Author: Amy Bartelloni
Date: 2014-05-02 09:26:41+00:00
Keywords: Thriller; Fantasy; Post Apocalyptic; Fiction; Zombies; Young Adult; Science Fiction; Horror; Dystopia
Description: Ten years after a pandemic swept the globe, survivors were forced into factions and camps in order to survive... Jade and Sera are two orphans who have found refuge in a government camp. It is there where Jade falls in love with a young soldier, Anyon. But Anyon has his own secrets, carefully guarding a past that involves Sera. But before Jade and Anyon admit their feelings to each other the camp is attacked and they're separated. Jade knows to lead Sera to Albany, the last free camp in the east, but the road is dangerous. Not only must they dodge pockets of infection, but they are threatened
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

ANDROMEDA

by Amy Bartelloni

Andromeda

Copyright © 2014 by Amy Bartelloni. All rights reserved.

First Print Edition: May 2014

Limitless Publishing, LLC

Kailua, HI 96734
www.limitlesspublishing.com

Formatting: Limitless Publishing

ISBN-13: 978-1499105018

ISBN-10: 1499105010

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

Dedication

to Erin, Lily, and Danny

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Part One – To Albany

Chapter 1

There wasn’t much room to get comfortable inside the old minivan, but comfort was the least of Jade’s worries. She jerked the driver’s seat as far back as it would go and wiped a circle in the grimy window with the sleeve of her shirt. Outside, the landscape was as bleak as ever. She ignored Sera’s choked sobs from the back seat. There was no comfort left to give her. Life hadn’t been a party back at camp, but since they’d been forced to leave it was a matter of survival, and survival wasn’t pretty.

“At least this one doesn’t smell,” Jade said, but she was lying. The seats held the faintest trace of cigarette smoke and must, but at least it didn’t smell of decay or death like so many other places. The thought gave her a chill. She threw her jacket over her legs and curled into a ball. She wished she could crack the window and listen for danger, but the controls were electric and there was no way the van would start. The gas would have been siphoned in the early days and the insides stripped, but at least the metal frame offered some protection from the dangers of the road, which could be anything from a band of thieves to…well, something much worse than that. They’d been lucky so far, but she’d heard the stories back at camp. They avoided trouble the best they could, but sometimes Jade felt a darkness following them from Cambridge like a ghost on their heels. Once or twice she’d been sure someone was behind them, but when she turned there was nothing there but shadows. She didn’t bother Sera with her suspicions. Sera was too innocent to believe in the evils of this world and it would only scare her. It was up to Jade to protect Sera, and Jade couldn’t afford to be weak. Not now.

“Imagine what it would be like to live in one of those fancy houses we passed.” Sera sniffed and dried her tears. That morning they’d crossed through a once wealthy suburb that had weathered the last ten years almost intact. It was easy to close your eyes and imagine the people that lived there once, how easy their lives had been. Sera always imagined such things, but Jade kept her eyes on the road ahead.

“Some of them still had windows and doors,” Sera continued. “Warm bedrooms with four poster beds…feather pillows and bedding, food in the cabinets. We could live like kings.” Jade watched Sera in the rear view mirror as Sera twisted her long, auburn hair into a pillow and rested it on the window, then closed her eyes. Jade wished she could make her own pillow of hair, but her short, functional cut wouldn’t cushion much of anything, and her bony frame made it impossible to get comfortable anywhere. At two years younger, Sera certainly outdid her in the looks department. Not that Jade cared about such things, but it was hard not to notice.

“All that’s gone, Sera,” Jade said. “We wouldn’t have found anything, and we need to keep moving. I don’t like it any more than you.”

Sera didn’t respond, and Jade let it go. The sun dipped below the tree line, silhouetting their branches against a purple sky like fingers reaching into the dark and pulling it towards them. Nights like this Jade missed the camaraderie of camp: the fire pit at night and the guards along the perimeter, the soft conversations with Anyon, but given what happened they were lucky to have escaped with their lives. Jade still heard the gunshots and screams when she closed her eyes.

“Where do you think Anyon is now? And Malachi? Do you think they stayed together?” Sera asked.

“I imagine they’re making their way to Albany, like us,” Jade said. Anyon had spoken about Albany often. It was the last free camp in the east. He’d told Jade that she should head there if they were ever separated, but she’d dismissed it as his paranoia until the day of the attack. Now she wondered if he’d known something she didn’t. She thought of him often. She hadn’t seen him after the attack, and it was just as well. If he were dead or sick, she didn’t want to know. If he were alive she knew where he’d be going.

“Do you think they made it out?” Sera asked. “There was so much fighting.”

“Yes. I have to. But it doesn’t matter now. Go to sleep. I’ll take the first watch.” Outside the first star blinked to life in the sky above of them, but Jade didn’t wish on it. Not anymore.

Sleep came easier to Seraphina and this time was no exception. She didn’t remember life before the infection took over the world. For her the old days were a series of memories and pictures that weren’t much more than dreams, but Jade remembered specific details from her past. She recalled her childhood home in coastal Maine, a two-story white colonial brushed with sea salt and surrounded by the smell of the ocean. In her memories she danced down from the sliding glass door and ran to the beach to search for sea glass in low tide. Was the sea glass still there, she wondered, or had the infection taken that, too?

As Sera slept, darkness descended and swallowed the landscape around them. The van was half hidden in the tall grass on the side of a highway once known as the Massachusetts turnpike, but instead of scanning the empty road, Jade turned her attention to the sky.

The stars were brighter now; at least that’s what people said. Hundreds joined the first one, and the crescent moon bathed the highway in a blanket of phosphorescent light. Jade knew all about the constellations from Sera, who’d learned them from her father. Sera especially loved those named after the old Greek myths and told their stories over and over. Andromeda was her favorite. It was the story of a princess chained to the rocks and doomed to die, only to be rescued by Perseus. Jade traced the constellation with her finger. They’d shared the stories with Anyon and Malachi back at camp, all of them becoming amateur astronomers. Jade dozed off and on as she thought of those times. She woke before the sky brightened and watched the stars flicker out one by one. They’d survived another night. She rubbed her eyes, surprised to feel a tear sitting on the edge. She’d been dreaming about Anyon again.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Sera yawned from the back. She’d hardly moved all night. The seat groaned as she stretched her legs in the back.

“No need,” Jade responded. “It was a quiet night, and you needed rest.”

Sera pushed on the door handle and it slid open with a loud creak. They both grimaced at the noise. Sera mouthed sorry and shrugged, then walked off into the tall grass as Jade rolled her eyes. Jade got out and surveyed their surroundings. There was no sign of anyone, but you could never be sure. There was a dark spot far off on the highway that she hadn’t seen the night before. It was probably another abandoned car, but Jade wouldn’t feel safe until they were off the highway and out of the open. A minute later Sera called out, and Jade could tell by her voice she’d found another body. It wasn’t the first, but it had been a while and the sight never got easier. Jade trudged over to check, covering her mouth with her sleeve just in case.

Chapter 2

The body was hidden behind a patch of trees, a short distance off the highway. It was clear right away that the girl hadn’t died from the infection. Still, Jade kept her distance as she knelt to examine it. Matted blood covered her hair, and there were bruises on her neck and face. Gangs, Jade thought, as she closed the girl’s eyelids. She wished they had time to bury her, but if they stopped to bury every body they found they’d never get to Albany. She stood and brushed her hands off then turned back to the road. A sign indicated they would reach the town of Sturbridge in a half-mile. The dot on the horizon hadn’t moved, and the discovery of the body made Jade uneasy.

“Shouldn’t we check her pockets or something?” Sera asked. She liked to learn little tidbits about the people they found. It was her way to honor them or something, but Jade found it useless.

“We don’t have time,” Jade said. They wouldn’t find anything they could use, and they needed to move. She felt the darkness at their heels again and pushed forward more quickly. Sera fell in step behind her and they made their way to the off-ramp, which they followed toward the town’s center.

They were all the same now, at least every town Jade had been through since the attack on camp: lonely streets, empty homes, yards overtaken by grass and weeds, stores that had been picked clean with only candy bar wrappers littering the floors, and an occasional body. Sometimes people formed their own camps in these little towns, but they didn’t like outsiders and Jade didn’t blame them. Between the infection and the crime, you couldn’t trust anyone. She sure didn’t. It had taken years of living in the camp to make any friends, and now the group she’d hung around with had been scattered to the wind. And then there was Anyon. Something had changed between them in the last few months, a shift from childhood friends to something deeper, but neither of them had been brave enough to talk about it, and now it was too late. She imagined his voice in her head saying everything would be all right when she got to Albany and he’d meet her there. She thought about that whenever she was scared, and convinced herself that he was alive. He had to be, and if he were alive, he’d find her.

“There,” Jade said. She pointed to a building that once held a gas station and convenience store. The pumps were knocked on their sides and the door hung on a hinge. It was uninviting, but sometimes they got lucky in a little place like that and found food that hadn’t been scavenged. Sera considered.

“No,” she said. Jade nodded and they passed it without another word. They needed supplies badly, but Sera’s intuition was strong and Jade had learned to trust it. If Sera had a bad feeling about a place, Jade passed it with no questions asked. They continued through the center of town, passing the skeleton of a burned-down gazebo in a grassy common. Jade followed Sera’s lead as she crisscrossed side streets as if following some internal radar. Sera finally stopped in front of a pretty, two-story Victorian that seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was out of place in a neighborhood of dilapidated ranch houses. A couple windows were broken downstairs, and trash blew around the front, but otherwise it was intact. Though its paint was peeled in places, there was no graffiti and no smell. The house welcomed them like an oasis in a desert.

“Here,” Sera said. A slow smile crept onto her face, and she looked to Jade for confirmation. Jade checked the street behind them to be sure they hadn’t been followed. Confident they were alone, she approached the house.

They stepped onto a farmer’s porch, maneuvering around a rickety board on the third stair. The front door was closed and the breeze blew a curtain out a broken front window. Jade peeked in and saw some broken furniture lying around, but no evidence of people. She pushed the door open with her shoulder and they entered the dusty foyer.

Staying together, they checked room after room until Jade was sure the house hadn’t been occupied in some time. They worked from top to bottom, and left the basement for last. Jade went down first, her hand around the silver hilt of the knife Anyon had given her a lifetime ago. They tiptoed down the steps, but all they found in the basement were an old rusted washer and dryer missing their fronts, and mouse droppings. Jade double-checked the corners, suspicious of their good luck.

“Come on,” Sera said. She flew back up the stairs and started to raid the pantry, which was surprisingly well stocked, enough that they could pack some food to take with them. Jade took one last look around and followed her up. Sera was already prying open the top of a can when Jade came in. She swallowed the contents whole.

“You should check that,” Jade said. She took the can and examined it. It was a standard Provisional Government label with no ‘use by’ dates. Those were a thing of the past. Everything produced was used in a hurry these days, with no chance to go bad.

“Soup,” Sera said, swallowing. “It’s heavenly.” Jade took a can and slunk down the wall. She missed camp. The world was still scary there, but everyone had a job and enough to eat. They didn’t have to worry about expired cans or dead bodies.

“We should find some bags to carry this,” Jade said as she peeled the top off another can that turned out to be stew. The backpacks they’d picked up along the way were already falling apart; the weight of the cans would surely do them in.

“I’ll go,” Sera stood up and shook her hair out.

“Wait for me,” Jade said.

“I’ll be fine. We already checked it out. No one is here. I’d like to poke around a bit.” It was another of Sera’s annoying habits. She liked to wander through houses and wonder about the people who lived there. She had a wild imagination and would create stories about them, how they survived the infection, where they were now. Once Jade had gone off and told her that none of them survived. They died horrible deaths from the infection or starvation or gangs. Sera had fallen into a funk and hadn’t talked to her for three days. Jade regretted her tone, but not her words. It wasn’t a fairy tale world anymore, and the sooner Sera realized it, the better.

Jade heard the girl’s footsteps on the stairs and realized too late that there was a nursery upstairs. She knew it would bother Sera. She could make up stories if she wanted, but an empty crib was too real. She threw the empty can in the corner of the pantry and followed Sera upstairs.

It turned out Sera wasn’t in the nursery but in another child’s room. Aside from a layer of heavy dust, everything inside was perfect. The walls were pink and covered with pictures of princesses and castles. Jade paused and ran her hand over a picture of Cinderella that had been up so long the tape holding it to the wall disintegrated under her finger and the picture fell to the floor. Sera would be comfortable here, Jade thought, surrounded by fantasy. She’d curled up on the bed and Jade sat by her legs and covered her with a musty blanket. She tucked one of Sera’s stray curls behind her ear and followed her gaze out the window and down the street.

“Can we stay here tonight?” Sera asked sleepily. Jade pursed her lips. It was late afternoon. They’d have time to make some headway if they left now, but they’d been walking so far for so long that they were exhausted. If Sera had a good feeling about this place then it was as good as any, though Jade had hoped to be another twenty miles west by now.

“Go to sleep, Seraphina. I’ll watch.” Sera’s hand curled around hers and her breath became soft and slow. Jade stayed by her side until the sun went down, shining through the pink curtains and turning the room a dusty rose. Only then did she notice the stars on the ceiling, the kind that glowed in the dark. Many had fallen, but others were connected by pencil lines that indicated constellations. Jade smiled at them like they were old friends: Cassiopeia, Cephus, Draco—and right above them Andromeda. She could have stared all night, but first she dragged herself downstairs and secured the doors and windows as well as she could. She placed chairs or whatever clutter she could find under them so that if someone came in they’d make noise. By the time she was satisfied she’d done enough, the sun had disappeared and it was hard to see. She made her way back to the little room by feeling the walls.

She closed the door to the bedroom and lay down next to Sera on the double bed, smoothing the dust off the frilly comforter. With the light of the half moon in the window she could see a little bit of the room. The tripod of a telescope stood by the window, though the telescope itself was missing. The shelves were filled with tiny glass figurines. They were small, but she recognized them as constellations right away: Orion, with his shield, facing Taurus the bull; Pisces the fish; and Pegasus the flying horse. The last one was a woman against a large rock, the sea spray coming over her feet. The chains had been broken or fallen off, but Jade knew who she was. Andromeda. Jade wondered why Sera found the story so fascinating. Was it because the story was a connection to her father, or did she feel chained to something, waiting for a rescuer? She sat up in bed for a long time thinking about Sera and her connection to the stars, and didn’t fall asleep until she was sure they were alone. By then it was close to dawn. When she woke up, Jade felt even more tired than if she hadn’t slept at all.

Chapter 3

Anyon and Malachi had been stuck at camp for a couple days after the attack, and he was sure Jade and Sera were ahead of them on the way to Albany. They had to be. He and Malachi had stayed at camp for a while to mop up the mess, and by the time they’d finished the survivors had scattered to the wind. He hoped Jade had, too. They’d talked so often about what to do if an attack happened that he had every confidence she’d taken Seraphina and headed west to Albany.

Seraphina. She was the key, his mission, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Jade. The road could be dangerous, very dangerous for two girls alone, but she was no fool. She’d keep them on side roads away from people. But what if they were ambushed? What if one of them got sick? He shrugged his concerns away for the time being. They had their own problems and he had to focus on Albany.

Anyon had been placed in the Cambridge camp four years ago to protect Sera, and, though he didn’t know the details of his mission, he knew she was not just another refugee. Her parents had been accomplished scientists searching for a cure when fights broke out at the CDC camp. Sera had been shuffled away, and, soon after, Anyon’s team was sent to protect her. For years he’d waited for further instructions, but the more days that passed, the more he was sure that the scientific community that had gathered to fight the infection was gone. Dead, scattered, or taken by the very disease they had vowed to fight. One by one, Sera’s protectors had left the camp until there was only Anyon. After some time he’d taken Malachi into his confidence. Anyon couldn’t prove all his claims, yet Malachi believed every word he said and promised to protect the girl with him.

Some job they’d done, Anyon thought, kicking a stone across the turnpike, past the entering Natick sign, and into the tall grass that had long since taken over the road. His only hope was that Jade had done what he’d asked and protected Sera on the road, that they had laid low and traveled quietly. He was forced to admit, though, that he had no idea if they were dead or alive.

