promised, the seal is unopened.
    â€œYou don’t have long until men come for you and take you to meet the rebels,” Shawn says.
    â€œI know.”
    I get the feeling that David didn’t tell Shawn or Kelley that I’m going to be captured on purpose. That’s