MADDY AND AZ

David took the board over the ridge¹ so fast that Tallythought she would tumble off. She sank her fingertips intoDavid’s jacket to steady herself, thankful for the new shoes’
grippy soles. “Listen, David. The Boss fought them, that’swhy they killed him.”
“My parents would fight too.”
She bit her lip and focused her whole mind on stayingon board. When they reached the closest approach of thehoverpath to his parents’ house, David jumped off anddashed down the slope.
Tally² realized that the board still wasn’t fully⁴ charged,and took a moment to unfold it before following, in nohurry to discover what the Specials had done to Maddy andAz. But when she thought of David finding his parents onhis own, Tally ran after him.
It took her long minutes to find the path in the densebrush. Two nights ago they had come in the dark, and froma different direction. She listened for David, but couldn’thear anything. But then the wind shifted, and the smell ofsmoke came through the trees.
Burning the house hadn’t been easy.
Set into the mountain, the stone walls and roof hadprovided no fuel for the fire. But the attackers had evidentlythrown something inside that had contained its own fuel.
The windows were blown outward, glass littering the grassin front of the house, nothing left of the door but a fewcharred scraps⁶ swinging on their hinges in the breeze.
David stood in front, unable to cross the threshold.
“Stay here,” Tally said.
She stepped through the doorway⁷, but the air overpoweredher for the first moments. Morning light slanted⁸ in,picking out floating particles of ash. They swirled⁹ aroundTally, little spiral galaxies¹⁰ set in motion by her passage.
The blackened floorboards crumbled¹¹ under her feet,burned away to bare stone in some places. But some thingshad survived the fire. She remembered the marble statuettefrom her visit, and one of the rugs hanging on the wallremained mysteriously untouched. In the parlor¹², a fewteacups stood out white against the charred⁵ furniture. Tallypicked one up, realizing that if these cups had survived, ahuman body would leave more than traces.
She swallowed. If David’s parents had been here, whateverwas left of them would be easy to find.
Deeper into the house, in a small kitchen, city-made potsand pans hung from the ceiling, their warped¹³, blackened334 Scott Westerfeldmetal still shining through in a few spots. Tally noted¹⁴ a bagof flour, and a few pieces of dried fruit somehow made herempty stomach growl¹⁵.
The bedroom was last.
The stone ceiling was low and angled, the paint crackedand blackened from the heat of a raging fire. Tally felt theheat still rising from the bed, the straw mattress¹⁶ and thickquilts fuel for the conflagration¹⁷.
But Az and Maddy had not been there. There was nothingin the room that could have been human remains¹⁸. Tallysighed with relief and made her way back outside, recheckingevery room.
She shook her head as she stepped through the door.
“Either the Specials took them, or they got away.”
David nodded and pushed past her. Tally collapsed¹⁹ onthe ground and coughed, her lungs finally protestingagainst the smoke and dust particles she had inhaled²⁰. Herhands and arms were black with soot²¹, she realized.
When David came out, he held a long knife. “Hold outyour hands.”
“What?”
“The handcuffs. I can’t stand them.”
She nodded and held out her hands. He carefullythreaded the blade between flesh and plastic, working itback and forth²³ to saw the cuffs²².
A solid minute later, he pulled the knife away in frustration²⁴.
“It’s not working.”
UGLIES 335Tally looked closer. The plastic had hardly beenmarked. She hadn’t seen how the Special had snipped²⁵ herhandcuffs in two behind her, but it had only taken amoment. Perhaps they’d used a chemical trigger.
“Maybe it’s some kind of aircraft plastic,” she said.
“Some of that stuff is stronger than steel.”
David frowned. “So how did you get them apart?”
Tally opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Shecould hardly tell him that the Specials had released herthemselves.
“And why do you have two cuffs on each wrist, anyway?”
She looked down dumbly, remembering that they’dhandcuffed her first when she was captured, then again infront of Dr. Cable, before taking her to look for the pendant.
“I don’t know,” Tally managed. “I guess they double-cuffedus. But breaking out was easy. I cut them on a sharp rock.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” David looked at the knife.
“Dad always said this was the most useful thing he’d everbrought from the city. It’s all high-tech²⁶ alloys²⁷ and monofilaments.”
She shrugged²⁸. “Maybe the part that joined the cuffs wasmade out of different stuff.”
He shook his head, not quite accepting her story.
Finally, he shrugged. “Oh well, we’ll just have to live withthem. But one thing’s for sure: My parents didn’t get away.”
“How do you know?”
He held up the knife. “If he’d had any warning, my dad336 Scott Westerfeldnever would have left without this. The Specials must havesurprised them completely.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, David.”
“At least they’re alive.”
He looked into her eyes, and Tally saw that his panichad faded. “So, Tally, do you still want to go after them?”
“Yes, of course.”
David smiled. “Good.” He sat next to her, looking backat the house and shaking his head. “It’s funny, Mom alwayswarned me that this would happen. They tried to prepareme the whole time I was growing up. And for a long while Ibelieved them. But after all those years, I started to wonder.
Maybe my parents were just being paranoid. Maybe, likerunaways always said, Special Circumstances wasn’t real.”
Tally nodded silently, not trusting herself to speak.
“And now that it’s happened, it seems even less real.”
“I’m sorry, David.” But he could never know how sorry.
Not until she’d helped save his parents, at least. “Don’tworry, we’ll find them.”
“One stop to make first.”
“Where?”
“As I said, my parents were ready for this, ever sincethey founded the Smoke. They made preparations.”
“Like making sure you could take care of yourself,” shesaid, touching²⁹ the soft leather of his handmade jacket.
He smiled at her, rubbing soot from her cheek with onefinger. “They did a lot more than that. Come with me.”
UGLIES 337F F FIn³ a cave near the house, the opening so small that Tallyhad to crawl inside on her belly³⁰, David showed her thecache of gear his parents had tended for twenty years.
There were water purifiers, direction finders, lightweightclothes, and sleeping bags—by Smokey standards,an absolute fortune in survival equipment. The four hoverboardshad old-fashioned styling, but they were fitted withthe same features as the one Dr. Cable had supplied Tallywith for the trip to the Smoke, and there was a package ofspare belly sensors³¹, sealed against moisture. Everything wasof the highest quality.
“Wow, they did plan ahead.”
“Always,” he said. He picked up a flashlight and testedits beam against the stone. “Every time I came here to checkon all this stuff, I would imagine this moment. A milliontimes I planned exactly what I would need. It’s almost likeI imagined it so much that it had to happen.”
“It’s not your fault, David.”
“If I’d been here—”
“You’d be in a Special Circumstances hovercar rightnow, handcuffed, not likely to rescue anyone.”
“Yeah, and instead, I’m here.” He looked at her. “But atleast you are too. You’re the one thing I never imagined, allthose times. An unexpected ally.”
She managed to smile.
He pulled out a big waterproof³² bag. “I’m starving.”
338 Scott WesterfeldTally nodded, and her head swam for a moment. Shehadn’t eaten since dinner two nights before.
David rummaged³³ through the bag. “Plenty of instantfood. Let’s see: VegiRice, CurryNoods, SwedeBalls, Pad-Thai . . . any favorites?”
Tally took a deep breath. Back to the wild.
“Anything but SpagBol.”

