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He peeked around the corner, using the angled mirror to survey the roo theirlike th of the counter so he was as close as possible to the door, which was positioned ten feet behind hiht If he could move the virals to the opposite corner of the room, the counter would obscure hi The fabric was bloated with blood He formed it into a ball, tied off the ends to hold the shape, and rose on his knees, keeping the top of his head just below the lip of the counter Pulling back his arm, he counted to three Then he lobbed the scarf across the room

It impacted the far ith a splat Michael dropped to his sto, then a series of clicks and snarls It was better than he’d hoped; the virals were fighting over the rag He slipped beneath the curtain and kept going Now he couldn’t see a godda He crawled another few feet, until he ay from the door, and atte touched the ground was one he was pretty sure he would always remember The pain was simply spectacular He reached into his shirt pocket for a box of ed to re out the rest, and scraped it on the striker

He was in a narrow hallway of high brick walls that led deeper into the building Metal racks of eers lined the walls The air was clearer here, less dust-choked He pulled the kerchief down fro to his left dead-ended in a small room of curtained booths He looked down; drops of blood had followed him like a trail of crumbs More blood sloshed in his boot The match burned down; he flicked it away, lit another, and went on

Eight matches later, Michael concluded that there was no way out Branching hallways always led hi like this? How long before the virals’ interest in the rag exhausted itself and they followed the blood?

He came to a final room It appeared to be a kitchen, with a stove and sink and cabinets lining two of the four walls; in the center was a small square table covered with open cans and plastic bottles Two brown-boned skeletons lay on a cratered ether In all of New York, these were the first human remains Michael had encountered He crouched beside them One of theroo hair A ether during the crisis For a century they had lain here, their last loving moment captured for all time It made him feel like an interloper, as if he had violated the sanctity of a toed shutters of crisscrossing wire, held in place by metal bars bolted to the wall The two halves were joined with a padlock Theit away As his eyes adjusted he realized a faint gloas coh to see by He looked around the roo to use as a lever Think, Michael On the table was a butter knife The floor lurched again with a single, horizontal bang Plaster dust rained down He wedged the knife into the curved arhtly nue of his ability to cohtened his arms and shoulders and twisted the blade, hard

It snapped in two

That was it; enough already Michael was done He sank to the floor and braced his back against the wall so that he could see therass The color of everything was peculiar, possessing an unnatural, off-kilter vividness that accentuated the s The land was perfectly flat, though in the far distance ht but soht soft and shadowless What was this curious place? How had he come to be here? He searched his memory; only then did he realize that he did not, in fact, knoho he was He felt vaguely alarmed He was alive, he existed, yet he seemed to have no history he could recall

He heard the sound of running water and walked toward it The action was auto his body After some time had passed, he ca around scattered rocks Leaves spiraled in its current like upturned hands He followed the river downstreaathered in a pool The surface of the water was still, alitation It seeh the question eluded hiue, yet when he tried to focus on it, it darted up and away froe of the pool and looked down An i to look at The face was his, yet it er’s He reached out and with his index finger broke the surface Concentric rings blooe reasse stronger, of recognition He kneho he was, if only he couldto lift a boulder with his mind You’re…you’re…