Among the Betrayed

The children pass a few happy days in the woods, hiking in the sun and sleeping under the stars. Nina worries less about being imprisoned again. One morning, however, Nina realizes they have no more food. Percy reminds Nina about her idea of growing a garden. Perplexed, Nina buries a few apple seeds into holes in the ground. She does not know how much time it takes for apples to grow. Exasperated, she tells the children she knows nothing about growing food because her grandmother and aunties always cared for her. Alia says Nina never talked about her past, and Nina confesses her distrust of them. However, Matthias says they also don’t trust her. While the past days felt like a “vacation,” the children now have to face reality: They must find a way to survive though the food is gone. 

Nina remembers Lee Grant, a boy from Hendricks School who knows about gardens. Matthias suggests that someone must go to Hendricks School and find the boy. Nina expects one of the other children to do it, but Percy says Nina is the one who knows Lee. He suggests that Nina disguise herself as a boy. Nina complains that she is not as capable as them, and they cannot trust her. Alia, however, says they do trust her.

At dusk, wearing Matthias’s cap, Nina crosses the woods alone toward Hendricks School, recalling when she and her friends sneaked out to meet Jason and the other boys. She is still frightened and remains alert. Despite this, she goes on. 

Nina arrives outside the school, amazed that she managed to cross the woods. She finds a door and opens it despite her terror. Walking into a dark hall, she hears loud laughing and yelling. She follows the noise and reaches a doorway, looking inside. She sees the boys having fun playing with rubber balls and recalls a summer when she looked outside the window and saw children playing games in the street. She was amazed that they were having fun, and nobody yelled at them to be quiet. She wondered if she could ever play like that, but Nina could not be like other children. Now, she feels confused that the boys at Hendricks School are playing, while the girls at her school were always silent. Nina hears a boy yelling, thinking he might be Lee. However, she remembers Lee was younger. Nina turns and runs back, leaving the school. 

Nina feels like a coward and cannot face the children. As she walks toward the woods, though, she squishes something with her foot. She realizes it is a tomato and tastes it. Excited, she calls the children, yelling that she just found a garden.

The four children return to the garden with flashlights. They find tomatoes, cabbages, beans, carrots, and potatoes. Starved, they eat the potatoes raw. After finishing their meal, they must cover their tracks. For days, they keep getting food from the garden and try to cover their traces. 

One day, Nina questions the kids about their life on the streets. She asks them what they used to eat, and Alia explains they sometimes found doughnuts in the garbage outside bakeries. Nina wonders if they made any money from selling IDs; Matthias tries to end the conversation by saying it was a “nonprofit operation” (129). Nina persists, suggesting they could go to the city and sell IDs again. Percy emphasizes that someone betrayed them, and they cannot return. Nina is upset but declares it is her turn to bring food from the garden. 

As Nina collects vegetables, she thinks about the children feeling bad that someone betrayed them, too. She wants to tell them what happened to her but hesitates. Suddenly, two boys appear and grab Nina. She recognizes them as Lee and Trey. They accuse her of helping Jason betray them and drag her away before she can explain.

Nina resists but cannot escape from Lee and Trey. They lead her to a cottage beyond the school and say they are taking her to Mr. Hendricks. Nina is confused; when the door opens, she sees a man in a wheelchair. The man asks her to speak, but Nina does not know what to say. She only thinks about Matthias, Percy, and Alia, and how to warn them. Nina is sure there is no hope for her. The boys tell the man she stole from their garden and lead her into the living room. Before the boys leave, she murmurs to Lee that she did not betray them. Nina hopes that they will not remember her as a traitor like Jason. 

Nina stays alone with the man, thinking about how to escape. She knows she must warn the children to leave. Nina grabs the wheelchair and thrusts the man to the floor. Then, she runs to the door and into the woods. She finds the children and tells them they must escape. Alia reassures her, and then Nina confesses everything: She says the “hating man” asked her to betray them and that Jason betrayed her to the Population Police. She admits she was “untrustworthy” and only wanted to save her own life. Jason’s betrayal hurt her, and she wanted to hurt others, too. Crying, she also reveals her real name. She tells the children to go and gives them the food. They all embrace just as the “hating man” appears.

Nina is terrified and tries to run. She stumbles over a branch, and Percy and Matthias grab her. Nina thinks they are turning her in and screams. However, Alia comforts her, saying she passed the test. Alia reveals that the “hating man” is Mr. Talbot, Jen Talbot’s father—he only pretends to work for the Population Police. Nina sees Lee, Trey, and a few other boys standing around. 

Mr. Talbot explains that he is posing as a double agent for the Population Police to “double-cross” them. He learned that a boy knew of several third children at Hendricks School and informed the Population Police. Mr. Talbot was sure those children would die and devised this plan with Lee’s help. He says that during Nina’s interrogation, he was convinced she was innocent but could not be completely sure. Nina knew about many third children, so they had to test her. When an informer turned in Matthias, Percy, and Alia, Mr. Talbot thought they would be safer in prison because their protector, Samuel Jones, was killed during a rally. The children agreed to test Nina and see which side she was on. If she protected the children, she would be saved—otherwise, she would be killed. The policemen on the bridge were also part of the test. Alia says she knew Nina was good, but the boys wanted to wait for her to confess. 

Nina realizes that at the cottage, she forgot her own terror and thought only about her new friends. She did not deserve what she went through with her arrest, but neither did the children. Tearful, Nina thanks them for giving her many chances to prove herself.

Nina spends the following days at Mr. Hendricks’s house with Matthias, Percy, and Alia. She often gathers food from the garden with Lee, who tells her stories about returning home. 

The group is having a feast before she, Matthias, Percy, and Alia are sent to another school with fake IDs. Nina is in the garden with Lee and says she could forgive the girls at her school for not defending her. Lee emphasizes they might still suspect her as a traitor because they have not “grown up” like she has. Nina realizes she is no longer the terrified child she used to be. Lee also tells Nina he thinks Jason tried to save her, not have her arrested, thinking he would be rewarded for making her work for him. Nina says Jason did something evil—he tried to kill other children. Lee agrees but thinks that Jason liked Nina. Nina remembers Mr. Talbot’s tape recording, and Lee suggests it might have been a fake. 

Nina runs to the cottage and finds Mr. Talbot and Mr. Hendricks. She asks Mr. Talbot if the tape with Jason’s confession was a fake. If he tried to save her, it meant he loved her. Nina will try to keep a good memory of him. If he betrayed her, she might not be able to trust people again. Mr. Talbot notes she trusted him and the three children. He explains that everyone’s intentions can get “muddy,” and that people must have faith and do their best. He finally says the tape was fake. Nina is relieved, proclaiming that Jason loved her. Mr. Talbot asks her if this is the only important thing for her. Nina says she will remember him as good since he is dead. She wonders what made Jason who he was, recalling her own despair in prison. Mr. Talbot reveals that Jason is alive and is devising a secret operation with the Population Police. Nina freezes and decides she cannot forgive him. However, Mr. Talbot does not condone living with bitterness. Nina recalls her grandmother’s fairytales about people staying true to themselves against adversity. She declares she wants to help Mr. Talbot, feeling like she passed another test. 

Nina returns to the garden, thinking that Jason loves her, but she still considers him evil. She tells Lee she will volunteer to help Mr. Talbot, and Lee welcomes her to their team.