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Time to be on his way

He ascended to the top of One Allen Center High above the drowned city, Carter took hts and handholds, the fjordlike gulfs between them A route materialized in his mind; it had the force, the clarity of a pre absolutely known A hundred yards to the first rooftop, perhaps another fifty to the second, a long two hundred to the third but with a drop of fifty feet that would expand his reach…

He backed to the far edge of the platform The key was, first, to create an accuhtstrides and he was up He soared through the moonlit heavens like a comet, a star unlocked He made the first rooftop with roo and launched again

He’d been saving up

--

In the cargo bay of the third vehicle in the convoy, a the other injured, Alicia lay immobilized Thick rubber cords strapped her to her stretcher at the shoulders, waist, and knees; a fourth lay across her forehead Her right leg was splinted froht, was pinned across her chest Various other parts of her were bandaged, stitched, bound

Inside her body, the rapid cellular repair of her kind was under way But this was an imperfect process, and complicated by the vastness and colike flange of her right hip, which had been pulverized The viral part of her could accosaw puzzle ItAlicia Donadio alive was habit--her predisposition to see things through, just as she had always done But she no longer had the heart for any of it As the bone-banging hours passed, that she had failed to die seeh of Peter’s words You traitor You knew You killed the on the bench above her Alicia undestood that the woman hated her; she could see it in her eyes, in the way she looked at her--or, rather, didn’t--as she went about attending to Alicia’s injuries: checking the bandages,the horrible-tasting elixir into her ht Alicia wished she could say so to the woman, whose hatred she deserved I’h as it is But this would only s worse Better Alicia should accept as offered and say nothing

Besides, none of thisIn this dream, she was in a boat, and all around ater The seas were cal The creak of the oars in their locks, the swish of waterunder their blades: these were the only sounds The water was dense, with a slightly viscous texture Where was she going? Why had the water ceased to terrify her? Because it didn’t; Alicia felt perfectly at ho, her strokes co she did not recall ever doing, yet it felt coe had been inscribed into her antly slicing through the inkyin the water--a shadowy bulk gliding just beneath the surface It appeared to be following her, ister its presence as ; rather, it merely seeht have anticipated if she’d thought about it in advance

"Your boat is very s in the stern Water was running froo," A Alicia continued to row "Go where?"

"The virus is in us" Amy’s voice was dispassionate, without any perceptible tone "We can’t ever leave"

"I don’t understand what you’re talking about"

The shape had begun to circle thean to rock the boat from side to side

"Oh, I think you do We’re sisters, aren’t we? Sisters in blood"

The motion increased in intensity Alicia drew the oars into the boat and clutched the gunwales for balance Her heart turned to lead; bile bubbled in her throat Why had she failed to foresee the danger? So much water all around the The hull began to rise; suddenly they were no longer in contact with the water A great blue bulk e from its encrusted flanks