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Courtnee put her arm around her friend and pulled her close "I’m sorry," she said "I didn’t mean to--"
Shirly waved her off The two of theh theas a s to reroute the outpouring of noxious fumes from the aparth above
"You knohat, though? There are tilad he’s not here Tier either, not once they get to us, and I’lad he’s not here to stress about it, to worry about what they’ll do to us To hting, living on rations, this sort of craziness" She dipped her chin at the crew outside She knew Marck would either be up there leading that terrible work or outside with a gun pressed to his cheek
"Hello Testing Hello, hello"
The to the red detonate switch, the microphone from the headset held beneath his chin, furrows of concentration across his brow
"Juliette?" he asked "Can you hear me? Hello?"
Shirly moved to Walker’s side, squatted down, rested a hand on his shoulder The three of the for a reply
"Hello?"
A quiet voice leaked out of the tiny speakers Shirly clapped a hand to her chest, her breath stolen from the miracle of a reply It was a fraction of a second later, after this surge of desperate hope, that she realized this wasn’t Juliette The voice was different
"That’s not her," Courtnee whispered, dejected Walker waved his hand to silence her The red switch clicked noisily as he prepared to transmit
"Hello My name is Walker We received a transmission from a friend Is there anyone else there?"
"Ask them where they are," Courtnee hissed
"Where exactly are you?" Walker added, before releasing the switch
The tiny speakers popped
"We are nowhere You’ll never find us Stay away"
There was a pause, a hiss of static
"And your friend is dead We killed him"
20
• Silo 17 •
The water inside the suit was freezing, the air cold, the combination lethal Juliette’s teeth chattered noisily while she worked the knife She slid the blade into the soggy skin of the suit, the feeling of having been here before, having done all this once, unloves ca out of every cut Juliette rubbed her hands together, could barely feel them She hacked away at the one deathly still His large wrench was one as well The compressor was on its side, the hose kinked beneath it, fuel leaking fro She could hardly breathe Once the chest of the suit was cut open, she wiggled her knees and feet through the hole, spun the material around in front of herself, then tried to pry the velcro apart
Her fingers were too senseless to do even this She ran the knife down the joint instead, sawing the velcro apart until she could find the zipper
Finally, squeezing her fingers until they hite, she pulled the small tab until it was free of the collar The collar off, she threw the suit away frohed double with all the water in it She was left in two layers of black undersuit, still soaking wet and shivering, a knife in her tre beside her, athis nasty world could throw at him except for her arrival
Juliette moved to Solo’s side and reached for his neck Her hands were icy; she couldn’t feel a pulse, wasn’t sure if she would be able to She could barely feel his neck with her frozen fingers
She struggled to her feet, nearly collapsed, hugged the landing’s railing She teetered toward the co she needed to waro to sleep but knew she’d never wake up if she did
The gas can was still full She tried to work the cap, but her hands were useless They were nued in front of her, a chilly re, what little heat she had left
She grabbed the knife Holding it in both hands, she pressed the tip into the cap The flat handle was easier to grasp than the plastic cap; she spun the knife and cracked the lid on the jug of gas Once the cap was loose, she pulled the blade out and did the rest with her pal in her lap
She tilted the can over the coe, the entire ain anyway, never rely on it or anything else for her air She put the can down, still half full, and slid it away froh theand made musical impacts in the water below, drips that echoed off the concrete walls of the stairwell, that added to the flood’s toxic and colorful slick
Wielding the knife with the blade down, the dull side away froainst the er She yanked her ar the whoosh of an immediate fla to abuse her precious tool, her only defense Solo’s stillness nearby was a reht need it if she were able to survive the deadly cold--
The knife struck with a snick, there was a pop, heat traveling up her arainst her face
Juliette dropped the knife and waved her hand, but it wasn’t on fire The coan to die down, she grabbed the can and sloshed so up in the air with a hiss The wheels crackled as they burned Juliette collapsed close to the fire, felt the heat fro flaan to strip, her eyes returning now and then to Solo, pro herself that she wouldn’t leave his body there, that she would co slowly returned to her extre pain Naked, she curled into a ball next to the s her warm and visible breath into her paly fire Only the wheels burned reliably, but they kept her frolorious heat traveled so her bare skin where it touched the le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>