1 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

2 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。

3 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

7 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

8 slanted   

有偏见的； 倾斜的

参考例句：

• The sun slanted through the window. 太阳斜照进窗户。
• She had slanted brown eyes. 她有一双棕色的丹凤眼。

9 swirled   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
• The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。

10 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

11 crumbled   

（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏

参考例句：

• He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
• Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。

12 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

13 warped   

adj.反常的；乖戾的；（变）弯曲的；变形的v.弄弯，变歪( warp的过去式和过去分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾，

参考例句：

• a warped sense of humour 畸形的幽默感
• The board has warped. 木板翘了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。

16 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

17 conflagration   

n.建筑物或森林大火

参考例句：

• A conflagration in 1947 reduced 90 percent of the houses to ashes.1947年的一场大火，使90%的房屋化为灰烬。
• The light of that conflagration will fade away.这熊熊烈火会渐渐熄灭。

18 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

19 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

20 inhaled   

v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 她合上双眼，深深吸了一口气。
• Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him. 珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

22 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。

23 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

24 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

25 snipped   

v.剪( snip的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He snipped off the corner of the packet. 他将包的一角剪了下来。 来自辞典例句
• The police officer snipped the tape and untied the hostage. 警方把胶带剪断，松绑了人质。 来自互联网

26 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

27 alloys   

n.合金( alloy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is essentially a development of thoria dispersion strengthened nickel alloys. 这基本上是用二氧化钍弥散强度化的镍基合金。 来自辞典例句
• The lack of deep hardening in these alloys negates their use. 这些合金缺乏深层硬化能力使它们无法利用。 来自辞典例句

28 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》

29 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

30 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

31 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

32 waterproof   

n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水

参考例句：

• My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
• All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。

33 rummaged   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查

参考例句：

• I rummaged through all the boxes but still could not find it. 几个箱子都翻腾遍了也没有找到。
• The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods. 海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。