Now that it was daylight, I took the long way around my parents' property. I couldn't just walk straight through the fields again. Instead, I followed the irrigation channels whose tall weeds would keep me hidden from view. Once I made it to the river, I kept close to the bank. For all I knew, the Home Guard was searching the entire area by now.

But I didn't see anyone.

The granary was completely empty.

The Home Guard had obviously been there, though. Boot prints were everywhere, and all of the weeds in the grain yard had been flattened by heavy vehicles. The bodies in the granary were gone.

Morgan's silo had been mostly untouched. Someone had obviously searched it because the food wrappers left on the floor had been trampled by booted feet.

That's when I realized what Chris's message meant.

"Refuse" was another word for "trash." Chris must have hidden something among Morgan's trash! He'd known that none of the Home Guard would have paid any attention to the trash strewn around the silos in the middle of a night raid for fleeing refugees. Even if they had figured out what "refuse" meant, none of them even know which of the silos Morgan had been kept in. But he knew I did.

I started to search through every empty meal-ration packet and discarded candy bar wrapper that Morgan had left on the silo floor.

And finally I found what I was looking for.

Inside a Hershey's wrapper I found a folded piece of paper, stained with streaks of leftover chocolate crumbs. I unfolded it. It was a note from Chris:

Ashley,

If you've found this, you figured out what the hell I meant by the note I left on the door, and you totally kick ass.

Sorry to get so cryptic, but it was the only way I could think of to get a message to you while keeping it from the H.G.'s eyes.

But you'll probably never find this message anyway, which means I'm writing to nobody, and none of this matters...

But, screw it. Just in case you do actually find this, listen up. I have a confession to make.

I haven't always been the most "ethical" of doctors. Before this whole quarantine thing happened, I used to sell prescription drugs illegally on the side. And it just so happens that Jason Gibbs used to be one of my frequent-flier clients. He used to buy all kinds of pills from me. You name the drug, he'd buy it. The more powerful the better.

Before Ian tipped me off that the H.G. was going to raid the granary, he told me about your plan to steal Jason's pharmacy access card. I just want to say that I think you're brave as hell for wanting to do that. You're a superstar. I hope you're still planning on doing it, too, because the Underground really, really needs antibiotics. Some of the refugees are in bad shape, and progressing fast.

At the bottom of the same candy wrapper you found this note in are two capsule pills. One is tied up in the finger of a BLUE latex glove. That one's a powerful sedative. Anyone who takes it will fall unconscious in about twenty minutes. The other pill is tied up in the finger of a WHITE latex glove. That one's just a sugar pill. It won't have any effect at all.

I figured that if you could slip Jason the sedative while you take the sugar pill, in twenty minutes he'd be out like a light, and you could take whatever you needed from his wallet. Tell him the pills are "grasshoppers." It's the street name of his favorite drug. Jason loves them. I've used the same kind of capsules I used whenever I sold him grasshoppers. He won't know the difference.

Just remember, if you do this: give Jason the pill tied in the finger of the BLUE latex glove. You take the sugar pill tied in the finger of the WHITE latex glove. Don't mix them up! The pills look identical!

My cell number is 555-436-7260. But don't call me from your cell! The H.G. will trace your position. Call me from a pay phone. Got it?

Good luck! If you can get that access card, you'll be doing a lot of good for a lot of people who really need help.

I'm out,

Chris

I shook the Hershey's wrapper. Two knotted pieces of latex, like little un-inflated balloons, fell into my palm. One was blue, the other white. I could feel a pill tied inside each of them. . .

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