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Then, in the distance, they see the spires of the structure There are seventeen of theainst the grey sky It is unlike anything Moses has ever seen before Dangerous is what it looks like, a structure of sharp steel edges and spikes – looking so like a weapon that Moses iular of another Or a row of monstrous teeth, calcified to pale white – the petrified jaw bone of soon

Jesus, Moses says That don’t look like any cathedral I’ve ever been in

Moses, please, says the Vestal Amata and takes his arm at the shoulder The snow is collected on her choppy red hair – as though the winter itself wouldtis that look s you got to watch out for

So they cross the courtyard, holding their arms before their faces to block the wind and snow They are not dressed for this weather, and Moses can feel his beard icing up

They go around the side of the chapel A raue of a sleeping beast, and they clih the wide double doors and find thee hall lined with pews – the buttresses of the seventeen spires creating a row of triangular ribs inside that gives you the i fallen into the belly of a beast But there is an odd violet glow in the place, a perverse warrey outside

Then an old man approaches the alacrity from some alcove in the side of the place across a line of pews and up the aisle towards them It is the Pastor Whitfield, and he introduces hi sanctuary, maybe? the old man asks We welcome all

That’s nice, Pastor, says Moses But I’natius

The old natius! he says A dear old friend of mine I’m so pleased to hear he is still with us Are you part of his congregation?

Us? Moses says No Well, I ain’t at least He toldyou her She’s a Vestal

The old nantly

A Vestal, he says I’m not sure I understand She’s

She’s special, Moses says

We’re all of us special in one way or another I’s don’t want her, Moses blurts out Thewith the purple glow of the place, the sense of peace, the downright civilized tone of it all He is unused to the niceties that co with coins, but stutters They don’t--

That’s right, Moses confirel or somethin At least that’s what the friar speculated

You mean, the pastor says, she’s immune?

Immune? Moses says and looks to the Vestal I don’t know if you’d call it immune If she died would she not come back? Beats me But they’re not interested in ive you a des around I don’t know if it

If what you say is true, sir, says the pastor, then this young lady reat deal indeed But maybe more to science than to the Church Please follow me I would like to introduce you to so called sir He can’t res suddenly for the barren wilderness, the brokedown country roads, the collapsing structures, the wandering dead It is there, in that place of ragged leftovers, that he kno to behave

But the old man seems kindly, and he offers the time, and he loans them coats to wear as they cross the wide expanse of the snowy courtyard again And so he follows the man, and the Vestal, still skittish, follows Moses And when they are inside the buildings of the coet that the world ever became the wilderness it did

It is a couarded electrical fences and concrete walls There are soldiers, yes,with neat precision, but there are others, too Civilians to be observed in the glos of bunkhouses, even children Technicians tinkering within front of co busily to and fro in white lab coats

Moses wonders if this is the order he has been craving – if this is what order looks like It has been so long So long He keeps a hand near a pistol on his belt in case of a trap He looks warily around corners before he turns them so that he won’t be taken by surprise The Vestal, too, sees of the coe, he thinks The girl has been through so much She has been beaten and lost and whored and iether – but she has never been simply safe It must taste sour to her Unnatural

Yes, Moses thinks, that is what the girlof the compound and introduced to men and women who are cordial and businesslike They sly when Moses tells theive a de by ready to shoot the feirl But she doesn’t The Vestal walks right up to the slug and stands before her In the bright lights of the lab, everyone watches as the two lock curious, pitying and befuddled eyes A long string of drool falls from the lip of the dead woman but she makes no move to wipe it away Then Moses sees the Vestal’s lips– just briefly, a phrase But he is standing behind glass with the scientists and cannot hear what she says Later he asks one of the soldiers as in the roo, I s, still stunned by the demonstration

She said it soft, the soldier says I couldn’t really hear it But it sounded like, Where are you?

After the demonstration, the scientists sit the Vestal down and proceed to ask her a series of questions, s she has eaten or the drugs she has taken or the places she has been

While the interview is taking place, the Vestal keeps glancing over at Moses, who nods seriously It is a reassuring nod, but also one that says she is obliged to continue

After a while, Pastor Whitfield hi with the Vestal, and he suggests that they give the girl a break