THE RABBIT PEN

They marched her to the rabbit pen, where about fortyhandcuffed Smokies sat inside the wire fence. A dozen or soSpecials stood in a cordon¹ around them, watching theircaptives with empty expressions. By the entrance to thecompound a few rabbits hopped² aimlessly, too addled³ bytheir sudden freedom to make a break for it.
The Special who had captured Tally⁴ took her to the endfarthest from the gate, where a handful of Smokies withbloody noses and black eyes were clustered.
“Armed resistor,” he said to the two cruel pretties whoguarded this end of the pen, and shoved her down to theground among the others.
She stumbled and fell onto her back, where her weightstretched the cuffs⁶ painfully across her wrists. When shestruggled to turn over, a foot planted itself into her backand pushed her up. For a moment, she thought the shoebelonged to a Special, but it was one of the other Smokies,helping her up the only way he could. She managed to situp cross-legged.
The wounded Smokies around her smiled grimly, noddingencouragement.
“Tally,” someone hissed⁷.
She struggled to turn toward the voice. It was Croy, a cutover his eye bleeding down onto his cheek, one side of hisface covered with dirt. He scooted himself a bit closer. “Youresisted?” he said. “Huh. Guess I was wrong about you.”
Tally could only cough. Traces of the burning pepperseemed stuck in her lungs, like the embers of a fire thatwouldn’t go out. Tears still streamed from her eyes.
“I noticed you slept through breakfast call this morning,”
he said. “Then when the Specials came, I figured you’dpicked an awfully⁸ convenient time to disappear.”
She shook her head, forced words through the cindersin her throat. “I was out late with David. That’s all.”
Speaking made her sore jaw⁹ ache.
Croy frowned. “I haven’t seen him all morning.”
“Really?” She blinked away tears. “Maybe he got away.”
“I doubt anyone did.” Croy jutted¹⁰ his chin toward thegate of the pen. A large group of Smokies was on its way,guarded by a squad¹¹ of Specials. Among them, Tally recognizedfaces from those who’d made a stand at the mess hall.
“They’re just mopping up now,” he said.
“Have you seen Shay?”
Croy shrugged¹². “She was at breakfast when theyattacked, but I lost track of her.”
“What about the Boss?”
298 Scott WesterfeldCroy looked around. “No.”
“I think he got away. He and I made a run together.”
A dark smile crossed Croy’s face. “That’s funny. Healways said he wouldn’t mind getting captured. Somethingabout a face-lift.”
Tally managed to smile. But then she thought about thebrain lesions that went along with becoming pretty, and ashiver passed through her body. She wondered how manyof these captives knew what was really going to happento them.
“Yeah, the Boss was going to give himself up, to help meget away, but I couldn’t have made it through the forest.”
“Why not?”
She wriggled¹³ her toes. “No shoes.”
Croy raised an eyebrow¹⁴. “You picked the wrong day tosleep late.”
“I guess so.”
Outside the overcrowded rabbit pen, the new arrivalswere being organized into groups. A pair of Specials movedthrough the pen, flashing a reader into the bound Smokies’
eyes, taking them outside one by one.
“They must be separating everyone by city,” Croy said.
“Why?”
“To take us home,” he said coldly.
“Home,” she repeated. Just last night, that word hadchanged its meaning in her mind. And now home wasdestroyed. It lay around her in ruins, burning and captured.
UGLIES 299She scanned the captives, looking for Shay and David.
The familiar faces in the crowd were haggard, dirty, crumpledby shock and defeat, but Tally realized that she no longerthought of them as ugly. It was the cold expressions of theSpecials, beautiful though they were, that seemed horrific toher now.
A disturbance¹⁵ caught her eye. Three of the invaderswere carrying a struggling figure, bound hand and foot,through the pen. They marched straight to the resistors’
corner and dumped her onto the ground.
It was Shay.
“Watch this one.”
The two Specials guarding them glanced at the stillwrithing figure. “Armed resistor?” one asked.
There was a pause. Tally saw that one of the Specialshad a bruise¹⁶ marring his pretty face.
“Unarmed. But dangerous.”
The three left their captive behind, their cruel gracemarked with a touch of hurry.
“Shay!” Croy hissed.
Shay rolled herself over. Her face was red, her lips puffyand bleeding. She spat¹⁷, saliva¹⁸ trailing from her mouth to abloodred glob on the dusty ground.
“Croy,” she managed with a thick tongue.
Then her eyes fell on Tally.
“You!”
“Uh, Shay . . . ,” Croy began.
300 Scott Westerfeld“You did this!” Her whole body writhed¹⁹ like a snake inits death throes. “Stealing my boyfriend wasn’t enough? Youhad to betray the whole Smoke!”
Tally closed her eyes and shook her head. It couldn’t betrue. She had destroyed the pendant. The fire had consumedit.
“Shay!” Croy said. “Calm down. Look at her. She foughtthem.”
“Are you blind, Croy? Look around you! She did this!”
Tally took a deep breath and forced herself to look atShay. Her friend’s eyes burned with hatred²⁰.
“Shay, I swear to you, I didn’t. I never . . .” Her voicefaltered.
“Who else could have led them here?”
“I don’t know.”
“We can’t blame each other, Shay,” Croy said. “It could’vebeen anything. A satellite image. A scouting²¹ mission.”
“A spy.”
“Will you look at her, Shay?” Croy cried. “She’s tied up,like us. She resisted!”
Shay slammed her eyes shut and shook her head.
The two Specials with the eye-reader had reached theresistors’ corner of the pen. One stood back while the otherstepped forward warily²². “We don’t want to hurt you,” sheannounced. “But we will if we have to.”
The cruel pretty grabbed Croy’s chin and flashed thereader in his eye. She looked at its readout.
UGLIES 301“Another one of ours,” she said.
The other Special raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t know wehad so many runaways²³.”
The two hauled Croy to his feet and marched himtoward the largest group of Smokies outside. Tally bit herlip. Croy was one of Shay’s old friends, so these twoSpecials were from her own city. Maybe all the invaderswere.
It had to be a coincidence. This couldn’t be her fault.
She’d seen the pendant burn!
“So you’ve got Croy on your side too now, I see,” Shayhissed.
Tears began to fill Tally’s eyes, but not from the pepperthis time. “Look at me, Shay!”
“He suspected you from the beginning. But I told himevery time, ‘No, Tally’s my friend. She’d never do anythingto hurt me.’”
“Shay, I’m not lying.”
“How did you change Croy’s mind, Tally? The sameway you changed David’s?”
“Shay, I never meant for that to happen.”
“So where were you two last night?”
Tally swallowed, trying to hold her voice steady. “Justtalking. I told him about my necklace.”
“That took all night? Or did you just decide to makeyour move before the Specials came? One last game withhim. With me.”
302 Scott WesterfeldTally lowered her head. “Shay . . .”
A hand grabbed her chin and forced it up. She blinked,and a dazzling red light flashed.
The Special looked at the device closely. “Hey, it’s her.”
Tally shook her head. “No.”
The other Special looked at the readout, nodding confirmation²⁴.
“Tally Youngblood?”
She didn’t answer. They lifted her to her feet and dustedher off.
“Come with us. Dr. Cable wants to see you immediately.”
“I knew it,” Shay hissed.
“No!”
They pulled Tally toward the gate of the pen. Shetwisted her head around to look back, trying to think ofwords that would explain.
Shay glared up at her from the ground, bloody⁵ teethgritted, her eyes falling to Tally’s bound wrists. A secondlater, Tally felt the pressure release, and her hands poppedapart. The Specials had cut her handcuffs.
“No,” she said softly.
One of the Specials squeezed her shoulder. “Don’tworry, Tally, we’ll have you home in no time.”
The other chimed in. “We’ve been looking for thisbunch for years.”
“Yeah, good work.”