“Up ahead,” Malachi warned, nodding his head. He had great vision, Anyon could see nothing in the road but trusted him. In a way, Malachi’s gifts matched Sera’s, and Anyon often wondered if they were connected in some way. Malachi had spent time in the CDC camp, but had escaped early on. After that he’d lived with a group of refugees until they’d become separated. He’d arrived at camp shortly after Sera, but it had taken a long time for him to share his story with Anyon. As far as anyone else knew, Malachi was just another orphan of the infection. Anyon had become closer to him as his own group defected, until he now considered the boy a brother.

“What is it?” Anyon asked. He stopped and shielded his eyes from the afternoon sun. He could guess. A roadblock or just your garden-variety thugs; they were everywhere. He made for the side of the road and ducked into the grass. Malachi froze and Anyon doubled back to pull him off the road.

“I think there’s only one person,” Malachi said. He followed Anyon through the grass to a group of thick trees. The boys crouched down and hid, and before long they heard a wobbly voice singing. A woman appeared, staggering down the street. Drunk, from the sounds of her.

Her voice was old and raspy, and it was no song he knew, but it gave Anyon chills just the same. It didn’t help that as she came into view over the crest of the hill, her face was covered with sores. She was in the beginning stages of the infection. Both boys covered their mouths with their shirts. Anyon held his breath, not even daring to look at Malachi as the woman stumbled her way past them and repeated the same verse, over and over:

It’s not too late

To turn back now

Turn back now

Turn back now!

He wants the girl, not you

Save yourselves

Save yourselves

Save yourselves!

Run, while you still can.

The crazy voice faded as she stumbled down the highway, but the words stayed with Anyon. He had no doubt they were meant for him, and he thought back to his training when he was recruited to be a guard. He remembered the Captain’s cryptic instructions—that the girl may be chased by all kinds of creatures and he had to protect her life at all costs. He had blown it off then, but the threat had stayed with him all these years. He had been an orphan then, like the other trainees, plucked from the streets by the CDC. Most of the boys were just happy for meals and shelter, but something in the Captain’s wild eyes had scared Anyon. Perhaps he had been in the beginning stages of the infection himself, then. It was near the end of Anyon’s time there. It would explain a lot.

“Pfft.” Malachi spit. “Bunch of bullshit. Let’s go.” Anyon wanted to agree with him and shrug off the growing nervousness he was feeling, but he couldn’t stop staring down the highway in the direction the woman had been heading. He ran a hand through his dark hair. It was past his shoulders now. Jade would have given him crap about getting a trim.

“How did she know?” Anyon asked. “How did she know we’d be traveling this way?” The woman had shaken Anyon more than he wanted to admit, as did the memories of Jade. It was never easy to watch someone succumb to the horrible disease. The woman that passed them was in the beginning stages, and clearly her mind was failing her, but there was more to it than that.

“Who gives a rat’s ass, man? Let’s go. Albany, baby, remember?” Malachi gave him a wide smile, one that couldn’t help but calm Anyon down. He took one last look down the road. The old woman was gone, but her words weren’t, and they brought up troubling questions. Who was following them, who wanted Sera? Who even knew she existed? They made it to the next exit before Anyon slowed down.

“Let’s stop here,” he said. “It’s getting late, and we should settle in for the night.”

“We can make a few more exits, bro?”

“Yeah, I’m kind of hungry, though. I thought we could scrounge for some food.” It was a total lie, he was anything but hungry, but Malachi followed without question.

“Okay, whatever.” Malachi shrugged. “She really has you spooked, eh?”

“I told you, I’m hungry.” The lie was no more believable the second time, but Malachi didn’t question him as they walked down the off-ramp, following old road signs toward the remains of the Natick Mall.

Chapter 4

Jade stuffed the remaining cans into a small backpack she’d found in the back of a closet. She and Sera took their time leaving the safety of the house, but eventually they had to move on. They paused for a few minutes on the farmer’s porch before they left. Jade took care to close the front door and leave everything the way they found it.

“They made it, you know,” Sera said. She had one hand on the railing and one still curled around the tiny glass statue that she’d taken from the room. The pink backpack was flung haphazardly over her shoulder.

“Sera.” Jade rolled her eyes.

“I know what you’re going to say, but they did. This family did. And they’re still together. I know it. I just do.” She clasped the statue so tight Jade was afraid it would shatter, but there was no point in arguing. Besides, maybe this time she was right. People did make it, sometimes. Maybe they were in Albany.

“I’ll keep this, and give it to her in Albany.” Sera opened her palm. The little Andromeda statue twinkled in the sun and set off a rainbow in Sera’s palm. If the glass Andromeda had been chained to the rock once, the chains were long gone, but chains or not, she was stuck there all the same. Sera put her away.

“And how will you know it’s her?” Jade turned her back on the house and walked down the stars, stepping carefully over the third. Sera hesitated for a minute, and then followed.

“Her picture in the family room. Didn’t you see it?”

“No,” Jade said. She had stopped looking at their faces a long time ago.

“Anyway, I’ll know her. We’re soul sisters.” Jade shook her head. There was nothing to say to Sera sometimes. Jade loved and hated Sera’s optimism at the same time. It was one of Sera’s most endearing qualities.

“The highway?” Jade gestured to the sign for the Turnpike and Sera agreed. They felt better after the previous night’s rest, and Jade hoped they could make up some time. They kept to the side of the road, and when they reached the highway, they walked in the tall grass on the shoulder. No one was in sight, but Jade still felt like someone was watching her. A strong headwind blew from the west, making each step more difficult, and tall black clouds billowed on the horizon.

They’d only made it one exit before Jade saw smoke in the distance. The white pillar rose from somewhere south of the highway, but it was hard to tell exactly where with the way the highway twisted and turned. She stopped to judge its location. Sera shielded her face with her hand and bit her lip.

“How far to the next exit?” she asked. Her voice was so light it was almost as if she sang every word. Even danger seemed less scary coming out of her lips, but it was still danger.

“Pretty far,” Jade said. “We’ll have to get off the highway. There should be a road that crosses under us soon. Here.” She pointed on the map, but Sera brushed her away. Sera was good with feelings and intuition, not maps and navigation, and unfortunately Jade wasn’t much better. She wasn’t sure if they’d already crossed the road she’d pointed to, or if it was ahead of them, or if it even existed at all anymore. Still, she felt certain there was a road somewhere before the next exit, which was still a number of miles away, that would lead them off the highway and north of the smoke. Smoke indicated people—which wasn’t bad in itself, but most people didn’t want to be found. A group sending up such a brazen signal of their location was probably bad news. She folded the map back up and stuck it in the front pocket of her backpack. Something rustled the trees ahead of them and Jade’s head snapped up.

“Look out,” she said. She pulled Sera behind her, at the same time cursing herself for being less than careful about their environment. They’d stopped at the edge of some woods and couldn’t see more than twenty feet ahead into the tight shrubbery. Her concern for the smoke had masked the more immediate danger.

“Who’s there?” Jade shouted, bending to unsheathe the knife. It looked small in her hand, but it was sharp and she could kill with it if she needed to. Anyon had taught her where to strike.

A man stepped out of the trees and pointed a rifle right at Jade. Her heart skipped a beat. She knew what happened to girls taken on the road, and she would fight him tooth and nail. Several seconds went by and his eyes never left her. She was forced to back down and wait for the right time, but patience was not one of Jade’s best qualities.

“Who are you?” She gritted her teeth.

“Your fairy godmother.” He turned his head and spit without moving his eyes. There were at least five long strides between them, too far to cross, and he was much bigger than her. A full beard covered the expression on his face, but from what Jade could see, he didn’t exude friendliness. The vest that he wore over his flannel shirt flapped open to reveal more ammunition. He didn’t carry a backpack or any supplies, so they must be close to his camp. All this she sized up in a few seconds.

“Get moving,” he said, and nudged the head of the rifle to the highway. Jade grabbed Sera’s hand and took a step toward him, hiding the knife in a pocket. A cool detachment took over.

“No, this way,” he said, nodding his head across the highway. It was north, the opposite direction from the smoke. He backed up as she passed him so she couldn’t get close. They crossed the highway and marched into the grass on the other side.

“That’s not your guys?” She gestured to the smoke. He stayed a few paces behind them and let the gun slack a little off his shoulder.

“As a matter of fact, no, but you might be headed there, Princess. Keep moving.” He kept them hidden as they crossed the highway, cutting through woods and across several overgrown backyards that smelled of garbage before they set off down a side road.

“You got enemies around here, soldier?” Jade asked.

“You should learn to keep your mouth in check.” He’d come closer, and he nudged her back with the rifle. “But yeah, there are a lot of factions here. What the hell are two girls doing on the highway alone, anyway?” Jade thought her best chance was to keep him talking.

“We’re going to Albany. To the camp,” she said. The man nearly choked on his laughter and Jade thought about swinging around to take the rifle, but he recovered quickly.

“Albany!” He laughed again. “Holy hell! Just as well I found you, then. Hell, Albany’s been abandoned a year at least! Ha! Albany!” Jade’s heart fell into her stomach at the news, but he could have been lying or have false information. Her fear turned to anger.

“You’re full of shit, and that’s where we’re going,” she said. He laughed and spit again.

“Right now you’re going with me, Princess. How old are you two, anyway?” Jade squeezed Sera’s hand and refused to answer.

“Don’t matter anyway, you’ll fetch me a pretty price. More if you’re virgins. Are you a virgin, honey?” She heard the menace in his voice, and it made her blood boil. She thought of Sera, and anyone taking advantage of her, and turned her head slightly. Sera smiled as if she’d known the plan all along. She turned forward and purposely stumbled.

“Ow!” she cried. It took the man a couple of seconds to understand what had happened. He took his hand off the rifle to help her up and Jade kicked him in the jaw. He was large, so he didn’t go down, but it put him off balance enough to let go of the rifle, and at that point it was over. Sera recovered fast and came around behind to kick him between his legs, and then he went down. Jade’s anger boiled over as she unsheathed her knife and plunged it between his shoulder blades. He wasn’t the first man she’d stabbed, and a familiar feeling of nausea overcame her, but it was him or them. She thought of the nasty things that would have happened when they got to his camp, but it didn’t make pulling the knife out any easier. She wiped the blood on his shirt as he bellowed and let out a string of curses.

His breath went shallow and raspy, and a pool of red surrounded him. She’d gotten his lung, she guessed, and he might still make it if he could find help. She looked around and wondered how close his camp was, then yanked the rifle off his shoulder and handed it to Sera. He screamed, and she leaned down so he could see her face.

“You bitch,” he spat, blood between his teeth.

“Pick on someone your own size,” she said, resisting the urge to kick him. It was only after they ran off and were several streets away that they stopped to catch their breath and Jade remembered what he’d said about Albany. He was lying, she decided, but they’d find out soon enough. Close as she could figure, they were in Sturbridge, so that meant they had a hundred miles to go. If the man was right, those last hundred miles could be the most dangerous of all.

Chapter 5

Anyon didn’t remember his childhood or the name of the town he was born in. He had fleeting memories of mountains and of his parents, but they were just fuzzy, out of focus images. He didn’t know if it was actually his mother’s face he remembered or just an image he’d created, but he wanted it that way. Memories only complicated things, and he’d spent years trying to erase them. It was easier that way.

His family had become the boys at the CDC camp, but they were gone now, and he tried to forget that time, too. In Cambridge there was only the mission, but then there was Jade and there was Malachi. No matter how hard he tried to avoid making connections and setting down roots, he couldn’t stay on his own forever, and if he were honest with himself, he’d have to admit Jade was the most real, honest person that had ever come into his life. He had to find her, and not just because of Seraphina.

His feelings for Jade were complicated. As he and Malachi made their way through the parking lot and into the abandoned mall, Anyon thought about the early days in Cambridge. Jade had hated him then, and she was right to. He’d been full of himself and a loner, but his dedication to protecting Sera had brought them into contact often, and slowly she broke through his shell. He remembered the first time he heard her laugh; it was the moment he knew he couldn’t live without her. He didn’t even remember what was funny, only that he’d had a glimpse of the lightness in her soul, and for a minute he’d forgotten about the infection and the camp—about everything but the corners of her lips and the sparkle in her eyes.

Malachi tossed an empty can over his head and swore. They had made it to the empty food court, and he was going through the shelves behind the counter, the ones that were still standing. Most things were long gone, but they’d picked up a couple of cans hidden in back corners by other squatters—thank you Provisional Government—and Anyon thought this was as good a place as any to take a break. There was a large window where they had a good view of the surrounding area. Anyon squatted a couple feet in front of it to survey the broken-down parking lot. He was cautious. Most of the glass was in broken pieces on the floor. The soles of their shoes were worn down, and the threat of even a regular infection made them careful about cuts.

“Bingo!” Malachi appeared from behind the counter to toss him a bottle of water. “Stuck behind a shelf—three of them!” Anyon recognized the packing from another life. POLAND SPRING. The label was ripped and faded, but Anyon made out a picture of a mountain and a stream.

“Man, this shit’s ten years old!” Anyon pretended to complain as he carefully walked over to the counter, but it went without saying that he was thankful. Plastic bottles were hard to come by, and they could refill them along the way.

“Yeah, it tastes a little strange,” Malachi agreed, taking a long drink and wiping it from his lips with the back of his hand. The water glistened on his dark skin. He’d admitted once that he couldn’t recall if his olive tone was something he inherited from his mother or father’s side. People in camp had told him that he had a Mediterranean profile, if such a place still existed, and Malachi had laughed it off. What did it matter now? He sat cross-legged on the floor, thoughtful.

“What do you think it was like here, you know, back then? Do you remember?” he asked.

A memory popped into Anyon’s head, despite how hard he tried to squelch it, a memory of shopping before his first day of school: picking out polo shirts and tan pants from racks upon racks of clothes, backpacks, books, Slushies, people laughing. Malachi was too young to remember such things. Anyon shook his head.

“I don’t know man,” he said. “I can’t remember anything.”

“Too bad.” Malachi finished the water, belched loudly, and zipped the container inside his backpack. “It looks like it was fun.” He stood and turned to look at what remained of the picture menus on the wall. “Imagine just walking up and buying one of these things? A taco? It must have been awesome.”

“Must have been better than this crap.” Anyon tossed the can of lentil beans they’d split between them and looked up at faded pictures of burgers, sodas, and ice cream. His stomach grumbled even though they’d just eaten. He would have given just about anything for one of those burgers, but a noise outside startled them. Anyon turned his attention to the window.

They were too far away to see who was outside, but it couldn’t be good. Malachi got up to check it out, but Anyon held his hand out to keep him back. Ever a soldier, Anyon cocked his head and listened, but he wouldn’t risk them being seen. It sounded like a group of boys or men, laughing and breaking glass, but there was no happiness in their laughter. This wasn’t any rescue party from the camps. The hair on Anyon’s arms stood up as a rock came through the window and hit one of the last pieces of glass in the window. Anyon heard whoops and laughter from outside and paled as the rock slid to the middle of the food court floor and stopped.

“Let’s get out of here,” Anyon said. He backed up and Malachi followed. They left the food court and followed the walkway back the way they’d come. With any luck, Anyon hoped the party would go the other way, giving him and Malachi time to go down a level and out the store they had snuck into. The floor of the former mall was covered in dirt and waste, but some of the signs were still readable: Old Navy, Gap, Claire’s. He glanced into them as they went past but they were all looted. There was nowhere to hide, if it came to that, and soon he heard the voices of the boys grow louder both in front and behind them and he realized they must have split up. They didn’t have time to find a way out. He ducked into a store with Malachi behind him.

“Any ideas?” Anyon asked, hiding as well as he could behind some large beams that had once held up a display. It didn’t conceal them both, even if they crouched in close together, but at least it provided some cover.

Malachi nodded at something across the wide hallway that was once a JC Penney. It was a large store and anchored at the end of the mall.

“That place will have stairs or a window or something to get outside, if we can make it,” Malachi said. Anyon considered running, but there was a movement down the hall so they were forced to duck further inside.

“Shit,” he whispered. They were trapped. Malachi understood, and they both withdrew into the store, searching for any place to hide. The walls were crumbling and full of holes, but there was a door lying under some dirt on the floor. They propped it sideways to what Anyon hoped was an unassuming angle, and they had just enough room to squeeze behind it. They held their breath as the voices got louder. There were two boys, and they were younger than Anyon assumed. They kicked trash along the empty hallway and paused at each doorway.

“I don’t know what we’re doin’ errands for this jerk for,” one of them said. They were only one or two stores away. The voices ebbed as the kids went in and out of the store next door, searching.

