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"We go north," Alicia announced "All eyes"
There had been no discussion about ould come; the only surprise was Greer As the four of the up to leave, he had come forward on his horse and joined their nu his command to Eustace Michael wondered if this e, but as soon as they were clear of the ridge, the major turned to Alicia from atop his horse and said, simply, "This is your show, Lieutenant Are we clear, everyone?" They all said they were, and that was that
They rode on As night was falling, Michael heard, froed fro it to guide thele line now, Alicia up front, Greer taking the rear From time to time one of the horses would stu for the the dark shape of the trees Then they’d press on again No one had spoken for hours There was no ht lifted from the hills, the valley opened around them To the east they could discern the shape of the ainst a starry sky, and up ahead, so black shape that, as they approached, revealed itself as a bridge, standing astride the ice-choked river on concrete piers Alicia disround
"Two sets of footprints," she said, gesturing with her rifle "Over the bridge, froan to climb
It was not ht nod, Greer confir Peter and Amy had taken They all dismounted and stood around the dead aniht splash, its body stiff and shriveled where it lay on its side in the snow So it at a shallow spot; they could see the prints of its last, terrified gallop, co from the west
Sara knelt and touched the animal’s side
"He’s still war Daould coun to pale
Chapter SIXTY-SEVEN
They were cri his bleary eyes, the night was nearly done A since fallen asleep, curled on the bed beneath a blanket; Lacey had moved a chair from the kitchen to sit beside her Fro to put one file back in the box and reether as best he could, he’d heard A softly in her sleep behind the curtain
For a while, after Aone to bed, Lacey had sat with his he couldn’t make sense of on his own The files were thick, full of information that referred to a world he didn’t know, had never seen or lived in But still, over the hours, with Lacey’s help, the story had erown lazed and unfocused So it like a necklace Texas Department of Criminal Justice, one board read Louisiana State Department of Corrections, said another Kentucky and Florida and Wyo and Delaware Some of the boards had no words on them, only numbers; some of the men had no boards at all They were black and white and brown, heavy or slight; somehow, in the looks of numb surrender on their faces, they were all the same He read:
SUBJECT 12 Carter, Anthony L Born September 12, 1985, Baytown, TX Sentenced to death for capital murder, Harris County, TX, 2013
SUBJECT 11 Reinhardt, William J Born April 9, 1987, Jefferson City, MO Sentenced to death for three counts of capital ravated sexual assault, Miami-Dade County, FL, 2012
SUBJECT 10 Martinez, Julio A Born May 3, 1991, El Paso, TX Sentenced to death for the capital murder of a peace officer, Laraht, Horace D Born October 19, 1992, Oglala, SD Sentenced to death for two counts of capital ravated sexual assault, Maricopa County, AZ, 2014
SUBJECT 8 Echols, Martin S Born June 15, 1984, Everett, WA Sentenced to death for capital murder and armed robbery, Caust 22, 1989, Tulsa, OK Sentenced to death for one count of vehicular homicide with depraved indifference, Lake County, IN, 2009
SUBJECT 6 Winston, David D Born April 1, 1994, Blooton, MN Sentenced to death for one count of capital ravated sexual assault, New Castle County, DE, 2014
SUBJECT 5 Turrell, Thaddeus R Born December 26, 1990, New Orleans, LA Sentenced to death for the capital murder of a Ho District, 2014
SUBJECT 4 Baffes, John T Born February 12, 1992, Orlando, FL Sentenced to death for one count of capital ree murder with depraved indifference, Pasco County, FL, 2010
SUBJECT 3 Chavez, Victor Y Born July 5, 1995, Niagara Falls, NY Sentenced to death for one count of capital ravated sexual assault with a minor, Elko County, NV, 2012
SUBJECT 2 Morrison, Joseph P Born January 9, 1992, Black Creek, Ky Sentenced to death for one count of capital murder, Lewis County, Ky, 2013
And, finally:
SUBJECT 1 Babcock, Giles J Born October 29, 1994 Desert Wells, NV Sentenced to death for one count of capital ht Desert Wells
They always go home
Amy’s file was thinner than the others "SUBJECT 13, AMY NLN," the label read, "Convent of the Sisters of Mercy, Me of numbers that Peter surmised were medical data of the kind Michael had found on the chip in her neck Affixed to this page was a photograph of a little girl, no more than six years old, just as Michael had predicted All knees and elbows, sitting on a wooden chair, dark hair falling around her face Peter had never before seen a photograph of sogled to coe was the sa in the next room But there was no question; her eyes were Amy’s eyes See? her eyes seemed to say Who did you think I was?
He caraph; a rusty stain on the top page shohere one had once been clipped But even without it, Peter was able to form a picture in his ht each of the Twelve to the compound, and A hair, with large hands good for work Aunder the surface, barely contained According to the file, Wolgast had been irl, whose name was Eva, was listed as deceased Peter wondered if that was the reason he had decided, in the end, to help Amy His instincts told hih, that told him the most A report by someone named Cole to a Colonel Sykes, US Ar the work of a Dr Jonas Lear and so called "Project NOAH"; and a second docu the transfer of twelve human test subjects from Telluride, Colorado, to White Sands, New Mexico, for "operational coether, or mostly But he knehat co for the Army to return, and it was the Army that had done it
As he put down the final file, he heard Lacey rising She passed through the curtain and stopped in the doorway
"So You have read"
At the sound of her voice, a sudden exhaustion washed over him Lacey restoked the fire and sat at the table across froestured over the piles of paper on the table
"He really did this? The doctor"
"Yes" She nodded "There were others, but yes"
"Did he ever say why?"
Behind her, the fresh logs caught with a soft whuht "I think because he could That is the reason for s people do He was not a bad h he believed it was Many times I asked him, Do you think the world could be unmade by men alone? Of course it could not But he never quite believed me" She tipped her head toward the files on the table "He left these for you, you know"