1 cordon   

n.警戒线，哨兵线

参考例句：

• Police officers threw a cordon around his car to protect him.警察在他汽车周围设置了防卫圈以保护他。
• There is a tight security cordon around the area.这一地区周围设有严密的安全警戒圈。

2 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

3 addled   

adj.（头脑）糊涂的，愚蠢的；（指蛋类）变坏v.使糊涂( addle的过去式和过去分词 )；使混乱；使腐臭；使变质

参考例句：

• Being in love must have addled your brain. 坠入爱河必已使你神魂颠倒。
• He has addled his head with reading and writing all day long. 他整天读书写字，头都昏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 cuffs   

n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• a collar and cuffs of white lace 带白色蕾丝花边的衣领和袖口
• The cuffs of his shirt were fraying. 他衬衣的袖口磨破了。

7 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

8 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

9 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

10 jutted   

v.（使）突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出

参考例句：

• A row of small windows jutted out from the roof. 有一排小窗户从房顶上突出来。
• His jaw jutted stubbornly forward; he would not be denied. 他固执地扬起下巴，一副不肯罢休的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

12 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 wriggled   

v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）

参考例句：

• He wriggled uncomfortably on the chair. 他坐在椅子上不舒服地扭动着身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A snake wriggled across the road. 一条蛇蜿蜒爬过道路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 eyebrow   

n.眉毛，眉

参考例句：

• Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。
• With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬，似乎既感到吃惊，又觉有趣。

15 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

16 bruise   

n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤

参考例句：

• The bruise was caused by a kick.这伤痕是脚踢的。
• Jack fell down yesterday and got a big bruise on his face.杰克昨天摔了一跤，脸上摔出老大一块淤斑。

17 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

18 saliva   

n.唾液，口水

参考例句：

• He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。
• Saliva dribbled from the baby's mouth.唾液从婴儿的嘴里流了出来。

19 writhed   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He writhed at the memory, revolted with himself for that temporary weakness. 他一想起来就痛悔不已，只恨自己当一时糊涂。
• The insect, writhed, and lay prostrate again. 昆虫折腾了几下，重又直挺挺地倒了下去。

20 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

21 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

22 warily   

adv.留心地

参考例句：

• He looked warily around him,pretending to look after Carrie.他小心地看了一下四周，假装是在照顾嘉莉。
• They were heading warily to a point in the enemy line.他们正小心翼翼地向着敌人封锁线的某一处前进。

23 runaways   

（轻而易举的）胜利( runaway的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They failed to find any trace of the runaways. 他们未能找到逃跑者的任何踪迹。
• Unmanageable complexity can result in massive foul-ups or spectacular budget "runaways. " 这种失控的复杂性会造成大量的故障或惊人的预算“失控”。

24 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。