“Because he’ll pay us, stupid.” The voice of the other boy was closer now. A lighter clicked and the smell of cigarette smoke drifted in the store.

“Yeah, when we find them.”

“Naw, even if we don’t. He’s raising an army, and he has a place for us.” They were outside the store now. Anyon froze.

“An army to fight who? No one’s left!”

“Who cares, if he has food, and a place to sleep? He promised us!”

“You’re an idiot if you believe him.” A scuffle ensued. Anyon couldn’t tell if it brought the boys closer or farther away, but it was obvious by the choking sounds that one boy had the other by the throat.

“Listen, you do what you want,” one said. “Run off if you want—but he’ll find you and I won’t help you when he does. And start looking around. Man, imagine if we’re the ones who find these assholes he’s looking for!” The fighting stopped, but there were several soft thumps. It was a painfully long minute before anyone spoke again.

“You’re right,” the other one said finally, and coughed. “I just wish we knew who the hell these people are. Who are we supposed to be fighting, anyway?” His voice got softer. They had passed the store. Anyon let out a breath.

“You know as well as I do. Two girls, two boys. Traitors. Hang up their picture on the wall. Boss says they have to be found.”

A loud banging echoed in the hallway and mixed with more vicious laughter, until finally the noise faded away. Anyon scooted out from behind the door and listened. He heard the group far down the hall, laughing and breaking things, and it was a long time before they moved or spoke. Malachi came out and they lingered in the door. They were both drawn to the same spot, the white paper that hung on a railing in the middle of the mall. There were four faces, four familiar faces, but the paper was too far to be sure. It could have been Anyon’s imagination.

Malachi went out first, running to it, heedless of the danger. Anyon wanted to call out and tell him to be careful, that the boys could still be around, that it could be a trap, but he felt the pull as much as Malachi. He walked as if possessed toward the poster with his own face on it.

Anyon’s face was only a small picture on the bottom along with Malachi. Most of the paper was taken up by Sera and Jade’s ID photos from camp. Sera smiled into the camera, her face surrounded by her auburn curls. Jade, as always, looked suspicious, her eyes narrowed at the camera. Anyon’s breath caught in his throat as he realized two things at once. One: they knew—they knew about Sera and they were hunting her. His training kicked in, and he became even more determined to find the girls. Two: the fact that their pictures were up meant that there was still hope. The girls had escaped the camp. They were on the run, and they hadn’t been found yet.

But found by who, he wondered. His question was answered at the bottom of the page. The Provisional Government logo was on the left; a P and G in a circle. On the top of the paper was a headshot of the President himself, gray-haired and peering down his nose through wire-rimmed glasses.

THESE FUGITIVES ARE ENEMIES OF THE STATE AND HIGHLY DANGEROUS. IF FOUND, REMIT TO PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT FORCES ALIVE, BY ORDER OF PRESIDENT VISE.

Malachi smiled.

“Well, that complicates things a bit, doesn’t it?”

“That’s one way to put it.” Anyon pulled the paper down and crumpled it before they left. They wound through the old JC Penney and worked their way downstairs and out, more determined than ever to get to Albany and get there fast.

Chapter 6

Jade and Sera made slower progress after the encounter with the drifter. It turned out his rifle wasn’t loaded, and there were pieces of it that were so rusty Jade worried it would burst into flames if she held it the wrong way, so they ditched it along the way. Jade was cautious. They stayed far north of the smoke and highway, but that meant working their way through residential neighborhoods and backyards, which was time consuming. A pack of mean, hungry feral dogs tried to corner them. Jade shooed them with a stick but they didn’t scare easily. The leader of the pack howled as it ran away, as if to say it wasn’t through with them yet.

Sturbridge must have been nice once, if that’s where they were. It was hard to gauge town lines from the map, especially in the rural areas. They passed several farmhouses with broken fences and shutters hanging from empty windows that leered at them like black, vacant eyes. Jade didn’t bother asking Sera if they should stop, but passed them as quickly as possible. Sometime around mid-afternoon they stopped at an old park and ate from the cans they’d brought from the house. Jade wished they could go back there and spend the night. She doubted they’d find anything as safe, and she’d been on the lookout for safe spots all morning. She tested the swings, which were rusty but sturdy, and when she was pretty sure they would hold her weight, she sat and swung her feet back and forth.

Sera stretched out in the grass and watched the clouds. They needed to get moving, but a quick rest was tempting and Jade let her daydream for a few minutes. Some people theorized that’s where the infection started, up there in the sky. The clouds seemed so innocent now, high and puffy. They eased their way across the sky without a thought of the destruction below them. Jade had spent a lot of time talking with Anyon about the meteor theory. He thought the infection could have been a weapon from another species, but she argued with him. It didn’t matter anyway, not now. It was just a bad roll of the galactic dice: a virus that was inconsistent with human life, as the CDC phrased it several weeks after the plague hit. They called it H37-10, but by the time they’d named it, it was too late.

She’d seen what the infection could do during those two years she was on the run with her parents. She was the complete opposite of Anyon when it came to memories. She held on to them ferociously, reliving them during quiet moments such as this. In fact, she kept a photo of her parents in her back pocket at all times. She took it out and held it to the sun. They were gone now, no doubt, but Jade took comfort in their faces. Sera saw the photo and scooted closer.

“Tell me about them,” she said.

“You know everything already.” Jade rubbed the edge of the picture with her a thumb as a cloud floated past and covered the park in shadow. Her father was tall and light haired, with square glasses. Her mother had dark curls that she could never control. Jade had gotten the worst of each of them looks-wise, with wiry black hair that stuck out in every direction, but not a curl to be seen. She kept it cut short, anyway. It was easier. She dyed it, too, when she found anything to use, and the result was a punk look that she hid behind.

What would her parents think of her now? They were probably dead, but she couldn’t be sure. Her mom had sent her to an aunt when she saw the first signs of infection on her dad, but she could have been wrong. And Sera was right, a small percentage of people did survive, but it was enough to give her hope. She’d never given up hoping to see them show up in camp one day.

“Tell me again,” Sera asked. She rolled over to her side and propped her head on her elbow. “I have so few memories.”

“His name was David Andrews. He was a lawyer. He left for work really early in the morning, but I always got up to say goodbye. Always.” She choked up.

“Maine,” Sera said, a statement, not a question. She’d heard this all before, but she listened as if it were the first time.

“Yes, my mom loved the ocean. Dad had a long commute but he thought it was worth it to make her happy. Boothbay. Right on the water. We had a swing set and a little Springer Spaniel. ” She’d often wondered what happened to Ace. He’d run off one day when they were on the road. “My mother, Aspen, was a painter. She had a show coming up in Augusta when the infection broke out. They argued about whether she should go forward with it.” She turned away from the photo and continued.

“They didn’t know much about the infection back then. It was in the beginning stages, people were only just starting to get sick. She wanted to cancel, but my father made her do it. At the gallery they were attacked by a gang of people in the end stages. Zombies, Anyon would call them.” She smiled. They’d often argued about that word. “That’s when they saw how serious the situation was. They packed me up just in time, and we traveled for two years.”

She remembered those two years with a certain amount of fondness. Her parents had kept them as isolated as possible so that Jade knew little about what was happening. Her mother schooled her at home and they made the best of it.

She put the picture back in her pocket. She didn’t want to remember the end, when she’d seen things falling apart around her, and how her aunt had come to take her away to the camp. She was just one of a hundred other orphans there. Her memories were just as painful as Anyon’s, but she chose the pain over forgetting. Sera sat up and stretched.

“We’ll have to look for shelter soon,” Jade said. She pushed off the swing, and for a minute the world swooned around her. They hadn’t seen any cars on the roads in a long time. They’d have to start looking inside houses.

“Why can’t we just drive one?” Sera got up and Jade frowned at her. “I’m serious! Why don’t we drive one and stay on the back roads? The roadblocks are on the highways and main roads. If we stay on side roads we could make much faster time!”

“Good luck finding one that runs,” Jade said. She bent over, picked up Sera’s backpack, and threw it to her. Sera didn’t back down.

“A hundred miles is a long way, Jade, and look what just happened on the highway. We’re not safe on foot, either!”

She had a point, Jade had to admit.

“Besides, I have a feeling,” Sera said, but her smile gave her away.

“You’re full of shit,” Jade said. She laughed and picked up her own backpack. Seraphina couldn’t lie to save her life.

“Okay, so maybe I am. I still think it’s a good idea,” Sera said. Jade had already consulted the map to decide what way to go. They were on a small road that ran east/west. They should be safe following it west for a few miles.

“Let’s see if we can find one first, then we can argue.” Jade doubted they would find anything at all. It was possible they’d have to find shelter in a house, so she hoped Sera’s instincts were spot on. They hung their backpacks over their shoulders and started walking. The clouds parted and the sun lit the way in front of them. A sign, Sera would have said, but Jade didn’t give her the satisfaction. She moved on with a tiny smile on her lips.

Chapter 7

The posters were everywhere. They’d not only been nailed to any available surface, but they must have been thrown out and left to blow. Malachi picked up the first few, making crude jokes about how the picture made him look, but Anyon shot him a look that shut him up quick. Malachi knew what was at stake, Anyon had confided in him a long time ago, but he didn’t have the same discipline as Anyon.

Maybe it was because the hospital and training camp had become Anyon’s life after he walked away from his childhood, or maybe the training had been so rigorous he could never forget, but he knew one thing for sure. Seraphina Grace was special and had to be protected. He wished he understood the whys of it all, the science behind it, but that had never been his job. When they found Sera, they would try to find out. He’d waited too long for the scientists to come to them. It was time to take charge. She could be their last hope, and Anyon didn’t take that lightly.

The boys he’d trained with had talked it over and joked about it. The last hope of mankind—this scrawny group? They could never make heads or tails of the whole thing. All they knew was that a group of children would come to the hospital for weeks at a time, and when they left, some of the boys went with them. He didn’t ask where or why, but he watched.

Sera was special, even among the chosen group. While they came and went, she stayed and wandered the campus. She couldn’t leave it, none of them could, but she had a freedom none of the others were allowed. He found out later that her parents were scientists there, some kind of big shots. When he and Sera arrived at Cambridge, he thought her parents would come quickly for her, but he waited for them for years and was finally forced to admit that they weren’t coming. Things had been deteriorating at the CDC camp when Anyon left. There were rumblings about a mutiny, and there was always the risk of infection, but his instructions were only to wait. It was a task that had frustrated him for years. Wait how long? And for what? His hands were tied, though. Try as he might, he couldn’t figure it out; he was no scientist and he had no way to contact them. He would need help finding out what to do, and he’d never sought help before. But before, Sera had been safe. Now all bets were off.

“West?” Malachi asked. He cocked his head down Route 9. Cars were strewn across the road, cars that had simply stopped functioning or were abandoned as their owners got sick and panicked. Anyon could drive, it was part of the training, but it would take too long to find a vehicle that worked, and he couldn’t stop obsessing about the flyers and what they meant.

“Yeah, I guess,” he said. There was no sign of the boys from the mall, but that didn’t mean they were gone. Most likely, the group was making its way to the empty shell of Cambridge; at least that’s what Anyon hoped. He considered the name on the flyer: President Vise. The name was familiar, but how did he connect to Sera? He grunted his frustration.

“Another headache, bro?” Malachi asked. He handed Anyon one of the water bottles. Anyon got headaches occasionally since training camp, but that wasn’t the problem now.

“No, just frustrated.”

“No worries, we’ll get to Albany in what—a day? A day and a half, tops?” Malachi laughed.

“Yeah, good one,” Anyon said. He couldn’t help cracking a smile. He punched Malachi lightly on the arm. “Did you learn anything at those camp schools?”

“Nah, everything I know I learned on the streets. Don’t forget, I busted out of your little training camp.”

Anyon had been surprised to learn that Malachi had been at the training camp before him. He couldn’t be sure it was the same one, but their descriptions were almost identical. Malachi had been taken to the hospital wing. He would never talk about what happened there, but a group of older boys escaped and took him with them. Malachi was young then, and he’d grown up on the streets with a gang of boys not much different from the one at the mall. The only reason he ended up at the camp was because they were separated.

“Well, let me enlighten you, then,” Anyon began. He did feel the beginnings of a headache creeping up on him and tried his best to push it away. He hoped it wouldn’t be one of those killers that would keep him lying down and out of the sunlight for days. They couldn’t afford the delay. “Albany’s west,” he said. “You’re right on that, but it’s all the way across Massachusetts. Do you know how far that is?”

“I know how far it is. I was just kidding. Ease up, man. Hey, look, this one’s fresh.” Malachi kicked the wheel of a car as they went by, a red speedster with a banged-up front end. The man behind the wheel, if it was a man, had begun to decompose. He hadn’t been infected; you could tell those corpses from their blackened, rotting skin, and anyway, you only found them in the shadows. This one still had a suit, with a hole in the chest and a circle of blood around it. Such recent death was a bad omen, Anyon thought. A flock of black birds, crows maybe, took flight to the south of them, as if they were startled into the air.

“Let’s go,” Anyon said. They picked up the pace as they made their way down the deserted highway, keeping close to the side.

“Two hundred,” Malachi muttered after a few minutes.

“What’d you say?” Despite Anyon’s attempts to breathe the headache away, the pounder was coming on strong.

“Two hundred miles, give or take, from Boston to Albany.” Malachi looked up, judged the wind. “Minus the twenty or so miles we already came. And I’d say, given the fact that you’re as slow as shit and will have to stop and rest, it’s going to be a long ass trip.”

Anyon didn’t argue. He let Malachi lead them off the highway to a place that was dark where he could rest. The problem with darkness, though, was what else they might find there.

Chapter 8

The last part of Jade and Seraphina’s journey was uneventful. They stayed off main roads and the trip took them longer than it should have, but within a few days they were approaching the New York border. They were on the outskirts of Pittsfield, and picked up Route 20 to follow the road signs. The green Welcome to New York sign was a beautiful sight, even if it was half broken off and the part that said it was the Empire State hung precariously in the wind. Beyond it was a sign that read Albany was forty miles away. Forty miles. A couple days at the most.

Jade took a breath and rested her hands on her knees. They’d picked up the pace and she was winded. Sera stopped to consider the sign and the road ahead. She scrunched her face to look as far down the highway as she could see. Jade followed her gaze but saw nothing.

“Trouble?” Jade asked. “We can circle around. Albany’s north anyway, so we can cut around?”

“No,” Sera said. She kept her eyes on the road, but nodded her head slowly. “Not trouble, not that I can see. But Jade…shouldn’t we have seen signs of the camp ahead? We’re awfully close now.” Jade straightened up, her breath steadied.

“Don’t forget, we haven’t been on the highway,” she said. “We’ve been on country roads this last week. If there were signs, we must have missed them.” She clapped Sera on the back. “Besides, we’re almost there!”

“Maybe,” Sera said, and walked off a bit on her own. Jade refused to let Sera’s bad mood infect her, even if a small part of her wondered if she were right. If not Albany, then what? They’d never discussed anything other than Albany. The camp had to be there. It just had to.

“Jade?” Sera called out. She was under the Albany sign. It was so unsteady Jade worried that a large gust of wind would blow the sign over on Sera. Anyon had impressed on her the fact that Sera needed protection, but he never told her why. She always thought he was just being big brotherly since he and Sera arrived in Cambridge around the same time, but sometimes when he mentioned his time at another camp, she wondered. He’d always brushed off her questions, and she was used to him being guarded, so she hadn’t worried about it at first. She’d tried to ask about his past several times until he lost his temper and she let it be. She hoped there’d be time to ask him again.

“What is it?” Jade said wearily, coming up behind Sera. Sera walked around the back of the sign, and she could now see a smaller, homemade post behind it. It was flattened to the ground, blown over by the wind or by poor staking, but the words were clear and readable. It was plain wood with white block letters.

REFUGEE CAMP

LOCATED AT ALBANY CIVIC CENTER

RT 20 – RT 90 – RT 87

GOD BLESS THE SURVIVORS

They stared at it a moment without talking. Jade thought it was a bad omen that the sign had blown over, but kept her concerns to herself. Protect Seraphina at all costs, Anyon’s crazy voice rang in her head. She missed him. They’d become great friends despite his idiosyncrasies (and she had hers as well, she’d venture to guess). Lately, something had developed between them that was much more than friendship, and it was those moments she remembered. Anyon, she thought, what should we do? What would you do? But she knew there was no other choice. If not Albany, where? If not Albany, Anyon wouldn’t know where to find them, and he’d be looking for Sera for sure.

