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Ringer’s scrunched into a corner of the roo in froloved in blood I have to look She doesn’t want me to look I’m like, "Don’t be stupid, I have to look" So she lets e I find a scarf lying on a display table and she wads it up and presses it against her neck Nods at my torn sleeve

"Are you hit?"

I shake my head and ease down on the floor beside her We’re both pulling hard for air My head sith adrenaline "Not to be judguy sucks"

"Three shots, three misses Makes you wish this was baseball"

"A lot ets, and the only true hit a superficial wound to Teacup’s leg

"Amateur"

"He probably is"

"Probably" She bites off the word

"He didn’t light up and he’s no pro A loner defending his turf, uys we came after Scared shitless" I don’t add like us I’m only sure about one of us

Outside, Poundcake continues to occupy the sniper Pop-pop-pop, a heavy quiet, then pop-pop-pop The sniper responds each tier says, her riht up, Ringer We don’t have authorization to--"

"I do" Pulling her rifle into her lap "Right here"

"Uht our mission was to save humanity"

She looks at me out of the side of her uncovered eye "Chess, Zo yourself from the move that hasn’t happened yet Does it h our eyepieces? That he missed us when he could have taken us down? If two possibilities are equally probable but mutually exclusive, which one matters the most? Which one do you bet your life on?"

I’ he still could be infested," I guess

"I’ the safe bet is to proceed as if he is"

She pulls her co her Dorothy reer pull out her knife?

"What htfully There’s a terrible stillness to her now, a thunderhead about to crack, a stea volcano about to blow "Whatthat out Got a lot better at it after the attacks What really matters? My mom died first That was bad--but what really mattered was I still had my dad, my brother, and baby sister Then I lost them, and what mattered was I still had me And there wasn’t much that mattered when it came to me Food Water Shelter What else do you need? What else matters?"

This is bad, halfway down the road to being really bad I have no idea where she’s going with this, but if Ringer goes Dorothy on me now, I’ her back into the present Best way is by touch, but I’ut me with that ten-inch blade

"Does itthe knife slowly in her hands "That he shot at us and not the three Teds right in front of hi the knife slowly, the tip denting her finger "Does itafter the EMP attack? That they’re operating right underneath theinfesteds and burning their bodies by the hundreds, ar us out to kill the rest? Tell nificant that they aren’t really them Tell me what possibility I should bet ain, but this time I do follow her, and that path ends in a very dark place I squat down beside her and look her dead in the eye "I don’t knohat this guy’s story is and I don’t know about the EMP, but the co us alone They think we’re no longer a threat to thes and snaps, "How does the commander knohat they think?"

"Wonderland We were able to profile a--"

"Wonderland," she echoes Nodding sharply Eyes cutting froain "Wonderland is an alien prograently try to lead her back "It is, Ringer Remember? After we took back the base, we found it hidden--"

"Unless we didn’t Zombie, unless we didn’t" She jabs the knife toward me "It’s a possibility, equally valid, and possibilities matter Trust me, Zombie; I’ blind man’s bluff Time for some chess" She flips the knife around and shoves the handle toward me "Cut it out of me"

I don’t knohat to say I stare dumbly at the knife in her hand

"The i me in the chest now "We have to take them out You do er, we can’t cut theument, but all I can come up with is, "If we can’tto find us?"

"Da I’ve said? What if they aren’t us? What if they’re the has been a lie?"

I’m about to lose it Okay, not about to "Oh, for Christ’s sake, Ringer! Do you kno cra--stupid that sounds? The ene us weapons? Coot a job to do You may not be happy about it, but I aht" Very calm now As cool as I’m hot "I’ll do it myself"