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"You won’t do better than hireed "Have him report here at oh-three-hundred The first load departs at oh-four-thirty Just reet thee most of all Porcheki leaned down, opened the bottoe’s own Glocks, still in their holsters She handed him a blue windbreaker with FEMA stenciled on the back

"Just keep them under wraps Report to Corporal Danes outside and he’ll escort you to the are slid his arh the straps and put on the jacket The wo was plain They were behind the lines; the front had passed thee asked

The major’s expression darkened "They’re already here"

Lawrence Grey had never known such hunger

How long had he been here? Three days? Four? Tie of hours broken only by the visits of the space-suitedfrom a narcotic haze The hiss of the air lock and there they were; then the prick of the needle and the slow filling of the plastic bag with its cri they wanted Yet they never seehtered steer What do you want? he pleaded Why are you doing this toof pure need, aonly to be filled A person could gohe was a person, still, which hardly seeed hi brought into the fold In his s, like the buzz of a distant crowd Hour by hour the sound grew stronger; the croas closing in Against the straps he wriggled like a fish in a net With every stolen bag of blood his strength drained away He felt hi from within, a precipitous decline, deep in the cells The universe had abandoned him to his fate Soon he would vanish; he would be dispersed into the void

They atching him, the one named Guilder and the one na behind the lens of the security ca beams of their eyes They needed him; they were afraid of hiht burst forth as snakes He had no answers for the Silence was the last power he had

He thought of Lila Were the saht? He had wanted only to protect her, to do this one good thing in his wretched little life It was a kind of love Like Nora Chung, only a thousand ti; it wanted only to give itself away It was true: Lila had coive him one last chance And yet he had failed her

He heard the hiss of the air lock; a figure stepped through One of the suited e snowman

"Mr Grey, I’m Dr Suresh"

Grey closed his eyes and waited for the prick of the needle Go ahead, he thought, take it all But that didn’t happen Grey looked up to see the doctor withdrawing a needle from the IV port With careful movements he capped the needle and deposited it in the waste can with a clang At once Grey felt the fog lift fro?"

He wanted to say: How do you think I’? Or maybe just: Fuck you "Where’s Lila?"

The doctor withdrew a sht from a pouch on his biosuit and leaned over Grey’s face Through the faceplate of his helmet his features swam into view: a heavy brow, skin dark with a yellowish cast, small white teeth He waved the beaht"

Grey shook his head He was beco the h his veins A blast of saliva washed the walls of his mouth

"You have not had a bowel ain The doctor moved to the foot of the bed and withdrew a s the soles of Grey’s bare feet

"Very good"

The examination continued Each bit of data was jotted onto a handheld Suresh pulled Grey’s gown up over his legs and cupped his testicles in his hand

"Cough, please"

Grey ed a small one The doctor’s face behind his faceplate revealed nothing The throbbing sound filled Grey’s entire brain, annihilating any other thought

"I aloved hands toward Grey’s neck As the tips of his fingers made contact, Grey darted his head forward The action was automatic; Grey couldn’t have stopped it if he’d tried His teeth bore into the soft flesh of Suresh’s pal like a vise The che, then a burst of sweetness filled histo break free His free hand pushed on Grey’s forehead, fighting for leverage; he reared back and struck Grey across the face with his fist Not painful but startling; Grey broke his hold Suresh stu his bloody hand at the wrist, thu it like a tourniquet Grey expected so in, but nothing of the kind occurred; the moment felt frozen and, so at Grey with a look of wide-eyed panic He stripped off his bloody glove and an to scrub his hand fiercely,under his breath:

"Oh God, oh God, oh God"

Then he was gone Grey lay still In the struggle, his IV had torn loose There was blood on his face, his lips With slow pleasure he licked theth flowed into hiainst the straps, feeling the rivets start to give The air lock was another matter, but sooner or later it would open, and when it did, Grey would be waiting He would alight like an angel of death

Lila, I aathered at the tent, gear packed, awaiting the dawn Kittridge had told them they should sleep, to prepare for the journey ahead Shortly after ht, the proray line From the Army, no announcement, but their arrival hadn’t escaped attention All through the cao first? Were ? What about the ill? Would they be evacuated separately?

Kittridge had gone with Danny to the co What was left of the civilian staff, FEMA and Red Cross, would directly supervise the loading, while the last of Porcheki’s e the crowds A dozen Humvees and a pair of APCs would wait on the far side of the fence to escort the convoy The trip to Rock Island would take a little under two hours Assu went as planned, the last of the four loads would reach Rock Island by 1730, just under the deadline

When thehappens, don’t wait Just take what you can carry and go Stay off the e at Rock Island is closed, head north, like we did the last tie Got that?"

"I shouldn’t wait Stay off the main roads Go north"

"Exactly"

The other drivers were already headed for the buses Kittridge had only a moment to say the rest

"Whatever happens, Danny, ouldn’t have gotten this far without you I’m sure you know it, but I wanted to say so"

The aze slanted away "Okay"

"I’d like to shake on it Do you think that would be all right?"

Danny’s brow furroith an expression, ale orried he’d overstepped when Danny extended his hand with furtive quickness, the two h hesitant, was not without strength A vigorous pump; for a second Danny e

He returned to the tent Nothing to do now but wait He sat on the ground with his back against a wooden crate A few minutes passed; the flaps of the tent parted April lowered herself beside hi her knees to her chest