She squinted at him in the gloom. Then both green hands flew to her mouth in horror. She backed off, stumbling out of the light. ‘There’s an Immune down here!’ she shrieked. Jay shone the light on her panic-stricken face. ‘Gran, don’t be scared,’ he said, shocked by the fear in her eyes. ‘It’s only me, Jay. I won’t hurt you.’ ‘Keep away from me!’ shrieked Gran. ‘It’s because of you I’m being punished!’ Jay stared at her. ‘What are you talking about?’ ‘I was arrested as an Immune Sympathiser.’ ‘But I haven’t seen you in ages! And I’m your grandson!’ said Jay, bewildered. ‘That’s not a crime, is it?’ ‘We must keep away from Immunes,’ droned Gran, as if she was reciting something she’d learned. ‘We mustn’t help or support them in any way. No contact is acceptable. The punishment is Etiolation.’ She crept nearer the light, with a look of desperate longing on her face. ‘I don’t understand,’ said Jay. ‘Etiolation, what’s that?’ He’d heard the word before, or something like it.
