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"I don’t suppose you’ve seen the captain, or the copilot, have you?" asked Ernie

"No, I haven’t Like I said, I went flying That’s all"

"You’re a lucky son of a gun," Mercy told him

"I don’t feel real lucky And what’s that noise?"

"It’s the line It’s caught up to us Come on, now Other side of the road Get do, and make a dash for it--as o thanking your lucky stars quite yet"

But soon they were ducking and shuffling, flinging theray territory, and not aorders back and forth at one another, extending the line, setting up thethe road They ordered Mercy and the men to "Clear the area! Now!"

Larsen yelled back, "We’re civilians!"

"You’re going to be dead civilians if you don’t get away froood look at Mercy "Wait a ht"

"You any good?"

"I’ve saved more men than I’ve killed, if that’s what you want to know" She helped hoist Larsen down over the drop-​off at the road’s edge, leaving herself closer to the dangerous front line She stared down the asker, daring him to propose one more stupid question before she kicked hiot a colonel with a busted-​up arm and chest Our doctor took a bullet up the nose and noe’ve got nobody The colonel’s a good leader,hihed it out "I’ll give it a try Ernie, you and Larsen--"

"We’ll make for the rails I’ll help him walk Good luck to you, ma’am"

"And to the pair of you, too You--" She indicated the Reb who’d asked her help "--take et a look at him"

"My name’s Jensen," he told her on the way between the trees I hope you can help him It’s worse for us if we lose him You, uhyou one of ours?"

"One of yours? Sweetheart, I’ve spent the orking at the Robertson Hospital"

"The Robertson?" Hope pinked his cheeks Mercy could see the flush rise up, even under the trees, in the dark, with only a sliver of ht to tell about it "That’s a dae"

"Daive a fistful of horseshit about your language"

She looked back once to see if Larsen and Ernie were , but the woods wouldn’t let her see much, and soon the cannon smoke and barricades sed the rest of her view

Jensen towed her through the lines, guiding her around wheeled artillery carts and the aave them as wide a berth as she could, since he told her, "Don’t touch theraze theiside the road they dashed, always back--to the back of the line--following the sa toward help or being hauled that way on tight cotton stretchers

Back on the other side of the road, on the other side of the line, she heard a mechanical wail that blasted like a steam whistle for twenty full seconds It shook the leaves at the top of the trees and gusted through the camp like a storm Soldiers and officers froze, and shuddered; and then the as answered by a returning call from someplace farther away The second screah it ht

"It’s only a train, out there," she breathed

Jensen heard her He said, "No Not only a train That ht"

"The metal monster? Thethe walker? Is that what they called it?" she asked as they resuh the chaos of the back line "One of your fellows told me they have one, but I don’t knohat that is"

"Yeah, that’s it It’s as up and make them as flexible as they can, and once you’re inside it, not even a direct artillery hit--at real close range--will bring you down The Yanks have got only a couple of them, praise Jesus They’re expensive to make and power"

"You sound like a man who’s met one, once or twice"