“Three roads,” Sera said. “Forty miles. The way’s clear, as far as I can see, at least.” She lifted her bag to her shoulder and Jade had no time to worry about the empty road or the flattened sign. They walked right past the invisible boundary and into the state of New York.

It turned out the Empire state was much like the countryside they’d passed. The destruction from so long ago was beginning to grow over. Grass and trees broke through the pavement, making walking difficult, but there were no bodies, at least as they approached the Route 90 merge and the sun began to set. They entered a residential neighborhood and found shelter quite easily, a van again. The driver’s side window was crashed in, but the lack of windows in the back would hide them if anyone came near. They settled inside before it got dark.

Jade took out the picture of her parents that she carried and looked at it. It was her way of remembering. The only photo she had of Anyon was the one from his badge where he was serious and thoughtful. She was lucky to have a copy of it, there weren’t many cameras or photos hanging around, but she copied it one day when she worked in the security office. She’d copied hers, too, and given it to him.

Anyon.

With tousled dark hair, he was always taller and stronger than the other boys, but he was also quieter. He didn’t try to make the girls laugh or shirk his chores. He arrived at camp a year or so after her. They were right about the same age, and both were more mature than their years let on. They became friends, then best friends, and then when Sera and Malachi joined the camp, he hung around all the time. He had a strange connection to Sera, Jade knew, but she also knew it wasn’t a romantic one. She knew he guarded his secrets, he needed them, and she didn’t question him, not then. She’d thought she’d have time in the future.

“Why is everything so gray?” Sera asked. She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. It was dusk, and the only sound was that of trash scraping the pavement as it blew by. Jade had to bite back her first response, that it was evening and there was no sun, but it wasn’t what Sera meant and she knew it. She was just grouchy from being interrupted from her daydream.

“It’s missing life,” Jade said. They were in a development of triple-decker houses, houses that once held families. If she listened she could imagine the sound of children playing basketball in the street. Faint memories. Ghosts.

“It’s been ten years,” Sera said. “So long! So long to hide and destroy, to let this infection take over everything. Shouldn’t something have given by now? Shouldn’t we have rebuilt? Instead there’s just this emptiness.”

“We’re still here; that’s winning,” Jade said. Sera slid next to her and rested her head on Jade’s shoulder, lulled by the fairytale she spun. “Besides, they’re working on it. They’re working on a cure in Albany, or somewhere. We’re not the only ones. We can’t be.”

“Why is it taking so long?” Sera asked.

“I don’t know. They’re missing something, I guess. Some piece of the puzzle.”

Sera lay down, and despite the uncomfortable metal floor she was soon sleeping, but Jade’s mind picked up, like it usually did at night. She stayed awake for hours, wondering about Anyon’s strange protection of Sera and the missing piece of the puzzle. Was it possible he knew something she didn’t? She looked down at Sera and wondered. Sera was special indeed, but how special? Could she be the missing piece?

It was possible, Jade decided by early morning as she fell into a fitful sleep, but she had to get to someone who could help. She had to find Anyon and make him give her some answers this time. She had to get to Albany, and then, with any luck, she would know soon.

Chapter 9

Anyon and Malachi debated for too long, and half the day had passed before they got started. Malachi fought for the bikes, a couple fairly decent dirt bikes they’d found hidden behind some trash in a garage with the keys hanging from the ignition. The ensuing argument took them through lunch, a couple packets of Provisional Government ‘meals ready to eat’ (MRE’s). They had been standard military fare for a long time, and were widely distributed after the attacks. Anyon didn’t want anything to do with the bikes, the noise was sure to attract anyone in the vicinity, and he reminded Malachi about the importance of staying low, especially since they’d seen the posters.

“We can outrun them!” Malachi argued.

“What if we can’t? What if they have faster bikes? Or guns?”

“It’s a risk we have to take!”

“Think of what’s at stake here! Think of Seraphina!” And Jade, Anyon thought. Jade, who acted tough but was probably scared out of her mind.

“I AM thinking of Seraphina.” Malachi frowned. “We need to get to her fast.”

“We need to get to her safely.” Anyon threw the empty packets out the back window and the argument went on. Malachi was relentless, but Anyon wouldn’t budge. His time at camp had trained him in safety too well. It was better to get to Albany in one piece than risk everything and wind up dead. Finally, they settled on a compromise.

“Bikes,” Malachi snorted, following him back into the garage where there were three bicycles. One was surely for a child, with pink handlebars covered in rust and a white wicker basket.

“You take this one,” Malachi laughed and kicked the tire. Anyon gripped the handlebars of a sturdy mountain bike. He felt the tires for air and checked the chain. It was in decent shape, and it was rugged enough that they could go off road if they needed to. Malachi wheeled a matching bike out the back door. Without checking it, he hopped on and pedaled around the driveway.

“Wheeee!” he said, pushing his legs up in the air and driving in circles.

“It’s not a joke,” Anyon said, sitting on his own and testing it. “We’ll get much farther with these. It was a good find.”

“Not as good as those babies,” Malachi looked back toward the garage, but then closed his mouth when Anyon glared at him.

“Maybe not,” Anyon said, “but—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Safer,” Malachi said. Anyon bit his lip before saying something he’d regret. He rested the bike against the house and picked up his bag, throwing Malachi’s over his head so Malachi had to get off the bike and retrieve it. Anyon had to admit, he got a little satisfaction out of it.

They went faster, but not much. Though he tried to follow a compass and head west, he also tried to keep them on back roads as much as he could, and that often meant doubling back when they came too close to a town’s center. They skirted close to the Connecticut border when he realized they were near Springfield. He talked to Malachi about circling farther south, but that would have taken them too far out of the way. Albany was north, so north they headed. At one point, they saw smoke coming from the north side of Springfield. Too close for Anyon’s comfort, and too obvious. They hadn’t passed any pamphlets with their pictures on them since they left Framingham, but that didn’t leave them in the clear.

It was nearly sunset when Anyon grudgingly agreed to hole up on the top floor of an apartment building. They hauled the bikes up the stairs, but before they settled in, Anyon checked the fire escape. The stairs were rickety, but they’d hold in case they needed a quick exit. Malachi curled up in the windowsill over the fire escape and Anyon chastised him.

“Anyone could see you there. Don’t be so obvious!”

Malachi pulled down a grungy curtain to hide most of his profile but made no move to get out of the window.

“There’s no one down there,” Malachi said. “There’s no one anywhere.” His voice was more defeated than Anyon had heard it in a long time. Anyon sat next to another window but farther back to assess the situation. They both watched the tendril of smoke rise up from the north, curl around, then double back on itself. It snaked lazily around the city, and once in a while Anyon thought he heard a scream.

“They’re somewhere,” Anyon said. He rested his head on the wall, still watching the smoke. “Jade and Sera, and all the other survivors.”

“Yeah, then what?” Malachi flipped the top on and off an old lighter that had long since run out of fluid.

“Then…” Anyon paused. It was a question he asked himself often. It was a question that deserved an answer, but he didn’t have one. He fished for something, anything, to give to Malachi. Some great words of hope, but he took too long.

“Yeah, I thought so,” Malachi said. He rested his head on the window and they didn’t talk anymore.

It was hours later when the first moans interrupted the silence of the night. Malachi had curled in a ball by the corner, but Anyon slept with his head on the wall by the window. His senses were sharp, and he woke at the first noise.

A low, moan, then a hiss, then a cackling laugh. Anyon’s hands curled around the curtain. Infected. The moans got louder and closer, and he considered waking Malachi—the damned kid could sleep through anything. A gunshot echoed, and a screech, then the moans became softer, apparently changing their direction to the east as far as Anyon could tell.

Malachi shifted at the sound of the gunshot but quickly fell back asleep. Anyon decided not to tell him. He knew they were in danger so close to the city, although just how much danger he may have underestimated. He cursed himself for cutting through the city—a necessary but deadly shortcut. Truth be told, he wasn’t as worried about the zombies. Jade would give him shit for using that word, but she wasn’t there. He’d dealt with the infected people before; they were slow and clumsy and easy to kill. He ran his hand around the hilt of the knife he’d kept on him since he’d left the CDC camp. Jade held the match of it, wherever she was, but he refused to let himself follow those thoughts. Not now. No, what Anyon worried about was the gunshot. That was far more telling—and dangerous. It established the fact that they weren’t alone in the city, and whoever else was there was an unknown variable.

He decided it was imperative to leave the city behind as soon as the sun came up the next morning. He wasn’t willing to take a chance on whoever was out there, for good or bad. He had to maintain his focus on Sera and Jade, and whatever lay after that.

Chapter 10

There were no further indications of the Albany camp as Jade and Sera continued on, which only served to heighten Jade’s anxiety. There was an increase in destruction and trash along the route, so certainly people had been there recently, but there was no sign of them anymore. Jade’s nerves were on edge when they approached the Welcome to Albany sign, which was at least still standing. Sera reached it first.

From a distance Jade read the sign proclaiming Albany an “All American City,” but it wasn’t until she was almost upon it that she could read the scrawl underneath. She blinked away angry tears and put a hand on the post to steady herself, sure that it didn’t say what she thought. She willed the words to rearrange themselves and point the way to the camp, but instead the sign mocked them. The letters were brownish red, the color of blood as it dried.

ALBANY CAMP

RELOCATED AND DESTROYED

PER ORDER OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT

Sera placed an arm around her shoulder and Jade screamed in frustration. The sense of defeat was overwhelming. She didn’t know what she’d expected at Albany, certainly not a parade and welcoming committee, but not this. Not nothing.

“Shhh,” Sera said. She hugged Jade as she finally unleashed the tears that had been bottled up since Cambridge. They sank to their knees in the soft grass. “It’s all right.” It wasn’t, but somehow Sera’s comforting words filled the darkness, and after a few minutes Jade realized she’d have to get ahold of herself. She sat up and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

“I’m sorry.” She sniffed and pulled herself to sitting, her knees crisscrossed under her. “I’m sorry I dragged you all this way for nothing. I don’t know what to do.” Sera smiled and let out a little laugh.

“Is that why you’re crying? We’re not here for nothing, Jade.” Jade rolled her eyes at Sera, sure she would come up with some worthless words about the meaning of the universe.

“Look around,” Jade said. She masked the last of her sniffles and stood up. She pointed to the desolate highway where clouds rolled in from the west and threatened rain. They threatened a lot more than that, too. “There’s nothing here, Sera. Albany is empty.”

“There was, though,” she said. “Maybe we weren’t meant to find the camp, but the trail. I know you thought our journey was over when we got to Albany, but maybe it’s just beginning?”

Jade was weary, and the thought of more traveling threatened to undo her. She wiped away one last tear, careful not to let Sera see. Whether Sera was right or not, they had no choice. They had to look around, and if nothing was here, they’d have to start over. At the very least, they’d have to wait somewhere for Anyon and Malachi. They’d come. She knew they would. She reached out to the sign to smear the warning letters but it had long since dried.

“You’re right,” she told Sera. Though she wasn’t entirely sure Sera was right about everything, they had to keep going. The wall of clouds had overtaken the sun. She didn’t know how late it was, but they had to find shelter from the storm and find somewhere to spend the night.

“Let’s go,” Jade said. She took a step, hesitated, and turned back at Sera. She was considering the sign and the road west. Jade held out a hand to her and she took it.

“Albany,” Sera said with a smile.

“Albany.”

They crossed the city line together, no closer to answers than they were when they fled the camp, with only Sera’s intuition to follow. It was better than nothing, Jade supposed, and she wouldn’t trade it for a can of beans, as her daddy used to say, but she wished they had something solid.

A bolt of lightning cut across the sky after a couple of miles, followed by a pelting rain. They had just crossed into Albany’s suburbs, a neighborhood of small homes. They took shelter under some trees, which Jade remembered was not the safest thing to do in a thunderstorm. She pulled her jacket up over her head and surveyed their surroundings as thunder boomed close by. She cursed herself for not stopping sooner, but she’d caught some of Sera’s optimism that they were making their way somewhere, somewhere important, and she didn’t want to slow down.

She yelled to Sera that they should check out the house directly opposite. It was missing a front window, but Jade thought that was a good sign. Not much chance they’d find anyone holed up in it, and the window could be an escape if necessary. Before she could say anything, Sera grabbed her shoulder and pointed up the street.

Jade frowned. She wanted to get inside. Another rumble shook the earth and a bolt just after, closer this time. The storm was on top of them. She followed where Sera was pointing, ready to brush her off and pull her into the house, but what Sera pointed to changed her mind.

It was almost exactly the same house from the week before. The two-story Victorian where they’d last felt safe. It was surrounded by a cloud of light. Mist probably, or an illusion of light, Jade told herself, but she didn’t argue when Sera pulled her out from under the tree. It was almost as if they were pulled along by some unseen force. Her feet took over, and they ran at full speed down the street. Heads down, soaked, not looking ahead or to the side but just going. They ran up the stairs (with the same broken third step that Jade jumped over instinctively), and into the front door. They didn’t bother knocking, but slammed past the door and into the foyer, when Jade screamed.

Someone’s arms engulfed her as soon as she got in, and Jade struggled to get free. She reached down for the knife sheathed to her leg when she realized she wasn’t being assaulted but hugged, and she staggered backwards. Her back hit the closed front door. By that time, the woman had moved on to Sera and enveloped her in a hug.

All Jade could see was a crown of gray hair until the woman pulled back. She was as old as Jade had ever seen and smelled of powder. The lines in her face told of a long, hard life, but she was smiling and her eyes were warm.

“Welcome,” the woman said, in a crackled voice. Jade didn’t trust her, not completely, but Sera reached out and bridged the gap. She took the old woman’s hand, then Jade’s. Once again, Jade had to trust.

“Thank you,” Sera said.

“You probably have so many questions,” the woman said. “But first, let’s get you dry and fed.” She turned down the hallway behind her, where a figure appeared from a side room.

“Lazarus,” the woman said. “Be a dear and set some food out in the kitchen.” He was young, about Jade’s age, with dark hair that fell over his unreadable face.

Her voice was drowned out by thunder. “Oh dear,” she said as the boy disappeared down the hall. “You got here just in time, didn’t you? Go on upstairs to the bedroom and find some clothes. You know the way, I’m sure. We’ll wait for you in the dining room.”

Jade was startled to find they did know the way—up the stairs and down the hall. She almost expected the same pink bedroom with castles on the wall when she opened the door, but the room was completely different, and Jade sighed with relief. It was a guest bedroom with two twin beds, a dresser and a desk. The wallpaper was dark with flowers and heavy curtains.

“I told you,” Sera said, as she came out of the closet, pulling out a pink sweater that matched her skin tone and fit perfectly. She threw a green sweater to Jade.

“Told me what?” Jade said, stripping off her wet clothes.

“That we would find our way.” She skirted past Jade and into the hall. Jade jumped to pull on a pair of jeans and poked her head out of the door.

“Our way where, exactly?” she asked, but Sera was already gone down the stairs.

* * *

Anyon was right, Malachi remembered nothing the next morning about the gunshot, and Anyon told him nothing. He stressed the need to stay quiet though, and Malachi wasn’t stupid. He knew something had happened but was smart enough (or scared enough) not to ask exactly what. They circled around south and gave the city a wide berth. They covered a lot of ground that day on the bikes, and Anyon only let out a breath when they came close to the New York border and the safety of Albany, where, with any luck, Jade was waiting for them.

PART TWO – ALBANY

Chapter 11

While Sera disappeared down the staircase, Jade took a minute to get her bearings. The house was so familiar that she took one last look around the bedroom to make sure it was real. Though it was impossible and silly, she couldn’t shake the feeling that they were somehow in the same house. It didn’t help that Sera had placed the Andromeda figurine on the nightstand next to her bed. Jade squeezed her eyes shut and shook the thought out of her head. When she opened her eyes the room was the same burgundy and brown wallpaper with dark curtains covered in lace. A loud clap of thunder brought her back to reality and on the way downstairs she chastised herself. Things were strange, but not strange enough for a house to follow them. Not yet, at least.

