Page 50 (1/2)

I followed the beah for a h, a pile of brick bits scattered on the floor below TJ approached it and I said, "Hey, let onna want to see this Check it"

I very slowly edged closer, trying to see into the jagged hole "Is there another roo,with insect life It was lined with red brick and arched at the top, extending to infinity It was h, butiron pipes that ran along the walls

He said, "Old stea?"

"Don’t know Maybe one that’s not even there anymore Crawl in there and find out"

"No, thanks We know it ends past the perih And outside where anybody patrols Man or robot"

"Because your dog got in through here"

"Yep"

For the benefit of the wo tensely in the hall, TJ said, "ALL CLEAR IN HERE, GIRL! WE’RE COMIN’ OUT!"

I headed for the door and said, "A, or is Owen the only one who gets to do that?"

"Well noait, why does this need a ?"

I stopped to face TJ just short of the door to the hallway I lowered my voice and said, "To … see who all wants to try to escape fro prison?"

"You want everybody to know about this?"

"Why wouldn’t I?"

"Even the reds?"

"I don’t think the color tea outside these fences, TJ"

"I’ a hundred and fifty or so high-risk patients out of quarantine"

"Now, co about the new people, right? Everybody out there has been spider-checked"

"Owen hasn’t A lot of people haven’t They had you check all the new arrivals but a lot of people got grandfathered in because e suggested a check of everybody, Owen started waving his gun around"

"But if they haven’t, you know, monstered out by now then we know they’re not--"

"You sure about that? We got no idea when Carlos got infected The girl you almost missed, she alkin’ around like you and me, parasite and all, for a week or so Isn’t that what she said? How many more like her could we have in here? Think about that, now You lead soates, you’re responsible for whatever they may do once they’re out"

"But if I leave uninfected people behind and they get incinerated if the air force nukes this place, then I’ht"

"Goddaht Let’s say they intend to turn this whole facility into a crater What that e theirthey got to do is get the word out to the chain of command that there’s innocent people in quarantine, uninfected So that group that gets out, it’s got to act as a representative of what’s inside Got to put a good face on the quarantine So it’s got to be people we know are clean They’re gonna be our aht?"

"But we don’t kno much time we have--"

"I’m not done If, on the other hand, we help infected leak out into the town and they start wreaking havoc, andat a onna draw a bigger red circle around this whole town Right? And you think your girl is out there And John, and whoever else in this town you care about"

"That place that makes those Cuban sandwiches"

"Yeah, Cuba Libre You had their coffee, man? No e can let ’em bomb that place"

"You see the waitresses?"

"M there, he definitely an ass o?"

"Well, see, Spider-Man, now there’s a tough-ass decision we got tofor TJ and me out in the hall outside the boiler roo with Corey (the curly haired kid who’d couy whose nauy who looked like Vizzini from The Princess Bride) and the tomen who heard the commotion and wandered in from the break room