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The house was surrounded

They were trapped

On the other side of the world, the ht his own path to freedouard at his hospital rooled into a pair of thick deni-sleeved shirt he wore It was difficult with only one hand All that remained on the chair were a black cable-knit wool cap and a pair of thick socks He tugged the cap over his shaved head and pushed into the heavy socks, then into boots that were a bit snug, but the leather orn and broken in

The privacy allowed Monk to gather his wits about hih it had done little to fill in the blanks of his life He still couldn’t re up here But at least the exertion of dressing helped steady his feet

He joined the oldest of the boys, Konstantin, at the door, which was steel and had a locking bar on the outside The stoutness of the door confirmed he’d been a prisoner and that this was an escape

The youngest of the trio, Pyotr, took Monk’s hand and tugged hilow of a nurse’s station He remembered the boy’s earlier plea

Save us

Monk didn’t understand Froirl, who he had learned was named Kiska, led the way to a back stairwell, lit by a red neon sign Passing under it to the stairs, Monk stared up at the sign’s lettering

Cyrillic

He had to be in Russia Despite his lack of hts were in English Without a British accent That nize all that, why couldn’t he--

A cascade of ies suddenly blinded hi like camera flashes in his head--

…a smile…a kitchen with someone’s back turned to hihts rising froone

His head pounded He tried to catch hirabbed out with his stu He barely caught his balance He stared down at his stump and recalled one of the flashes ofacross blue sky

Was that how it had happened?

Ahead, the children rushed down the stairs Except for the youngest boy Pyotr still held his one good hand He stared up at Monk with eyes so blue they were alentle tug urged him onward

He stumbled after the others

They encountered no one on the stairs and exited out a back doorway and into astill and da heart

The enerator filled the space Monk studied the size and breadth of the hospital, sprawling out in loings and enco two five-story towers

"Co the lead now

They hurried down a dark cobblestone alleyway between the hospital and a wall that cliet his bearings A few la the tile roofs of hidden buildings They reached a corner and slipped behind the walled enclosure The ground becahts here on the back side All Monk could make out was the wall they followed, built of concrete blocks His pal and uneven lay of the bricks, it must have been hastily constructed

Monk heard an eerie yowl echoing over the wall This was followed by muffled barks and stifled sharper cries

His feet slowed Animals Was this sohts, Konstantin glanced back and erie?

They reached the far corner, and the path sloped steeply doard froht, Monk stared across a bowled valley and a picturesque village of cobbled lanes and cottages with peaked roofs and flower boxes Ornate black streetlaas flae, surrounded by ball fields and an open ae clustered around a central square, where a tall fountain’s spray danced and glittered

On the far side of the village rose row after row of industrial-looking aparts, each five stories, squared and laid out in a practical grid Dark and lightless, it had a dilapidated, deserted feeling to it

Unlike the village below

People athered in nightclothes,with adults, soray uniforh the narrow streets

So had roused the place

He heard nary

"Konstantin! Pyotr! Kiska!"

The children