The staircase led back to the foyer. Jade followed the voices down the hall and into the kitchen. The layout was the same as the other house, but this one was older and more formal. The cabinets were made of dark wood, and a round black stove sat in the corner with a teakettle steaming on one burner. The old woman was bent over the counter working. Her hands trembled slightly as she placed four tea bags into small cups and placed them on a serving tray. She gingerly picked up the teapot and poured the hot water into each cup, spilling water onto the tray.

“Let me help,” Jade said, stepping up behind her. The woman waved her off with the other hand.

“No, no. I can do this. I have to.” She smiled at Jade. “It’s hard to get old. I need help with some things, but if I can’t offer my guests tea, then what good am I? Although I’m not sure how good it tastes anymore. This is the last of the camp’s supplies.” Jade picked up the tray.

“At least let me carry them to the table, then,” Jade said. The woman led the way into the dining room, where Sera was chatting with Lazarus at the far end of a formal dining table. Jade couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the conversation was light. Sera laughed.

“At least you have help,” Jade said. She took the cups off the tray and placed them on the table. “Is he your son?” The woman’s chalky eyes shot to Lazarus.

“No,” she said. She hesitated as if she wanted to say more, but instead just shook her head. Lazarus got up to watch the storm out the window. It seemed weaker now. The danger was fading.

“Come away from there!” the woman snapped at him. “Do you want to get struck by lightning?” Lazarus turned and leaned on the wall, crossing his arms in front of him. Jade had a chance to examine him again. He wasn’t unattractive, she was forced to admit, but there was something about him that made her uneasy. He had what Jade’s daddy would call a “shit eatin’ grin” on his face. She didn’t trust him, but she couldn’t say why. She handed Sera a cup and sat next to her.

“No, ma’am,” Lazarus answered. “I don’t intend to. I have places to go.” Jade was surprised to hear the tinge of a southern accent in his words. He noticed her looking and tipped his head to her. “Name’s Lazarus Walker, and yes—I originally hail from the great state of North Carolina. The Tar Heel State.” He winked. Jade opened her mouth to speak but the woman cut her off.

“Yes, well, they don’t need to hear your story now, fascinating though it is.” She glared at him but he didn’t drop the smile. Jade started to ask about their relationship, but the woman spoke up before she had a chance.

“My name is Constance McGovern, but you can call me Connie. Welcome to my home.” She folded her hands on the table. Jade wasn’t sure if she were expected to respond or not, but the silence lengthened and someone had to break it.

“Thank you. My name is…” Jade thought for a minute about using an alibi, but she wasn’t sure why. Just a vague sense of something off, but she shook it away. “Jade. And this is Seraphina.” Lazarus coughed in the corner and the woman’s eyes widened.

“Indeed,” Connie said. She cleared her throat. “It’s been some time since we’ve had visitors, so please excuse us if our hospitality is somewhat lacking.” Another glance over to Lazarus.

“Thank you for your kindness,” Jade said. “We don’t intend to inconvenience you for long. You see, we’re looking for the refugee camp that was set up in Albany? Our old camp was attacked, and I was told to head to Albany because that’s where the closest camp was.”

Connie’s eyes dropped and her head shook back and forth. Jade knew what she was going to say before she said it.

“I’m sorry. That camp has been gone for a long time. The Provisional Government came in and moved everyone south some time ago. A year, perhaps?” The words were a heavy blow. Jade felt them physically as if she’d been struck.

“South where?” Her voice cracked as she asked. Connie frowned, as if trying to recall a memory she’d long buried.

“Richmond? I think? At least that’s what they said. I was a nurse at the Albany camp and had many friends there, but they’re long gone. They forced the evacuation, I only escaped myself in the knick of time.”

“Why?” Jade asked. “Why did they shut it down? And why stay here by yourself instead of go to Richmond?”

Connie shrugged. “Why does the Provisional Government do anything? And as for staying here? I was afraid. And besides, I had a bad feeling about that President Vise.” She wrapped a shawl around her shoulders and gazed longingly at the empty fireplace.

“Well, I would’ve gone,” Lazarus said. He pushed himself away from the wall and sat at the table opposite Jade. He put his feet up and Connie pushed back from the table in disgust.

“And I would have made Miss McGovern here, go too,” he said, and nodded to her. “Safety in numbers, and all that. Besides, I don’t think old President Vise is all that bad. Seems like a swell fella, actually. But as it goes, I only came here a couple months ago. I was looking for the camp—like y’all, but instead of finding it I found some gang of hooligan kids in the city.” He lifted his shirt to show the girls an angry scar on his chiseled stomach. Not round and sharp, like a bullet. Some kind of knife, Jade suspected.

“Miss McGovern got me back here and nursed me up to health, and I’ve been returning the favor and taking care of her.”

“I require no help,” Connie snapped.

“Nevertheless, I’ll move on eventually. Richmond, or maybe north?” He eyed Jade.

“What’s north?” she asked.

“Some of the Albany settlers who didn’t want to follow the government troops went north. There was a rumor that there’s some big refugee camp and they’re rebuilding. It’s probably all a fairy tale, but it might be worth checking out…” He trailed off but never took his eyes off Jade. She recalled what she knew of President Vise, and it wasn’t much. He had a shadowy, somewhat brutal reputation. He’d taken power from the ashes of the old government, and raised an army that was fiercely loyal and followed him around. Because of his many enemies, his capital moved often. North wasn’t out of the question.

“Anyway,” Connie broke in. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you wish.” She stood and placed the empty cups on the tray to return to the kitchen. Lazarus didn’t stir, but stared unabashedly at Jade over the table, where his feet still were.

“What’s left of the camp?” Jade asked, rising and taking the tray.

“Not much,” Connie replied. “And it’s dangerous.” Jade pushed the curtain away from the window with her elbow. A steady rain fell, tapping the windows and streaking them so she couldn’t see out. It was getting close to twilight, and the room had taken on a gloomy tint. Connie struck a match and lit a candle on the table.

“I need to see it,” Jade said. “We were supposed to meet someone there. I have to see if he’s been there and leave him a message.”

“It’s not a good idea,” Connie said. “It’s not safe. There are things there you never saw in Cambridge, I’ll bet.”

“I’ll go.” Lazarus took his feet off the table and followed them to the kitchen, taking the tray from Jade and setting it on the counter.

“It’s not necessary,” Jade said quickly. Sera followed them into the kitchen.

“Isn’t it?” He crossed his arms in that cocky way again. “Do you know the way there? Where the gangs hide? Where the pockets of infected are? How to get back here, or how to get out in a hurry?” Jade bristled.

“I made it here,” she said. They stayed that way, Jade and Lazarus staring at each other for a full minute until she deflated. “But you’re right. Can you show us the way?” He bent over dramatically, as if to bow to her.

“I’d be happy to show you the way to court, my lady.”

“Give me a break,” Jade said under her breath.

“In the morning,” Connie said. She shooed them upstairs to get some rest, giving them a candle to light the way. “You’re welcome to look through the closets and take whatever you need for your journey. There are clothes that should fit you just fine. Sleep well, girls.” They made their way upstairs to find that darkness had crept into the bedroom. The candle left shadows that crawled up and down the dark wallpaper.

Jade had meant to ask Sera what she thought of the plan, but Connie’s words came back to her. ‘There are things there you never saw in Cambridge.’ The thing was, Jade didn’t remember telling Connie they’d come from Cambridge. It occupied her mind until she and Sera were tucked into the twin beds with the door safely locked behind them.

“Are you okay with this?” Jade asked, too confused to ask anything else. Sera nodded, almost imperceptibly in the dark.

“It will all work out,” she said, and let out a big yawn. For this once, Jade was satisfied with Sera’s answer. Besides, if she probed any deeper she’d find only fear and doubt. She fell asleep thinking that it would all work out, but not quite believing it.

Chapter 12

Jade and Sera overslept. Sunlight couldn’t penetrate the tightly drawn curtains, so by the time Jade rubbed her eyes and pushed them aside, the sun was already halfway across the morning sky. She cursed herself and jumped out of bed, pulling on clothes from the closet.

“Wake up!” She nudged Sera a little harder than she intended. Sera dove back under the covers but Jade knew she would get up. She flew out of the room and down the stairs.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” she said as she ran into the kitchen. The smell of fresh baked bread greeted her. Connie and Lazarus were in the middle of a conversation and stopped talking abruptly when she entered. Connie grit her teeth, and for a minute Lazarus’s face flashed with anger, then it was replaced by that same slow smile.

“Well now, we thought we were going to have to wake you. Didn’t we, Mrs. McGovern?” The way he squeezed Connie’s shoulder was threatening, but he kept the smile and winked. Connie relaxed her face.

“Of course not,” she said. “You girls have been through a lot. If we had to postpone this until tomorrow then so be it.” Sera drifted into the kitchen, mouthing apologies.

“There’s coffee in the dining room, and bread,” Connie said.

“Bread!” Sera said. Her eyes lit up.

“I thought today was a special day,” Connie said.

“We’ve been eating out of Provisional Government cans for so long!” Sera took Connie’s arm and let herself be led to the dining room. She waved back at Jade to come with them, but Jade hung back.

“Not interested in bread, chief?” Lazarus asked. He threw an apple from hand to hand with a feigned indifference, but his eyes said otherwise. They were unflinching and cold.

“What’s your angle?” she asked him, watching the apple. Left. Right. Left. Right. He stopped and took a bite. Juice dripped down his chin that he didn’t bother to wipe away.

“I don’t have an angle. Just here to help.” He gave Jade that condescending smile of his.

“Mmm-hmm.” Jade slipped into the dining room with Lazarus right behind her. When they reached the door, he held her back by the arm and whispered in her ear.

“Seems like you don’t have much choice but to trust me, sweetheart. Doesn’t seem like y’all have a lot of friends, and two girls traveling alone in the big, bad city can be awful dangerous.” He took another bite and spit out a seed on the floor, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Are you threatening me?” Jade jerked her arm away.

“Just telling it like it is. You want the camp? I can give it to you, not that I expect you’ll be impressed. The real action is up north.”

“What do you mean, up north?” Jade whispered.

“Well, to start with, that fairy tale she sold you yesterday?” he said. “It’s not the complete truth.”

“How so?” she asked.

“The faction that went up north? They went in greater numbers than she suggested, and it wasn’t for the reasons she said.”

“Why? Why did they leave? And where did they go?”

“Easy there. Mrs. McG there wants to keep you safe here, I think. She wouldn’t want me telling you.” He paused. “There are some who say the cure is up north at a CDC facility in New Hampshire, where the President is hiding out. The refugees who broke away were going to look for it.”

“That’s a bunch of malarkey and you know it!” Connie appeared in the doorway. “You’d have these children traipsing through the wilderness unprotected, looking for some cure that doesn’t exist.”

“They wouldn’t be unprotected, ma’am. I plan to go with them.” Lazarus tossed the rest of the apple into a basket on the floor and hooked his thumbs through his belt loop. Connie whitened.

“You can’t,” she breathed.

“All due respect, ma’am. I think it’s up to them. Jade, Sera?” He nodded to them. “Would you like to spend your days holed up here, hiding, or do you want to go out and try to find a camp, a cure, and your friends?”

Jade gave Connie a sad smile. She couldn’t stay here and hide, and neither could Sera. Leaving would be hard, but necessary.

“I have to see the camp,” she said. “We’ll come back.” Connie had tears in her eyes. They wouldn’t come back, and both of them knew it.

“Grab your packs,” Lazarus instructed. “We’re late.” Jade didn’t like the way he spoke to them, but she was all too happy to pull away from Connie’s sad glare. She and Sera ran upstairs, stuffed their meager possessions in the packs and hurried back down. Sera hugged Connie, then fished something out of her backpack and handed it to Connie.

“This is an unusual statue.” Connie lifted the glass statue of Andromeda up so it caught the light. “She’s beautiful, but sad.”

“It’s Andromeda,” Sera said, and closed Connie’s fingers over it.

“I can’t keep it.” Connie tried to hand it back.

“No,” Sera said. “She’s not safe with us. She belongs here so you can take care of her.” Connie tightened her hold on it.

“I will,” she said. “And keep yourselves safe. Be careful.”

“Always,” Jade said. Lazarus was already at the front door, holding it open.

“Let’s go,” he ordered. “Mrs. McGovern, it’s been a pleasure.”

Connie mumbled something behind them but Jade couldn’t hear, and when she turned around, Connie had already closed the door behind them.

“Aah, the great outdoors.” Lazarus raised his arms to the fresh air. The day was cool, only milky puddles and high clouds remained from the previous night’s storm. Even the wind had died down. It was a good day to explore.

“Which way is the camp?” Jade scrambled to catch up.

“The camp, the camp,” Lazarus said in a sing-songy voice, then he pointed. “To the north. We’re going to circle around and enter east, though. Then, when you’ve seen enough, we’ll push north to the mountains.”

“I’ll make that decision,” Jade snapped.

“Of course you will.” He agreed a little too easily, but Jade had no reason to pick a fight. She sulked as they slipped quietly through Albany’s side streets and headed downtown.

Chapter 13

The streets of Albany were totally deserted. Jade didn’t have the feeling they were being watched anymore, and except for a few stray cats, there was no life at all. It was almost as if the whole town existed in a bubble and the bubble had popped, vaporizing everything and everyone with it.

“There’s no one left here anywhere?” Jade asked, kicking debris from their path in the road.

“When the camp was here they patrolled this area,” he said. “The infection was driven out, there was little to no crime. They had a good thing going. So I’m told.”

“Where was the camp, anyway?” Sera asked. She didn’t seem to share Jade’s suspicions, but Jade needed to talk to her alone. And soon.

“Up yonder,” he pointed. They were walking into the heart of the city and it was quiet as a tomb. A lone crow flew off the top of a building upon hearing their approach, and its caw echoed long after he was gone.

“The camp started in the civic center,” Lazarus said, “but grew out from there. Actually all downtown became part of the camp eventually. We’re walking in it now.”

Jade looked around. The streets were surrounded by apartment buildings, two or three stories tall. There were signs on all the doors and she paused to read one.

PROPERTY OCCUPIED

-SAMPSON, MARK (aged 66)

-SAMPSON, LINDA (aged 62)

-SMITH, LORI (aged 33)

-ROBIDEAUX, MICHAEL (aged 37)

-SMITH, NATALIE (aged 3)

“Census papers,” Lazarus said.

“They had a census?” Jade asked. She pulled the paper down.

“Yep, their own police force and government, too. Probably why the ol’ P-G decided to shut them down. They were getting too big for their britches.”

Jade looked around the small street. The buildings were in remarkably good condition. Most still had windows and little to no graffiti.

“It must have been amazing,” Jade said.

“Yeah, it was a great place to live,” Lazarus said. Jade dropped the paper and it drifted down the street.

“How do you know?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you said you only got here two months ago? How do you know it was great here? And what are you doing?” Her voice rose when she saw him take out a gun from the waistband of his pants and check that it was loaded.

“Get behind me, there’s something up past this intersection.”

It didn’t escape Jade’s notice that he said something and not someone. She held her breath when a scraping noise echoed from around the corner. It wasn’t moaning, at least, or screams, but Jade didn’t relax. There were all kinds of other nastiness out there, animals or people. She unsheathed the knife from her leg, envious of Lazarus’s drawn gun. His finger was on the trigger as he crept toward the end of the street.

“Who’s there?” he yelled. They were greeted by a whine and a bark, high-pitched and good-natured. They inched around the corner and saw a medium size, sandy dog with its head inside a metal trash barrel. Sera laughed and ran over to it.

“Back away!” Lazarus yelled to her, but it was too late. She had her hands behind the dog’s ears, scratching and letting it lick her face. “Damn it,” he said. “Don’t you know they carry disease?”

“Not this one.” Sera ruffled the fur on its head, and it looked back at her like she’d made a friend for life. Lazarus may have been right, but nothing would stop Sera when it came to animals. Jade put away the knife and joined her.

“This is not a good idea,” Lazarus said, lowering the gun but not putting it back just yet.

“Maybe not,” Jade said. “But you don’t know Seraphina. You’d have to shoot her now to get rid of this dog.” Sera pulled out a scrap of bread that Connie had given her and fed it to the dog. Jade ran her hand over its matted fur and he licked her hand. She was surprised to see it was wearing a collar. It was faded blue and about to fall off, but it still held a single tag, the name on it barely readable. Sera smiled when she read it, and held it so Jade could see.

“See!” Sera said with confidence.

