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But I don’t think ill

Shaun is starting to crack He’s covering it well, but I can see the fractures During the outbreak yesterday, there were points where he just froze It was like he wasn’t even a part of the situation any it, and I’et one of us killed, and he’s never going to forgive hioing to let hiia

And I’ht I really a of Rebecca Atherton, July 25, 2041 Unpublished

She rehout the encounter She was able to ask coherent questions and give coherent answers She re the walk back to her roon norh to convince the orderly who came to relieve me Stress fractures are still possible, but I believe we should continue as planned I think this one is stable

--Taken froory Lake, July 25, 2041 Recipient unknown

Ten

The ht and clean, with a clear blue sky that afforded absolutely no cloud cover Any spy satellites that happened to pick up on our anomalous route--not many people take the back roads anymore, and fewer still do it in a way that allows them to skip all security checkpoints--would have a perfect line of sight

"If we get picked up by the DEA on suspicion of being Canadianto be pissed," I ers still tracing an intricate dance across the screen It was sort of unnerving that she could do that by nothing but the memory of where her apps were installed I need a keyboard, or I lose " I kept et into a fight if I did, and then Becks would have to pretend she didn’t ued with myself Back at the lab, she’d been able to leave the rooain, she had nowhere to run And neither did I

The reality of ere doing was starting to sink in Dr Abbey had insisted we get soh not before she’d drawn enough blood fro lab monkeys busy for a couple of weeks "Some of us have to hile you take your little road trip," she’d said, like this was so pleasure cruise Just aily down the highway to hway unless we absolutely had to be Dr Abbey had installed a new round and questionably secure stops between Shady Cove and Berkeley Once that was done, Alaric and Mahir worked together to reprogra it the roads we should take were the ones the systeed as "least desirable" So we left Shady Cove not via the convenient and well- street called Rogue River Drive

We’d been on the road for alhways the entire ti software sent us down a e roads, residential streets, and half-forgotten rural back roads, all of thehly the sahway 5, the big backbone of the West Coast As long as we stuck to the directions and didn’t get cocky, we’d be able to stay oing to need to stop for gas in fiftyon her tablet She tapped the screen twice; out of the corner ofto soas stations?"

"Let me check the map" I took one hand off the wheel and pushed a button at the front of our clip-on GPS device, saying, "Secure gas"

"Recalculating route," replied the GPS The module had the same pleasant Canadian voice as Dr Abbey’s main computer "Please state security requirements"

"Uh, we’d like to not die, if that’s okay with you," I said

"Recalculating route"

"Notice how she says that no lance at Becks "Half the ti"

"Maybe she’s just fking with you"

"The thought had crossed as station is approximately twenty-seven miles from your current location," announced the GPS "Do you wish to continue?"

Becks looked up "Define ‘secure’ "

"The station is located in a designated hazard zone, and has been officially abandoned for the past eighteen years Security syste at acceptable levels The last known transo, and indicated the availability of fuel, food, and ao"

"Recalculating route," said the GPS, and went silent, a new set of street na on the tiny screen