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I found the first wall less than twenty yards from where I’d started,I assumed was probably immature corn It looked like corn, anyway I never spent that riculture The hite, and should have stuck out like a sore thureen biodoh, it was sos

The doh it wasn’t a square, either; after following the wall long enough to les of two corners with on This caer than I’d initially assurass beneath ht learn from the structure of the do a pine forest It was se, but it was enough of a surprise to stop ood thing; it kept ht We were in Seattle The Seattle CDC was the only careen forest inside their biodo the pines, I realized that my feet were cold I looked down My thick white socks--so perfect for roving the halls of the CDC--were less perfect for wandering around a grassy rass stains around the toes There was no way Dr Tho

"Georgia?"

I stiffened, glancing back toward the sound of his voice He wasn’t in view; if he was couards, he was still a little ways away With only a few seconds toI just bolted for the trees

Shaun was always the one who put hier for kicks, but I still tried to stay in decent physical condition It was the s hi for the "perfect story" to slap up on his side of the site I’d never been an athlete, but I’d been running ten-h to outrun any zombie that ever shambled intofor breath, ainst a tree All those hours of work, undone by one little death

I yanked rass I scooped it up, lifting un intopainfully into hter The pajao, it fell to cover the weapon without a trace

"Georgia?" Dr Tho forhis flunkies to fish ood He’d be less attuned to the little details than a professional guard would have been--they would have noticed the high color in s as I stepped out of the cover of the tree line

"Here," I said, proud of the way that I was barely gasping at all My bare toes dug into the grass, tangling deep I was going to need a serious shohen all this was over "I’ me?"

Dr Thomas fixed me with a stern eye "What did I say about no funny business?" he asked

Cold arced down un out ofif I could draw before he had a chance to call for his guards, and whether it would do ood if I did Even if I didn’t shoot myself, they’d just deco rid of a clone that you don’t need anye--and all because of a pair of goddamn socks--

"Thatto forgive it this time--we can call it youthful exuberance, and it doesn’t need to go into my report of the day’s activities But that assumes you’ll behave froia?"

"What?" Relief flooded overaway the cold I nodded so hard it felt like I was going to sprain sonore you, I was just… the grass, and then the trees, and…" I paused,my voice very small before I said, "It reminded me of home, that’s all"

If the CDC did their research on Berkeley, they knee had reen space per capita than any other densely populated city in the state of California Chalk it up to general perversity and being built around a university that resisted all atte so I would h to know that I’d been avoiding unnecessary exposure to the outside world for my entire life

Dr Thomas’s expression softened "I can understand that" His frown returned as he glanced down at ia, what in the world happened to your socks?"

"They got wet, so I took therass-stained socks "At least we have plenty of bleach, right?"

To my surprise, Dr Thomas actually chuckled He seemed more human in that moment than he had since the first uneasy hours after I woke up in an unfaethe hell out of here before they hadmore tractable