“See what?” Jade squinted to read the name on the collar while Sera wrapped her arms around the dog’s neck.

“Peg,” Sera said. Her voice was muffled by the dog’s fur. “Short for Pegasus. You know?” she pointed up to the sky. Pegasus was another of her constellations. Jade laughed.

“It’s also short for Peggy, as in Margaret,” Jade said. The dog lifted his head up and sniffed, then growled. He pulled out of Sera’s grasp, and pointed around the corner with a menacing bark. Though Sera tried to hold him back, he ran off, his bark growing distant, then finally silent. The collar had fallen off and Sera stuffed it in her pocket.

“So much for that,” Jade said.

“Let’s go,” Lazarus said. They took one last look for the dog but he was gone. Sera reluctantly followed Lazarus. They made it through a couple more blocks, the downtown taking a more congested and commercial air around them. He stopped just before an intersection where they couldn’t see over the tall buildings on either side.

“Civic center is a few blocks down,” he said. “If you’re going to find anything out, it’ll be in there.” They followed him through an intersection, and at the crest of the hill, got their first view of the shell of the camp they’d been chasing.

They could only see the round, gray roof of the civic center and the outline of the city around it. The sky was washed out and blended into the city line, so everything appeared damp and bland. The smell of garbage wafted past them. They walked down another hill and past more side streets. As they made their way closer they passed more and more signs—bleached out but readable—tacked to every available surface.

ALBANY REFUGEE CAMP

CONDEMNED SURVIVORS

RELOCATED TO RICHMOND

BY ORDER OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT AND PRESIDENT VISE

2/7/3

Jade studied one while Lazarus stopped to drink from his water bottle. She’d seen the strange dates before, the Provisional Government counted time from when they took over, and the camp had been evacuated 2 years, seven months and three days after that. Jade did the math, it was just over a year ago. She ran her thumb over President Vise’s name on the flier. She recalled that there’d been talk of elections, even as far out as Cambridge, but he showed no signs of stepping down. She considered the word ‘relocated,’ and thought of times in her studies of history where relocated meant extinguished or forced, and why was Constance the only person they’d seen? Given the state of the camp now, surely no one would have wanted to leave it one year ago. Everything added up to give Jade a very bad feeling about Richmond and the Provisional Government. She said nothing, though. She didn’t want to influence Sera or scare her, and they still needed to leave a message for Anyon somehow.

The bad feeling stayed with her as Lazarus walked away and started down the street. She had a strong instinct to run away from him and this whole camp, but she had to see for herself what was here. She pulled the paper down and stuck it in her pack to think about later, then followed Lazarus into the heart of what was once Albany.

Chapter 14

The buildings were taller and closer together as they approached downtown. Trash littered the street, but there was still no sign of anyone. The smell was the first clue that something was wrong. A breeze carried the stench of rotten eggs and decay. The closer to the civic center, the stronger the smell.

“Something’s wrong,” Sera said. The smell was overpowering. Lazarus had never put his gun away, and his finger curled over the trigger nervously. Jade pulled the top of her shirt over her nose and Sera followed suit.

“How long has it been since you’ve been here?” Jade asked Lazarus. Her words were muffled through the cloth. He hesitated.

“I was only here once, when I arrived, and I didn’t get any closer than this. Mrs. McGovern saved my ass from a gang of kids.” Jade snickered and he flashed her a dirty look. “Laugh all you want, see if I save your ass. I always meant to poke around here, but I never got to it. Just as well, I guess.” He coughed, then shook his head. He shimmied closer to a building at the corner, then peeked around it. His face paled and he gagged, finally dropping the gun down to his side.

“I’m not sure it’s necessary to go any further,” he said. He stumbled backward a few steps.

“Of course we’re going,” Jade said sharply. She wondered what was so bad it would make him lower his weapon and gag.

“It’s your funeral,” he said. “I’ll wait for y’all back here.”

Jade considered running past him and through the city to the other side, it was always in the back of her mind, but she decided against it. She still didn’t trust him, but they needed him. For now.

“Stay here,” she told Sera, who didn’t listen but came up beside her.

“Yeah, right,” Sera said. “Whatever it is, we’re in this together. You keep trying to protect me, Jade, but I’m stronger than you think.”

Jade didn’t let Sera see her smile at that. Lazarus backed further away from the intersection as they passed him. They reached the end of the street and went around the corner that Lazarus had backed away from. Next to them were the glass windows of a former restaurant. There was a picture of a dancing hamburger on one and the remnants of a counter with tables and chairs inside. Jade turned left and stopped short.

The remains of the civic center were one block in front of them. The marquee was broken and hanging off one beam, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. There were hundreds of bodies piled onto the steps. Most were decayed into only skeletons, but mummified flesh dripped off some, clothing hanging off the limbs in tatters. Sera backed away, but Jade stared, burning the scene into her memory.

It was impossible to tell what had happened. They hadn’t died from infection; the bodies weren’t mutilated or diseased. They had been laid haphazardly, without the grace of a burial. It was a message. Jade’s fingers curled around the paper in her pocket as she put the clues together. This was a warning to the camps that were self-sufficient. To those who would question the Provisional Government. This was the reason they were attacked in Cambridge. Her feelings turned from horror to rage. She knew something was rotten with the Provisional Government, but not evil.

“Jade, let’s go, please.” Sera pulled her arm. They had seen enough. Jade backed away slowly, lost in thought.

“So much for that plan,” Lazarus said. They caught up with him in front of the dancing hamburger, leaning on the building and finishing the stub of a cigarette. He threw it on the ground and started to walk away but Jade didn’t move.

“I said let’s go,” Lazarus repeated. Jade glared at him.

“You don’t tell us what to do,” she said through clenched teeth. He was probably right about leaving, but she’d be damned before she let him make the decisions for them.

“All right,” he said. He threw his left hand up, but the one with the gun stayed steady by his side. “Do what you want. Stay here. I’m going north.” He turned around and started moving slowly. He was waiting for them to follow, but Jade didn’t fall for it.

“We should go, too,” Sera said. She reached out a hand to Jade. “There’s nothing left here.”

Jade considered. The restaurant’s walls blocked the horrific scene, but she would never forget it.

“Wait,” she said. Lazarus froze and turned his head, but she talked to Sera. “Are you sure you want to go north? You don’t want to try Richmond?”

“No.” Sera shook her head. “There’s something wrong with this place. I don’t want to follow whoever did this. North. We should go north.”

“North, then,” Jade agreed. “But first…”

“We don’t have a lot of time, sweet cheeks,” Lazarus interrupted, but Jade paid no attention.

“First we have to leave them a message,” Jade continued. “Anyon and Malachi. They’re on their way, and they have to know where to find us. Unless we camp here and wait for them?” Sera’s face whitened. “I didn’t think so. But we have to place the message somewhere they’re sure to see, and it has to be something that’s not obvious but they’ll understand.”

Lazarus tried in vain to argue but he couldn’t change their minds, so he pouted in silence. They all threw out ideas, each one worse than the last, until a hopeless silence fell between them. Sera wandered a little way down a side street as Jade thought about things only she and Anyon knew, messages he would understand. She was flooded by a wave of personal memories that were not appropriate to put on a sign. Remember the first time you held my hand? she thought. Coming out of the camp on patrol, around the north side. It was the middle of summer and you helped me over a pile of debris, but you didn’t let go. We could see the stars over the ocean and I was afraid you could hear my heart beat through my chest. Sera called out and interrupted her thoughts.

“Here!” Sera said, and pointed to an old store. Its windows had been boarded up, but the plywood was falling off. She yanked a corner. Lazarus helped, and it came off easily. It was as tall as Sera and long enough to hold a message.

“Why are you helping?” Jade asked him.

“It’s clear we’re not getting out of here until you finish this crazy mission you’re on,” he said. “And I could use the company since you’re going north, too.” She ignored him again and they all set off to find something to write with. Lazarus had to break into several buildings before finding half a can of spray paint in an old hardware store, as well as a nice supply of canned food. Jade hoped it was enough. She was suspicious that Lazarus knew where to find it, though. She added it to the list of things she didn’t trust about him. The list was lengthening by the day. She shook the can and thought of the words she would leave. Words Anyon would know, and follow.

She told them to Sera, who smiled in agreement and they got to work. White paint on rotted plywood, not the most foolproof method, but it was all they had. Jade sprayed as Sera held the sign steady. Lazarus made fun of their plans—‘they’re probably already dead,’ he said, but they continued until the sign filled up. Jade stood back, satisfied.

“Now what?” Sera said, wiping paint off her forehead.

“Now, we place it,” Jade said.

“Where?” Sera asked.

“We have to place it where we’re sure they’ll see,” she said. “We know where they’re going, the civic center, just like us. We have to go back there.”

“Oh, no,” Lazarus backed up a step. “No way I’m going back there.”

“No one asked you,” Jade said. Without asking, Sera grabbed one side and Jade the other. Lazarus shook his head like they were crazy, and maybe they were, but the only place she was sure Anyon would see the sign was in the heart of the camp. Somewhere under the eave of the civic center. To do that, though, they’d have to pass the bodies and the sea of death underneath.

Only for you, Anyon, she thought. She released a hand on the plywood and pulled her shirt up over her nose, holding it with her teeth. The smell still came through, sharp and putrid, but she kept her eyes on their destination. Step after step, they made their way down the street and to the steps. She tried not to look at the bodies as they climbed over them, and only once stumbled on a bone. Sera was the steadiest, she walked backwards listening to Jade’s directions. At the top, they leaned it against the posts that supported the building, safe from rain. Jade wiped the sweat off her palms and onto her pants.

“That should do it,” she said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Chapter 15

The journey to Albany took longer than Anyon thought, but they avoided any kind of populated areas on the way, and got lost several times. Anyon couldn’t balance a map and the bike, and they had to make several stops to check the route. Malachi could have done better, but Anyon wouldn’t hand over the reins. Malachi was good with directions but he could be impetuous and foolish, and he would have sent them pounding right through dangerous areas. Besides, Anyon had training, and it was better to get to Albany in one piece late, than never get there at all.

They entered the state the same way as Jade and Seraphina. Their trails slowly came together. They passed the same broken sign with the pale white letters, following its directions through empty suburban neighborhoods, and even had the same sad thoughts of streets filled with children’s laughter. Anyon felt the echo of ghosts along the way. They stopped for lunch at an old park. The grass grew over their knees and the swings were rusted and squeaky, but Anyon was glad to get off the bike seat. They leaned the bikes against a section of chain link that was still standing.

“Hey, look!” Malachi kicked something from behind a bush. It was a basketball, still round for the most part, but woefully deflated. Malachi picked it up and rushed him, faking left and right. He swung around Anyon, who brushed him off, and threw it at the hoop. It went through the ring where the net was long gone and landed with a thump. Malachi laughed.

“We had better equipment at camp. Doesn’t bode well for Albany, does it?” Anyon had the same thoughts, but he hadn’t voiced them. He was following the trail Jade left, he knew it in his heart, but the closer they got to Albany, the worse he felt about it. Something was wrong here. Malachi cleared his throat to get Anyon’s attention.

“Three o’clock,” he said with a tip of his head. Anyon turned and locked eyes with an old woman. They stayed that way for few seconds, sizing each other up. She seemed healthy enough, with no obvious signs of infection. She had both hands wrapped around the chain link of the fence and stared. Anyon handed his pack to Malachi and crossed the park to meet her.

“Be careful,” Malachi said.

“We mean no harm,” Anyon said to her. “We’re looking for the Albany camp. If you could just…” The woman’s hands tightened around the chain link, and, to his surprise, her eyes watered.

“No, you’re not,” she said.

“Pardon?”

“You’re not looking for Albany, you’re looking for two girls, and you’re on the right path, though I fear you’re too late.” A single tear went down her cheek, then, detoured by a deep wrinkle, fell off into the grass. She let go of the fence and wiped her eyes. “You’re Anyon, are you not?”

“How do you know who we are?” Malachi asked. He dropped the packs and jogged over to join them. The woman sighed.

“Such a long story, and we haven’t much time. Hurry now, follow me. The storm will break in just a few minutes and we can make it if we hurry.”

Indeed, the clouds had blown in since they’d arrived and they were dark enough to appear menacing. A storm was brewing, and he couldn’t tell if that was a good omen or bad. The woman started off down the street.

“Wait,” Anyon called. They scrambled for the bikes and hurried off after her, pushing them along. They didn’t take long to catch up, but Malachi held Anyon back with an arm before they reached her.

“What is this freaky shit?” Malachi asked. “How does she know who you are?” Anyon shrugged.

“Not just us,” Anyon answered. “She knew Jade and Sera. We have to follow her and see what she knows.” She turned a corner at the end of the street and waved them to follow.

“Maybe,” Malachi said. He let go of Anyon’s arm and they followed her. “But I don’t like it.”

The first drops of rain fell as they took a left turn and saw a beautiful Victorian house at the end of the street. The woman was already on the steps, grasping the rail and taking them slowly. She went straight in and left the door open behind her. Anyon stopped and put a hand over his eyes to block the rain that had started pelting them.

“What do you think?” he asked Malachi as they took in the house. It seemed safe enough.

“Like you said—we have to find out.” Malachi said. They approached the house and pulled the bikes up the stairs, tripping on a loose board in the third, then left the bikes on the porch and went through the door as a peal of thunder shook the house. They shook the rain off in the foyer and went down the hall. Anyon took tentative steps into a kitchen area but stopped at the doorway.

“Second storm in as many days,” the woman said as she fumbled with a burner. “One could say it’s an omen. Sit.” She motioned to the dining room.

“No, thank you,” Anyon said. “Please tell us how you know our names.”

“Be my guest, but we have a lot to talk about, and the last few days have left me weary.” Anyon studied her as she warmed up the water. She filled the cups and tried to pick up the tray but her hands fumbled the handles. Anyon stepped over and took it from her.

“Thank you, young man. It’s not poison, I assure you, and I think you’ll trust me when you hear what I have to say. Until then, I’ll drink first.” She smiled and led them into the dining room. Anyon read a lot into the smile, the psychic type crap was Sera’s thing but he had learned a bit from her. The woman’s face was inviting but had seen sadness and loss in its time. It had seen Jade and Sera, and only a few days ago, if she could be believed.

The dining room was dark, the tall windows covered by heavy curtains. The woman lit a candle with trembling hands, and sat at the table.

“My name is Constance McGovern, but please call me Connie.” She reached for a tea cup. “Oh, perhaps you’d like to choose first?” Malachi dove for the tray and took a hunk of bread that was slightly stale. As if it were made two days ago, Anyon thought, maybe when Jade sat at this very table.

Chapter 16

“How do you know us?” Anyon asked. He didn’t remember her face, but he’d forgotten a lot about his time in the CDC camp and anything was possible. Malachi swallowed the bread, warmed his hands on the sides of the cup, and listened.

“It’s difficult to know where to begin,” she answered. “Yes, the girls you are looking for were here only two days past.” Anyon sat up as if he meant to run after them right away, but Connie held up a hand. “But it begins much earlier than that, doesn’t it? I am in as much a hurry as you, young man, as I believe your friends are in danger, but we cannot continue without each other, and it looks like you have to spend the night, anyway.” A flash of lightning lit up the room, as if to punctuate her point, and thunder shook the walls.

“Man,” Malachi whispered. Anyon reached for a teacup absently and played with the handle. Connie took the last one and blew on it gently before she sipped it.

“Albany is gone, isn’t it?” Anyon asked.

“Yes,” Connie said. “A year ago or thereabouts. It’s not safe there now. It’s not safe anywhere, I guess, but I have managed to hide myself here.”

“This isn’t your house?”

“Well, it is now. When I was looking for a place to hide, it called to me. It’s got a spirit, doesn’t it? A spirit of goodness. Something that’s hard to find anymore.” For a minute she was lost in her memories. Anyon prodded her on.

“Tell us about Albany.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Albany. I was a nurse there. You’ve no need to hear my story before that. It’s not much different than yours, I should think. At any rate, I found myself there, after the infection and the Provisional Government, for a number of years. And a great city it became. Safe, clean, happy, as happy as we can get anyway, now.” Her eyes clouded over again and she looked at the walls of the old house like she could see to another time, then shook her head.

“I had many friends there,” she continued. “Then the troops came. They bore the seal of the Provisional Government and said the camp was to be closed. We were all moving to Richmond. There was a town meeting, and some who refused. They were able to escape that first night before the city was put on lockdown. They went north, where there was rumored to be a camp that was working on a cure.”

