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And I didn’t see any way to do that

Misery crept up on ainst an ache in my throat and stoth beside me

"Jo," his voice said, and I closed my eyes and pretended he was here, physically here It was easier than I’d thought Maybe I was going crazy "This has happened before It’s happened in other countries, to other people; it’s even happened here, in soenocide There’s never aat the hands of others You know that Human nature isn’t your fault"

"I know," I whispered "But it feels like it is"

Maybe he would have tried to offer ht then, Cherise screamed and yelled, "Stop the car!"

David must have been the one in control, because there was no debate about it The Djinn braked the Boss to a stop on the damp pavement in a noisy slide

"Uh, Cher, thatout the rearview ht take them a fewShe bailed out of the car and darted out into the glow of the headlights, and I saw her scramble over debris toward the side of the road "Dammit," I said "Kevin Go with her Hurry"

He was already on his way, and shotto anyway,"

he said "Thanks, Molad he wasn’t my kid It felt like cowardice, but I stayed behind I was nothing but a liability right now, and at least one of us needed to stay with the car Kevin didn’t seerinned fiercely as he passed through the headlights, plunging after Cherise to the side of the road

It seeh the backTheIt was a deep, anihout history had felt, holding their ground and waiting while the eneot so focused on the approach of the crowd that it surprised me (complete with yelp) when Cherise yanked open the back door and cli bundled in her arms in a dirty blanket It squiro!"

Off ent, leaving the swiftest of the ravel and dust

The bundle in Cherise’s arry or tired baby; this was more--aware A toddler, maybe two or three years old Cherise unwrapped the blanket, and I saw a small, round face capped by shiny, thick black hair The child looked as miserable as I felt

"Cher," I said "We can’t--"

Kevin leaned forward, cutting me off "There was a whole family back there," he said

"Mom, dad, two other kids This one’s the only one still breathing So shut up, okay?"

I sed "What happened to them?"

"What do you think happened? They had so Somebody else wanted it Probably a car; they didn’t look like they’d been walking, and they didn’t have any bags"

Kevin was right I couldn’t say no to helping this kid Maybe I should have;about the greater good and saving theat that little face, was, "Okay"

Whatever David thought, he kept it to hi set of back roads, turning left, then right at intersections until we arrived back at a ain I didn’t knohere ere, and I wasn’t sure maps hadto do now; they had found some crackers and juice boxes in their stash of snacks, and were now arguing over whether a kid that age wore a diaper I didn’t add any insights They both see, which was a little endearing

The night passed quietly enough We’d outrun the worst of the storh the silent trees It alht air fluttered over my face like a damp veil I breathed it in and felt, for a moment, a little calmed This still exists There’s still hope

David said, "We should have good travel for the next few hundred miles This part of the country’s still relatively unaffected"

"Yeah, why is that?" Kevin asked

I already knew the answer to that "It’s rural," I said "And the trouble is focusing on centers of population first That doesn’t mean it won’t spread fast, but for now, people out here are as safe as they can be"

"It’s more than that," David said "There’s a black corner near here--a small one It’s been here for a thousand years or more But it tends to keep the Djinn and the Wardens well away"

I blinked, because I hadn’t known that

It h--black corners were places that canceled out supernatural forces, all kinds of supernatural forces It asting energy to go near one

Whichpeople who didn’t, and couldn’t, tell the difference

"Pull over," I ordered

"It’s better if we--"

"David, pull the car over now!"

He did There was no use trying for Google Maps or GPS; I went at it old-school, rifling the glove compartood enough I flipped through it until I found a map of the entire continental USA

"Show me on the map where the black corners are," I said Small black areas painted themselves out There weren’t many, but they were thereand they were scattered from coast to coast, north to south Alood David, you’re talking through the radio"

There was a long pause, and then David said, in the tone of so the obvious, "Yes?"

"Is that just to us, or can you do it anywhere?"

"Define anywhere"

"All radios in specific areas"

Another pause, and then he said, slowly, "Yes Yes, I can"

"Awesoot out of the car and spread the atlas out on the hood of the idling car Cherise and Kevin got out with ly asleep in his arms "I need dimensions on these black corners Specifically, how many people they can hold, whether there’s any food and water, shelter, that kind of thing Get me all the information you can"

"Uh--how?" Cherise asked blankly She held out her phone It still said NO SERVICE