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He followed her down the hall to her bedroom Like the rest of the house, the space was cluttered but clean, everything in its place Pushed against the as an old four-poster bed, thewas just loose straw; beside it was a wooden chair bearing a lantern He saw that the top of the dresser, the room’s only other piece of furniture, was decorated with a collection of apparently randolass bottle with the words Coca-Cola written in faded lettering of elaborate script; apins; the jawbone of some small animal; a pyras," said Auntie

Now that they were standing together in the cramped room, Peter felt her smallness; the crown of her white head reached barely to his shoulder

"That’s what s nearby, she always said" She gestured with a crooked finger toward the bureau "Don’t re the picture, of course Brought that with me on the train"

The picture was positioned in the center of the bureau top Peter lifted it froht of the spots The photo was too small for the frame, which was tarnished and pitted; Peter supposed the fraht of stairs that ascended to the door of a brick house, theher waist as she leaned her weight against him They were dressed for the cold, in bunchy coats; Peter could see a dusting of snow on the paveround The tones had been bleached by the years so that everything was a muted tan color, but he could tell that they were both dark-skinned, like Auntie, with Jaxon hair; the woman’s was cut nearly as short as thescarf around her neck and was s aith an expression that seeh the cae, full of hope and promise, and Peter sensed, in the man’s misdirected attention and the wo her into his body, the presence of a secret the two of them shared; and then, as more of its details came into focus-the way the woman’s body curved and the thickness of her, beneath her coat-he realized what this secret was It was a picture not of two people but three; the wonant

"Monroe and Anita," said Auntie "Those were their names That there’s our house, 2121 West Laveer"

Peter touched the glass over the woman’s belly "That’s you, isn’t it?"

"Course it’s me Who you think it was?"

Peter returned the picture to its place on her dresser He wished he had so like that, to remember his parents by With Theo it was different; he could still see his brother’s face and hear his voice, and when he thought of Theo now, the iether at the power station, the day before they’d left Theo’s tired, troubled eyes as he sat on Peter’s cot to exaaze, an expectant s’s down Think you can ride? But Peter knew that over time, even just a few months’ worth, this memory would fade, like all the others-like the colors of Auntie’s photograph First the sound of Theo’s voice would be lost, and then the picture itself, the details dissolving into visual static until all that remained was an empty space where his brother had been

"Now, I know it’s under here so

She had lowered herself to her knees, pulling the skirt of the bed aside to look beneath it With a grunt she reached under the bed and withdrew a box, sliding it across the floor "Help me up, Peter"

He took her by an elbow and eased her to her feet, then lifted the box froed lid and a flap that sealed it tight

"Go on now" Auntie was sitting on the edge of the bed, her nad feet dangling like a Little’s, ski the floor "Open it"

He did as she’d said The box was full of folded paper-he had already figured that out But not just paper, he saw Maps

The box was full of maps

Carefully he lifted the first one free of the box Its surface orn sht dissolve in his hands At the top were the words AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF AMERICA, LOS ANGELES BASIN AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

"These were ently withdrew the others, placing each on top of the bureau SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST LAS VEGAS STREET ATLAS SOUTHERN NEVADA AND ENVIRONS LONG BEACH, SAN PEDRO AND THE PORT OF LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA DESERT REGION, MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE And, at the bottoainst the sides of the box: FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, MAP OF THE CENTRAL QUARANTINE ZONE

"I don’t understand," he said "Where did you get theht the hi in her lap "That woman knew you better than you know yourself Give them to him when he’s ready, she said"

A familiar sadness washed over him "I’m sorry, Auntie," he said after a moment "You’ve made a mistake She must have meant Theo"

But she shook her head "No, Peter" She smiled a toothless s down outside the s, seeht "It was you She told e it was How, standing in the quiet of Auntie’s roo before hiht of his mother’s final hours-of her hands, and the close heat of the bedroole for breath, and the last i words she’d spoken Take care of your brother, Theo He’s not strong, like you Her intentions had seemed so clear And yet as Peter searched this an to shift, hisa new shape and e entirely

Take care of your brother Theo

His thoughts were broken by a burst of knocking fro anyone?"

The old woman frowned "At this hour?"

Peter quickly returned the maps to the box and slid them beneath the bed It wasn’t until he reached the front door and saw Michael standing behind the screen that he wondered why he’d done this Michael eased hilance past Peter to the old woly over her chest

"Hey, Auntie," he said breathlessly

"Hey yourself, rude boy You coht, I expect a how-do-you-do"

"Sorry" His cheeks reddened with e, Auntie?"