Her eyes met Anyon’s knowingly and she nodded. He thought of the place he had trained in the White Mountains and shifted in his seat. She went on.

“When the General heard they left, he was enraged, but he couldn’t spare troops to send after them, so he rounded everyone up and kept them at the civic center, the camp’s heart. I should have left with those headed north, but I was working at the hospital—in a tent just outside the civic center, and when I heard the shots and screams, I had no choice but to flee. I helped some survivors out the back when the soldiers entered, but in the chaos we became separated. Only by the grace of God himself did I find myself here. I don’t know if any of the others made it. At any rate, I’ve never seen anyone else—not until Lazarus, but that was months later.”

“Lazarus?” Anyon asked.

“Yes,” she said. “I was wary of him at first. He said he was a refugee from the camp and he’d been hiding out, but I didn’t recognize him. Still, there were a lot of us and I wouldn’t necessarily have known him, but something about him was off. He was skittish and angry. I could attribute that to his past, whatever that was, but his eyes. They say they’re a mirror to the soul, and his were empty.”

“Where is he now?” Anyon interrupted.

“I’m getting there. He’d gotten in a fight in Albany and I found him there, bleeding. I had no choice but to take him here to recover. It was a few weeks later when I caught him in a lie. Something silly, an offhand comment about the General who recruited him—I don’t remember exactly, but I knew that General’s name and I knew then that he’d been lying. He realized his mistake and that was the end of his pretense. He told me what happened.”

She got up and pushed the curtain aside to look out the window at something Anyon couldn’t see, then pulled the curtains tightly closed again. She held their heavy material in her fists but didn’t turn her head. Her next words were so quiet Anyon had to strain to hear.

“I thought I could escape it here, but he brought it right to me. Evil. There was no time to warn the girls, but I can warn you. He lived in the camp all right, he was one of the guards. He was saved by that General for one reason and one reason alone. To hunt those girls you seek. I don’t know why, he never told me, but his mission was to stay here and observe, wait for them to come to him. I thought he was crazy, post-traumatic stress or something, but I’ll be damned if the girls didn’t just stroll in two days ago and it broke my heart when they left with him. I thought about following them, but they told me you were coming and you’re much stronger than me. You must get them away from Lazarus. You must.” She realized she was strangling the curtains and dropped them. They rustled as they hit the floor.

“Why? What does he want to do with them?” Anyon asked, but he knew the answer. He recalled the posters they’d seen.

“He’s bringing them to the Provisional Government. I don’t know why, but I suspect you do.” The room was quiet for a minute while Anyon thought. The candle on the table flickered as a silent breeze swept the room.

“Where?” he asked.

“North,” she said. “That’s all I know.”

Anyon got up and paced the room. He wanted to scream and punch the wall, but controlled his anger, something he’d learned in training. He looked out the same window, searching for whatever answers Connie thought he knew. Outside the rain came down in blankets, blurring the lines of the world.

“You’re right,” he finally said. “Our story does fit into this, and we have to put the pieces together. We can leave in the morning to follow them.”

“Good,” Connie said. She pulled another candle out of a bureau, lit it and placed it over the empty fireplace. The thunder had passed but the rain was loud and somehow soothing. She picked up the tray and turned to the kitchen. “I’ll warm these up.” Anyon waited until she left the room, then consulted Malachi.

“What do you think?” He kept one eye on Connie in the kitchen.

“I think we might be in over our heads, bro.” Malachi gave him a half smile. “But I’m okay with that. We have to find them, and this is how we do it.”

Anyon exhaled. He didn’t know what to expect from Malachi. It would be a normal reaction to want to run the hell the other way—west, maybe, especially after seeing those fliers with their poster and hearing Connie’s story, but he underestimated Malachi’s connection to the girls or his sense of doing the right thing. He clapped Malachi on the shoulder.

“I’m glad to hear it. I agree.”

Connie brought the tray back, the cups again steaming with warmth. Anyon took one and blew on it. Connie sunk into a chair opposite him.

“Let’s get down to it, then,” she said. “Who are these girls that everyone is chasing, and how are you going to help them?”

Chapter 17

Over the years Malachi had heard most, but not all, of Anyon’s story, or at least enough of it not to be surprised as Anyon told it to Mrs. McGovern. Anyon followed Connie’s lead and brushed over his past as quickly as he could, but the memory of his family still unsettled him.

He skipped over so much, the fact that his mother’s name was Faith and she was a midwife. She was tall and imposing, but easygoing at the same time. The fact that his father was in the navy and traveled so often that Anyon had little trouble forgetting his face. He’d put those memories away a long time ago, and even further behind them was the fact that his mother was pregnant. She’d told him just after the infection broke out, when his father was away on an assignment that he would never return from, and Anyon would never know if his sibling was born.

That’s where he began his story.

It wasn’t long after the infection started spreading that life began to shut down, at least life as he’d known it. Schools were the first to shut their doors, then businesses. The government lasted as long as it could, then broke out in civil war and anarchy. People died in the streets. Anyon had seen them. Mrs. McGovern nodded with understanding but didn’t interrupt. Anyon tried to keep the last vestiges of emotion out of his voice as he continued.

“My mother was ill, and my father hadn’t returned. We didn’t know if he was dead or alive, so it fell to me to take care of her.” Anyon laughed a little as he said this, but his shoulders hunched with the weight of it. He’d failed her, and it was hard to talk about. “I went out to scour the neighbors’ houses for supplies. Most of them were gone, dead or whatever. Mornings were the safest times to go out, to avoid the sickness and mobs. I didn’t know there were other dangers out there.

“I’d heard a helicopter the night before, but it wasn’t unusual. The government was still functioning then, or trying to, and they’d declared war on the infection and the rebels. If anything, I was afraid they’d bomb the neighborhood—we’d been hit hard.” He thought of his old friends, neighborhood boys, family, and teachers who had died or succumbed to the awful sickness.

“Anyway, I didn’t see them until they were on top of me,” he continued. “The full army getup and breathing masks. They bound my hands and marched me back to the helicopter that was in the parking lot of my old elementary school. I was eleven then and there were six of us taken, all about the same age. I recognized one boy from a street over.” He shook his head to clear the memories. “But I never saw him again.”

“We were surrounded by soldiers and couldn’t see out the windows. I had no idea what direction we were going. I know now it was north. They took us to the CDC camp in Waterville Valley. I trained there for the next four years.”

“Yes, I’ve heard about that camp,” Connie said. “The ski area?”

“Not anymore,” Anyon said sadly. “The CDC completely took over. It was a research facility, at least it was at first, and we weren’t allowed in the medical buildings. I was chosen to be a guard and protector. A soldier.” He spat the last word out. “When I wasn’t training I would guard the perimeter.” He brushed over the things that he saw, the things that he did to people trying to break into the camp—hungry, starving and sometimes sick people, the things that he had no choice but to do.

“What happened after four years?” Connie asked.

“The mission changed. We knew they’d been looking for a cure, but things degenerated. Breakouts of fighting, pockets of infection. They were desperate. I heard rumors the experiments were becoming…ugly, and there was a power struggle. When the camp started to fall apart I was given new orders and sent away. I don’t know what happened after that. I’ve heard rumors of the Provisional Government taking over, or maybe that’s where the Provisional Government was born.” Anyon dropped his head in his hands.

“You had no choice, son,” Connie said. She leaned forward and would have held his hand if he reached out, but he didn’t. Instead she gave him a soft smile. “And there’s a reason you’re still here.” Anyon would have thanked her for her understanding, but he was lost in another time. He continued his story without acknowledging her.

“A group of us were quickly dispatched to protect the last group of test subjects. I think they were close to a cure by then, at least that was the rumor, but the camp was in chaos. The new leadership held executions in the town square daily, and people were scared. The remaining soldiers were broken up and separated among the refugee camps. I didn’t know who I was supposed to protect until a couple weeks after I got to Cambridge and she arrived. I recognized her right away, but she didn’t know me because they never let us mingle. I kept it that way, it was easier. As far as I know she still doesn’t know.”

“Seraphina,” Connie said softly.

“Yes. Seraphina was special, and I knew the old camp was in trouble when I saw her, if it wasn’t entirely destroyed. First of all, she wasn’t an orphan. Her parents lived at the camp and were scientists. I doubt she even knew what was going on.”

“So Seraphina arrived in Cambridge, and it was your job to protect her?” Connie asked.

“Yes,” Anyon said. “But that was years ago. I knew the CDC camp was in trouble, Sera’s parents were top scientists and they wouldn’t have sent her away. I thought I was protecting her for her parents, keeping her safe until they could come get her, but now I wonder if there was more to it than that.”

A silence settled over the room as they considered the implications. Anyon took the tray back to the kitchen and paced. His thoughts wandered to the Provisional Government and Sera and Connie, and how they all connected. He stayed in the kitchen for a few minutes, then returned to the dining room with no more answers.

“They’re looking for her,” Connie said. Anyon was startled to see she was crying. “They’re looking for you, too, but only to get to her.”

“Why?” Malachi asked, but Anyon knew. He knew all along.

“Because she’s the key,” Anyon said. He met Connie’s eyes and an understanding passed between them.

“The key to what?” Malachi got up and kicked the leg of the chair in frustration.

“Whoever has her will control everything. The new government. The future. The power,” Connie said.

“The cure,” Anyon said. “I don’t think she was just their daughter. I think they experimented on her too, but they saved her for last, when they knew it would work, only they ran out of time. I think, somehow, Sera holds the cure. They sent her away when the Provisional Government closed in to protect her, and to protect the cure.” Malachi cursed under his breath.

“Which makes it even more important that you find them,” Connie said. “It will be impossible for you to travel tonight, but you’ll have to leave at first light. I suspect he’s taking them to your camp up north, but first they went off toward Albany, and that’s where you should go.” She walked slowly to Anyon and took his hands in hers. He looked down at her.

“She’s the key, but so are you. You have things to work out, son. You’ve been through so much, and you’ve closed yourself off. You need to open those parts of you, remember the things that were painful.” Anyon squeezed her wrinkled hands, wanting to pull it away but not quite able to.

“What difference will that make?” he asked.

“It will make all the difference. You’re just as important as she is, even if you don’t realize it.” She reached up to touch his face. “Twenty years ago I would’ve gone with you, but now all I can give you are my prayers. The blessings of an old woman, if those mean anything in this world. I’ll go with you as far as Albany.”

“It’s not necessary,” Anyon said

“It is, and I will. It’s time for me to get closure as well. The bedrooms are at the top of the stairs. We’ll set out in the morning.”

He didn’t argue. She was right; they had a long day ahead and he was haunted by the sadness in her face. Part of him wanted to remember, and as he climbed the stairs, old memories came back like wisps of smoke through his mind. He thought of the boy in the helicopter the day he was taken; Dale, the boy’s name was Dale, and he was as pale and frightened as anyone Anyon had ever seen. He thought of the dusty rose smell of his mother’s perfume and the way her hands moved like lightning with knitting needles, but that was as far as his mind would allow him, for now. They crashed in the same bedroom with the lace curtains and dark wallpaper that Jade and Sera had slept in two nights before. Anyon took the bed closest to the window and he felt her presence in the room. It was both reassuring and frightening that she was so close, and his will to get to her doubled. They’d been apart too long, and memories or not, it was time to tell her the things he’d been too afraid to say.

Chapter 18

Nothing in particular woke Anyon the next morning, but he was eager to get moving and he was already awake when the sky started to lighten in the east. He could barely see his hand in front of his face when he jumped out of bed and dressed, peeking out the window to confirm it was actually morning and not just his imagination. The last of the stars were barely visible, and purple clouds drifted over the roofs of the neighborhood houses. It was time.

The street was devoid of life except for one little bird, who was probably responsible for waking him. It had perched on an old telephone pole that leaned so far over it looked like it would fall at any second. The bird had set its sights right on the window, tweeting away. Anyon could barely hear it from behind the glass, but it tilted its blue head right at him. Its song was rapid and furious, as if it wanted to tell him something but the words wouldn’t come out.

“Sorry, pal,” he muttered and closed the curtains again. “No hablo español.” He walked by Malachi’s bed and shook him lightly.

“Rise and shine, sunshine.” He nudged Malachi’s shoulder and the boy groaned. “It’s time to move out.” Anyon knew he would have to rouse him again in a little while, but he let Malachi enjoy the last moments of sleep. At least he could get ready fast, if they needed to. Anyon packed his bag and left the door open when he went downstairs. He wasn’t surprised to see Mrs. McGovern waiting for him in the kitchen. She was tidying things, or rather moving things around and then putting them back in the same place.

“Are you all right?” he asked. He put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped.

“Yes. Well, no.” She smiled. “This place has become my home. I haven’t left it—not to go this far, in a long time. I can’t help feeling like I’ll never see it again, and I just want things perfect for the next wandering soul who comes upon it. It’s like a safe haven, don’t you feel it?”

He didn’t feel it, actually, but Anyon dealt in facts over emotions. He briefly wondered if Mrs. McGovern weren’t a little cracked, but he couldn’t argue that the house had sheltered them, and he’d slept better last night than he had in a long time, but that was as far as his feelings went. That was as far as his feelings ever went.

“You’ll be back,” he said. He took a match from her trembling fingers and lit a burner to heat her water. “We may not be, though. Will you be okay here alone?”

“I’m perfectly fine alone, but as far as me returning, we’ll see.” Anyon brushed off her premonition as nerves, but he shouldn’t have. He’d dealt with Seraphina and her ‘feelings’ for so long that he knew sometimes intuition could be a strong sense. Sera was an exception, though, so he was able to push those thoughts aside rather easily.

To Anyon’s surprise, Malachi stumbled down the steps and into the kitchen.

“What’s for breakfast, bro? I’ll take some bacon and an omelet with some hash browns.” He brushed his wild hair back and sidled into the dining room.

“I can do you for some bread and tea, how’s that?” Connie pulled out the remains of last night’s loaf, staler than the day before but still better than they’d had in a long time. Malachi nodded his thanks.

“Better than I’ve eaten in a month. Thank you, ma’am.”

Anyon cradled a mug as Malachi wolfed down the bread. He ran his finger absently over a chip on the side of the mug and thought about how Connie’s worries connected to Jade and Sera. He wished they had a more concrete plan.

“What should we expect in Albany?” he asked. He set the mug down on the counter and wiped it clean with a cloth. She didn’t answer at first, instead folding and unfolding the cloth on the counter a couple times. Sunlight cut through the back window. It was safe to leave.

“Only death,” she said. “Grab your packs, you’re right that you won’t come back here. I’ll miss her, though.” She put a hand on the wall lovingly and looked at the kitchen with sadness. Malachi looked at her like she was crazy, but for once, Anyon understood.

“Let’s go,” he said. Connie had packed her own small bag and slung it over her shoulder. It was an old woman’s purse, once covered with sequins or decorations but they’d long faded or fallen off. She slung it over her shoulder.

“That’s it?” Anyon asked. For someone who didn’t think she was returning, she sure packed light, he thought.

“I came here with nothing, I’ll take nothing with me.” She ushered them out the front door, closed it behind them, then patted the bag. “Almost nothing.”

There was a warm breeze as they made their way through the empty suburbs with Connie in the lead. She knew the safest route into the city and Anyon followed without question. She seemed stronger outdoors, more sure of herself.

“So what’s in the pack, GI Joe?” Malachi asked her. She hugged it tightly to her side.

“Just a few souvenirs. I expect you’ll find out soon.”

Malachi looked questioningly at Anyon, but Anyon just shrugged. He’d wondered if she were crazy, but she knew things she couldn’t have known, and they had to trust her for now.

They stopped at the top of a hill where they could see the city below. Nothing moved. There was no evidence of life anywhere.

“Nothing but a graveyard now,” Connie said, and crossed herself. “Evil doings here, but you can change that.”

“Listen, ma’am.” Anyon stepped in front of her. “Thank you for your help, but we can go on alone from here.” Connie had taken out a water bottle and took a long sip. She ignored him.

“Can you smell it?” she asked. He’d noticed the smell as soon as they entered the city, but no one said anything. It was the smell of death.

