There was no Elder Center. The Overseer asked if I had ever seen it, or a platform on the outer track leading to it, and I had to admit I hadn’t. When the elders took the black pill, they dropped into a deep sleep within seconds, then simply…slipped away. By the time the train reached the highest point of the track—the Collection Center—everyone on board was gone. All that remained were discarded bodies waiting to be disposed of in the same way we disposed of everything else in the Colony.
When he finished speaking, the Overseer stared at me, waiting for a response. I had none to give. I could only sit in stunned silence and stare back, horrified.
Finally, I found something to say. My voice squeaked when I spoke. “But that’s murder.”
“That’s life,” he said. Quiet, matter-of-fact, as if
