Page 14 (2/2)

Tess leans against the rooht and, as always, she can sense it

The plague has hit the Lake sector hard In the glow of the JumboTrons, Tess and I can see the soldiers at the end of the street as they inspect each home, their black capes shiny and worn loose in the heat Each of thee, theyred X on the front door No one enters or leaves the ho

“Still don’t see them?” Tess whispers Shadows conceal her expression

In an atteshot out of old PVC pipes “They haven’t eaten dinner They haven’t sat down by the table in hours” I shift and stretch out my bad knee

“Maybe they’re not home?”

I shoot Tess an irritated glance She’s trying to console me, but I’m not in the mood “A lamp’s lit Look at those candles Mom would never waste candles if no one was home”

Tess moves closer “We should leave the city for a couple weeks, yeah?” She tries to keep her voice calue will have blown through, and you can coh money for two train tickets”

I shake ht a week, reht a week”

“Yeah You’ve been coht this week”

“I just want to make sure they’re okay”

“What if you get sick?”

“I’ll take my chances And you didn’t have to come with me You could’ve waited for me back in Alta”

Tess shrugs “Soer than h to be my caretaker

We look on in silence as the soldiers draw closer to my family’s house Every time they stop at a home, one soldier pounds on the door while a second stands next to hiun drawn If no one opens the door within ten seconds, the first soldier kicks it in I can’t see them once they rush inside, but I know the drill: a soldier will draw a blood sa it into a handheld reader and check for the plague The whole process takes ten minutes

I count the houses bethere the soldiers are now and where my family lives I’ll have to wait another hour before I know their fate

A shriek echoes from the other end of the street My eyes dart toward the sound and my hand whips to the knife sheathed at my belt Tess sucks in her breath

It’s a plague victi foreverywhere, and I findhow the soldiers could haveprevious inspections She stues forward, only to trip and fall to her knees I glance back toward the soldiers They see her now The soldier with the draeapon approaches, while the eleven others stay where they are and look on One plague victiun and aiulfs the infected woman