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The ratitude; no one had ever given him such a present "Thank you, sir" A crisp nod and he ar asked

Peter’s eyes followed Jock as he e "For luck," he said

--

In the orphanage, the last of the wo into the shelter It had been decided that only women with children under five would be allowed to acco; there had beenand awful Quite a few er than they obviously were; in those instances that seeh He simply didn’t have the heart to say no

Caleb worried about Pi At last she arrived, explaining that the children had spent the e, Kate’s ghost everywhere, but a helpful distraction for the girls: a few hours in fa with familiar toys They’d bounced on their old beds for half an hour, Pi was off; Caleb sensed the presence of words unsaid They were standing by the open hatch One of the sisters, positioned on the platform below, reached up to assist the children, first Theo, then the girls As Pim’s turn came, Caleb took her by the elbow

What is it?

She hesitated Yes, so was there

Pim?

A flicker of uncertainty in her eyes; then she composed herself I love you Be careful

Caleb let theopen, everyone waiting Sister Peg was observing from the side Caleb had already broached the question of whether or not Sister Peg would be joining the children underground "Lieutenant," she’d said with a reproachful look, "I’ed his wife and helped her down As her hands gripped the top rung, she raised her eyes, for a last look A cold weight dropped inside hined

More children cah; then, suddenly, the shelter was full Fro a cry went up, followed by a voice fro the crowd to disperse

Colonel Hennee here"

It was the last thing Caleb wanted "I’d be more use on the wall, sir"

"This isn’t a debate"

Caleb felt the presence of an unseen hand "Does nored the question "We’ll need men on the roof and the periets inside How you accomplish that is up to you"

Dire words Also inevitable People would do anything to survive

67

Michael and Greer picked up the first survivors north of Rosenberg, a group of three soldiers--stunned, starving, their carbines and pistols drained The virals had attacked the barracks two nights ago, they said, tearing through the place like a tornado, destroying everything, vehicles and equip the roofs off the Quonsets like they were opening tins of irls, with black hair streaked white, walking barefoot along the roadith her tippy shoes dangling fro in a puraph crews An oiler na cross-legged by the side of the road, carving round with a six-inch knife and babbling incoherently His face was chalky with dust, his coveralls black with dried blood, though it was not his own All took their places in the back of the truck in stunned silence, not even asking where they were going

"These are the luckiest people on the planet," Michael said, "and they don’t even know it"

Greer watched the landscape flow past, dry scrub yielding to the dense tangle of the coastal shelf The intensity of the last twenty-four hours had kept the pain at bay, but now, in the unstructured silence of his thoughts, it roared back An out; his saliva was thick and brassy-tasting; his bladder pulsed with unexpressed fullness, febrile and enormous When they’d stopped to pick up the wo water, but all he’d ed to produce was a pathetic cri east toward the ship channel Muddy water sprayed up behind theullied roadway threw fresh punches of pain Greer wanted a drink of water very badly, if only to clear the taste in his mouth, but when Michael drew his canteen fro pull, and offered it to hi out the windshield, Greer waved it off Frolance--You’re sure?--and for that , or at least suspect But when Greer said nothing, Michael wedged the canteen between his knees and capped it with a shrug