Ruins

“They won’t be occupied for long,” said Ariel. “We need to get out this back door before they come looking for food.” She turned to the others and motioned toward the door. They crept toward it slowly, one foot at time, barely even daring to breathe.

All of them but Kessler.

The older woman stayed rooted in place, staring at the kitchen door. Come on! thought Ariel. She waved her over, trying to get her attention. Nandita was already by the back door, her hand poised to open it. Kessler turned toward them, finding Isolde. Her eyes were sad, but her jaw was set and determined.

I’m sorry, she mouthed.

Ariel screamed in her head, Don’t do it!

“Help us,” said Kessler loudly. “We have a sick child, and we need medicine. Can you help us?”

“No!” screamed Isolde.

The room beyond exploded in sound, four or five or ten Partial soldiers all standing up at once, glasses falling with a crash. “Who’s there? Identify yourselves!”

“We need your help,” said Kessler again. “The child is dying.”

“I won’t let you hurt him!” howled Isolde, clutching Khan to her chest. Kessler strode toward her, whispering softly, trying to speak as Hobb held her back.

“No one will hurt him,” she whispered. “They’ll just see him and get sick and take it back to their outpost to infect everyone else. We may lose a few days, but we’ll be safer, we won’t have any more patrols to worry about, we’ll be free—”

“We’re coming in,” shouted a Partial, right on the other side of the door. “We want to see hands in the air and weapons on the floor.”

“Leave us alone!” shouted Hobb.

The door opened a few inches, though no Partials were visible. “Weapons on the floor or we come in shooting.” Isolde threw her rifle down, looking at Kessler like she wanted to tear her apart with her teeth. “That’s right,” said the voice, “keep going. Every gun in the room goes down.” Kessler dropped her rifle, then Hobb and Xochi. “Keep going, come on.” Ariel was the last to surrender her rifle, and as soon as her hands were raised, Partials swarmed into the room, four that she could see with at least one more waiting in the other room. “Hands in the air,” the lead Partial repeated. “Where did you come from? We’ve had this area cleared for weeks.”

“We need help,” said Kessler. “We’ve been trying to make it back to East Meadow to save the child.” She pointed to Isolde, but the nearest Partial shoved his gun closer to her face, and she quickly raised her arm again. “It’s the storm,” she said. “We weren’t ready, and he’s gotten sick. Can you help him?”

The Partials said nothing, but Ariel could feel a faint buzz on the edge of her perception. The link? she wondered. Is that what it feels like? After a moment the lead Partial stepped forward, his rifle down, his arm outstretched toward Isolde.

“Let me see him.”

“Don’t you touch him,” Isolde hissed.

“We’re not here to hurt you. We don’t have a medic, but we do have a supply of medicine. If there’s something we can do for him, we will.”

“Just let him see the child,” said Hobb. “We don’t want any trouble.”

Stay back, thought Ariel, you might not be infected yet. Just run now and—

He stepped forward again, keeping his eyes locked on Isolde’s. “I’m just going to look. Move your hands to the side, please—hands away from the child, please.” Ariel realized that they might suspect a bomb, as there was really no way of knowing that the tiny bundle on Isolde’s chest was really a child. She moved her hands away, her face a mass of devastated tears. The Partial reached out, touched the edge of the blanket around Khan’s head, and pulled it back.

“Bioweapon!” he screamed. “Fall back, fall back!” He practically tripped over himself trying to get away from the sick, blistered baby. Isolde wrapped her arms around the child and turned away; the soldiers scrambled for the door they came through; Kessler surged forward, shouting for them to stay, that it was all right, and a terrified Partial shot her in the chest. The shot was like a signal for the world to go mad, and in a heartbeat the entire room was filled with gunfire, Partials roaring the retreat, Ariel’s group diving for cover and scrambling for their weapons. Bullets and shrapnel flew through the air, bouncing off pots and pans and showering the room in dust and plaster. Ariel drew her pistol and dropped to the cover of the central counter, firing into the wall of Partials without even pausing to aim. Xochi went down, and Nandita beside her, but Ariel couldn’t see if they’d been hit or were simply hiding. Isolde ran for the back door, Hobb roaring a warning and shielding her with his body. Two tufts of red flew up from his back, and he shoved the mother and child out into the storm.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE