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Becks, like Mahir, hadat the television and earing coe pants--the Irwin equivalent of a unifor at the table, hio, leaving the rest of the space for her She had what looked like a small armory spread out in front of her, and was in the process of reasseally cleared for private ownership They looked up when they heard my footsteps
"What’s the update?" asked Becks She snapped the h the kitchen, eliciting a startled yip fros sprawled next to the sealed-off door
"Nothing that’s good," I replied George had released ot me where she wanted ain That was okay byme around the house represented a whole new level of crazy, and I wanted to avoid thinking about it for as long as possible "Forever" seemed like an excellent place to start "They’ve declared martial law in the areas that haven’t been officiallyto look like they’re going to mark the entire damn Gulf Coast as a Level 1 hazard"
Alaric paled "They can’t do that"
"Yes, they can" Becks put down the gun she’d been working on "In case of an outbreak confiriven area, USAMRIID and the CDC will both reconation be applied for the protection of the surrounding area The governht to take their recorimace twisted her lips upward "Our parents voted that little jewel into law, and we never repealed it, because why should we? Outbreaks are tiny things Bad things It’s better if we can let fifteen people die and save five thousand, right?"
"Only this ti to let fifteen million die," I said "That sounds a little different, don’t you think? Alaric"
He turned to , like he still couldn’t believe as happening That was understandable I couldn’t believe it either "What?"
"Where’s the van?" His expression didn’t change I took a careful breath, and aarage after we left, or is it still parked out back?"
If the van was parked outside, there was no way I’d be able to get at it Maybe one of Maggie’s security ninjas--but that wouldthe wireless booster, and I wasn’t sure h for that
"I…" Alaric stopped, frowning "It’s in the garage It was out back until you called--Maggie wanted to keep the garage open for her Fictionals when they caot spooked when you told us to hole up, and she had me move it inside, where it wouldn’t be visible to satellite surveillan"
"God bless justified paranoia," I said fervently, and started toward the garage door The bulldogs lifted their heads and whined, watching
"The van" I looked between the blank looks, and explained, "I’m pretty sure Buffy’s old wireless booster is still out there If I can get it running--"
"--we can get back online," said Alaric, his eyes widening in co!"
"We haven’t exactly needed to use it in the last year" I started walking again "I’ll be right back If I’ht back, throw soe and call for the security dudes to co"
"We’ll shoot you ourselves," said Becks, causing Alaric to shoot her a distressed look She ignored it You learn to shrug that sort of thing off after you’ve been in the field for a while That, or you stop trying to talk to people who aren’t Irwins
"Thanks" I opened the garage door, shoving a bulldog aside with h
The garage lights were motion-activated white fluorescents They clicked on as soon as the door to the kitchen swung shut, filling the enclosed space with an even, sterile glow I scanned the area, auto capacity of the shelves lining the walls and the security of the pipes connecting to the water heater and ee prithe ones nearest the door as an extension of the pantry One entire floor-to-ceiling shelving unit was dedicated to bags of dried dog food At least the bulldogs wouldn’t be going crazy with hunger anyti at the center of the room It had been washed before it was put away, and its paint alht I took a step toward it
"Hello, Mr Mason," said the voice of the house It , which was a nice trick, since it didn’t have nor vainly for the speaker "I am afraid the house is presently in a sealed state You will be unable to exit, and should return to the interior"