“I’ve been safe at the house for so long I almost forgot what it was like here. It should be gone now, don’t you think? The smell? So many months later? But this place will always reek of death. You need to be cautious.” She took the bag down that she carried and rooted around in it. Anyon was trying to find a polite way to force her to go back. She’d only be a hindrance to them at this point, but she’d been so kind that he tried to find the right words. She reached in the bag and handed him something. A small glass statue that caught the light and made a rainbow on the ground. This seemed to seal the question of whether she was crazy.

“Take this.” She handed it to Anyon, who pushed her hand back.

“No, no. You bring this back to the house. We’ll go…”

“Take it. She belongs to Sera.” She pressed it into his hand and he had to take it or let it drop. He held it between two fingers and looked down at the familiar shape. It was Andromeda, he knew from Jade’s stories. “Give her back. Sera would want you to have it.”

“Um, Okie dokie,” Malachi interrupted. “We should get moving.” He’d broken up the moment, but Anyon nodded solemnly to Connie and closed his hands around the figurine.

“Will you be all right?” he asked. She clasped her hand over his.

“I’ve been all right so far, haven’t I? Go now. Find her.”

Malachi pulled him away from Connie, or Anyon may have stayed all day trying to figure her out. He had more questions and there were answers in her eyes, but she wouldn’t reveal them. She held one hand up to wave, then turned and walked away.

“Listen, she was nice and everything, but wooo-hooo!” Malachi said when they were far enough away. He made a circle on his temple to say she was crazy. “Fucking bonkers!”

“Maybe not,” Anyon said. The smell got stronger as they made their way into the city, so strong he felt like choking. He covered his mouth with his shirt and his next words came out muffled.

“She might be saner than any of us.”

“Oh great,” Malachi covered his mouth, too. “Not you, too.”

They entered the former Albany camp.

Chapter 19

The figurine that Mrs. McGovern had given him bothered Anyon, but he didn’t know why. Clearly it belonged to Sera, only she and Jade knew the Andromeda connection. It was surely a sign, but of what? He let it drop in his pocket as they traveled farther into the city, but the uneasy feeling stayed with him. His thoughts went back to Jade, and he hated the fact that she walked here—that she smelled this putrid air. She deserved better.

They saw no evidence of people along the way. This was a haunted place, full of empty warnings that Anyon ignored. Malachi coughed beside him. The boy was tough, he’d been through a lot, but this was asking too much. Anyon knew they were close and feared what they’d see. The round dome of the civic center was just past the next block when Anyon stopped.

“I’ll go,” he said. “You can scour these buildings for water.”

“For real?” Malachi laughed. “Would you drink anything that came from here?” Anyon was forced to agree.

“Still, you don’t have to come. I’ll check what’s there and come back.”

“Naw, man.” Malachi clapped him on the shoulder, using the other to hold his shirt up to his face, a gesture that made little difference at that point. “We go together. Amigos, all for one and one for all, and all that crap.”

“Malachi.” Anyon faced him, the humor gone from his face. “I don’t know what’s up there, but it’s clearly not pleasant.”

“Have you forgotten that I lived on the street? I’ve seen shit that you don’t even know exists. Come on, man. Let’s get it over with.” Anyon exhaled. He was thankful for Malachi, regardless of his faults. They went forward together.

They didn’t see the sign at first, only the bodies. They’d decayed even more in the last two days, as if the end was coming faster, and the smell was overpowering. Anyon surveyed them as he fought back a gag: men, women and even some children, their faces contorted, their bodies strewn about the steps carelessly. A message. He knew, of course, that it was a message. A message from the very same people who sought them. A message to obey them or die like this. Anger filled his veins.

“Let’s be fast,” he said and took a step towards the horrific scene.

“Fast with what?” Malachi was slow on his heels. “What do you plan to do here?”

Anyon didn’t know, and the certainty that there was a message here was fading by the second. There couldn’t be anything redeeming here. There was only death. He tripped over something and only realized when he turned around it was a bone. An arm or leg, long and slim. It must have been pulled away from the bodies by an animal. Anyon’s stomach lurched and he slowed down, but then he saw the corner of something sticking out from behind the mass of death. It caught a beam of sun, and shined.

“There,” he pointed. Malachi shielded his eyes and looked. They could make out the corner of a board with white letters written on it. Only the edge jutted out of the destruction, like the bow of a sinking ship, with the letters “DA” written in block style. Anyon hardened his nerves and walked up the steps, trying his best to avoid the bodies.

The giant sign had fallen over, but not in a natural direction. Something had pushed it or tried to rip it apart. There were claw marks in the board and a piece was missing from the side. But why? Anyon wondered, why attack the board when there were so many other things here for animals to eat. Someone, or something, wanted to prevent him from getting this message. He took one side of the board and pointed Malachi to the other. Together they heaved it upright so it was standing up. It took most of their strength, and they had to let go of their shirts and breathe in the smell. It was all too much for Malachi, who expunged the bread from that morning behind the sign, but Anyon was too taken in by the words to notice anything else.

They were in large, clear letters, as he had seen, and he knew the writing, although he didn’t let himself believe it. Jade left traces of herself, a little curve on the e’s, a loop off the o. The words themselves were straightforward.

ANDROMEDA IS NORTH

Then, almost as an afterthought—their initials. J & S. Malachi stumbled around the sign and read it. He didn’t seem as taken as Anyon, but he was white as a ghost and Anyon feared for his health if they stayed any longer. As if on cue, a wolf howled. It was far away, the edge of town perhaps, but they needed no goading.

“North, then?” Malachi wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Anyon nodded.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “Do you need a break?”

“Here?” Malachi looked around, taking stock one last time of the nightmare around them. “No thanks, man. Let’s jet.”

They’d just climbed down the stairs when they heard the howl again, louder this time.

“Shit,” Malachi muttered and Anyon agreed.

“Run,” Anyon said. He didn’t know why, but he thought they’d be safe—safer anyway, when they got out of that cursed city. They backtracked the way they came, and when they swept around a corner they had to stop short. Malachi ran into the back of Anyon, and was about to curse him when he heard the low growl.

Anyon’s heart beat in his ears. The creature in front of him could have been a wolf, he guessed, but it was bigger than any wolf he’d seen. It was straight from a nightmare, taller than them, even hunched and baring its fangs. Its gray fur was matted and bloody and balding in places, and it reeked of disease. Anyon tried to think of what to do, but it was clear they were trapped. He looked around for a weapon but he could only find small rocks and debris. Malachi picked up a piece of wood that was littered on the street, and held it high. The animal curled its mouth in a sneer. Anyon was caught between wanting to run or go down fighting when the wolf’s attention was diverted by a gunshot from behind that missed the mark. The animal turned and charged down another side street.

“Let’s go!” Malachi made to run the other way, but Anyon ran toward the noise. Whoever shot at that thing needed help.

“Anyon!” Malachi called behind him, then turned and ran after him. “You’re crazy, man!” Several more shots rang out, then a scream and a painful howl. The animal was wounded, at least. They turned the corner to see the animal stalking off down the street, dragging a back leg with a trail of blood. It had just reached its target and swept its claws at the person when the last shot echoed. This one caught the beast through the head, and it fell.

It was too late, though. It had done the damage it intended to. Connie dropped the gun she was holding and fell.

Anyon reached her first. He lifted her head, her eyes glazed over but she smiled at him. She reached out a hand to find his face and left a streak of blood on his cheek.

“You must…go. It’s not safe here. Hurry!” She coughed.

“No, no! We’re going to bring you back to the house! You need help. I can’t leave you here.”

“It’s too late for me,” she said sadly, and nodded down. The wolf-thing had swiped her through her middle. Anyon grimaced when he saw the slash marks across her stomach. She was right, it was too late. She moaned and closed her eyes. Malachi kneeled next to her and, to Anyon’s surprise, said a prayer. She fought to open her eyes one last time.

“God bless you boys. Find them.” Then she closed her eyes.

Anyon wanted to bury her, but another howl cut that plan short. He lifted her body with care and wrapped it in his own coat. He carried her a block away from the stinking carcass of the dead wolf, under a torn awning but at least out of the elements. He had a heavy heart, but the howling grew closer. They took her gun, but there were only two bullets left and he didn’t think they’d survive another attack. They left the city at dusk and found another apartment in which to stay the night, but the nightmares followed them, and so did the howling.

PART THREE – NORTH

Chapter 20

Somewhere along Route 7, when they passed quietly into Vermont, the weather turned cold. Jade had forgotten about seasons, and the wind brought back memories of sledding last summer with Anyon, holding hands to climb up the hill as her breath froze in front of her, then his arms around her waist as they tumbled off the sled and down the hill. She thought about those times as they rummaged through empty houses in Vermont for warm clothes, finding a few mismatched hunting jackets and hats. The weather was funny, some days they bundled up tight and some days they’d sweat and have to carry the coats. A couple days they sat out completely due to thunderstorms and downpours. The trees started to turn vibrant shades of orange and yellow. It was fall in New England, though there was no one left to see.

She let Lazarus lead them. He seemed to know where he was going, and insisted that Connie had told him the camp was in the mountains of New Hampshire, a place once called Waterville. She didn’t remember Connie saying any such thing, but she’d never asked Connie exactly where to go. She only knew to go north. Since that’s where Lazarus was heading, she let him take the lead, but she didn’t let down her guard.

They got stuck inside a farmhouse during another storm, and even though they were lucky for the shelter, Jade was close to snapping. They’d been on the road several days and she was tired. The farmhouse was chilly and uncomfortable, not to mention they had nothing to do but wait. Jade sat on an old moldy sofa and brooded, while Sera watched the rain from the windowsill. Lazarus sat on the floor with his back against the wall. He flipped a lighter on and off, the only lighter they had. It made an empty clicking noise every time, and the room smelled like it was burning.

“What are you doing?” Jade yelled at him. “That’s the only lighter we have! You’re wasting it!” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“And just when do you think a fire will be necessary?” he responded. “We can’t light one anywhere because the smoke will give us away. Not to mention the firewood will be soaked for days.” She could think of plenty of reasons they’d need a fire, but it was useless to argue with him. She got up and paced the room.

“She’s right,” Sera piped in. “You never know when we’ll need it.”

“Fine,” he said. He snapped the cover shut and flung it at Sera. “You carry it, then.” It fell on the floor and a piece snapped off. Jade glared at him and he sulked off.

Lazarus was becoming more and more moody as the trip went on, and Jade was sure he was hiding something. Some days he could be in the best of moods, telling them about his childhood in the south. He’d had a sister, she learned, whom he lost early on, but he never went into what happened after everything broke down. He didn’t repress his memories like Anyon. Anyon would gloss over anything uncomfortable, but Lazarus got angry. “It’s none of your business!” he growled time after time, and once she was sure he meant to strike her, but he never did. Something troubled him, that much was for sure, but something troubled everyone these days. It was the world they lived in. In the meantime her plan was to find out as much as she could about him. Eventually he’d let it slip. No one could keep a secret forever.

He came back some time later and offered Jade and Sera some stew he’d found. It was his version of a peace offering. She took it, without saying much, and they spent the rainy night on the floor shivering. The plan was to cross the Green Mountains to Route 91, and catch 93 over to the Valley. Jade still had the map, but she’d given up. As long as they were going north and east she was okay with it. As okay as she could be under the circumstances.

Vermont was pretty. In some areas the destruction hadn’t touched it at all. She imagined settling there someday, when it was safe to live outside a camp. She expected to see people at every turn, maybe a small town that had escaped everything and lived on its own these last years, but she was kidding herself. If the infection hadn’t found it, then the Provisional Government had when they relocated everyone to the camps. Those thoughts brought her to Albany, and she wondered if Anyon had made it there and found her message.

Lazarus was in a good mood the next morning, determined to make good time that day. He’d picked up a walking stick along the path, and led them along the road. The clouds had moved out and it was a beautiful day when they left the farmhouse. It was a day they’d have once called an Indian summer, and at Lazarus’s insistence they moved quickly past the little towns and mountains. Jade’s jacket was tied around her waist as they stopped mid-morning at a bubbling stream. Albany was still on her mind.

“Did you have any idea?” Jade asked. She knelt and filled her bottle with the crystal clear water. It was probably the same stream they used to bottle water from back in the old days. It tasted fresh and clear.

“Any idea of what?” He tilted his head back and took a drink. At that moment he looked like any other boy and her doubts about him were far away. A lock of hair fell onto his forehead, and in the right light, this light actually, he could even be considered handsome.

“What we’d find in Albany?” she said. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“What makes you think I’d know anything about it?”

“You were there, weren’t you? Isn’t that where Connie found you?”

“Not really. I only got as far as the city limits when I was attacked.” He shrugged and bent to refill the bottle from the stream, then put it into his pack. They were at the intersection of two small country roads, and a small wooden building that was once a gas station was across the street. A street lamp had fallen onto the building and left a hole in the roof.

“I’m gonna check that place for food,” he said. “Stay here, I’ll just be a sec.” He trudged off into the store, taking his pack and stick with him. Jade stared at him until he disappeared inside the building. Sera was sitting on a rock nearby and ran her fingers through the current in the stream, watching the water weave around them.

“I don’t trust him,” Jade said. Sera had been unusually quiet, even for Sera. “What do you think?”

“I think we were meant to go with him. At any rate, we couldn’t get away from him if we tried, not if we still want to go north.”

Jade found her answer maddeningly vague, as usual, and sat back against a tree trunk as the clouds rolled by. She wanted to grab Sera by the shoulders and tell her there was no plan, there was only north, and somewhere behind them Anyon and Malachi were looking for them, but who was she to disillusion anyone? Maybe Sera was right and everything would work out, and even if she wasn’t, sometimes faith was all you had. It was the only thing that got you from one day to the next, at least for people like Sera. Jade buried those thoughts in the same place in her heart she held all her doubts and fears. She didn’t have time for deep contemplation; she only had time for what was real.

“Hey!” Lazarus came out of the store with cans in both hands. “Look what I found!”

“Well, there’s your purpose,” Jade said. “He’s good for something at least.” Sera snorted. Sera was probably right and they’d find out his intentions in time, but Jade had never learned patience. She was determined to find out his true motives and find them out as soon as possible. He tossed her a can when he got close enough.

“Generic meat,” she read off the label. “Eww. No wonder no one else wanted them.”

“Eat up.” He popped the top off his can and downed it. It was enough to make Jade sick. She buried hers in her backpack. If she was ever hungry enough to eat that she’d be in trouble for sure.

“Maybe later,” she said.

“It’s your funeral.” He tossed the empty can into the river. Jade frowned as it floated downstream, and the little voice in her head got louder, the one that told her something was wrong. She tuned into it and started to listen.

Chapter 21

Since the girls had arrived, and even before, Lazarus had been preoccupied with getting them to the Valley—a place he had not the faintest clue how to get to. His home was the deep woods and valleys of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a place that wasn’t all that different from Vermont—besides the weather, that is. He’d never been this far north, and the idea of a ski resort was as foreign to him as the idea of a moon colony, but he studied the maps when they fell asleep and he had a good idea which way to go. Still, he couldn’t believe his luck that Jade and Sera had walked right into his lap. Good or bad luck, though, he hadn’t decided yet. He’d thought he would be stuck living in that old house with Mrs. McGovern for the rest of his miserable life, but it beat being another body on that wretched pile in Albany, or dying in the street.

Actually the old woman wasn’t so bad, when she wasn’t nosing around his business. In the end he had to tell her everything, Albany, the soldiers, the connection to President Vise, but he never thought it would amount to anything. When Jade and Seraphina walked in the door, though, he had to make sure she didn’t tip them off. He didn’t leave them alone for a second. She’d come close, but in the end the only thing she’d passed on was her suspicion, and close only counted in horseshoes and hand grenades, as they say. Now they were on their way. The sun had come out, and Lazarus would claim his reward.

They made their way through Bennington and followed the deserted Route 7 into Glastonbury, if the map was correct. It was peaceful here, even if the weather was a little chilly. He pointed out Glastonbury Mountain to the east and Jade grunted. She’d become more and more surly as their journey went on. Women. He’d be happy to pass her off. The soldier who’d recruited him told Lazarus she was an enemy of the state—an anarchist. She didn’t seem like much in the beginning and he had his doubts, but it didn’t matter anyway. He was a soldier and he was recruited for a job. He likened himself to a spy from the CIA, a kind of southern James Bond, and the fact that he was promised a reward for bringing them in just sweetened the pot. He poked the side of the road with his stick and held his head higher.

“Here,” he said, and pointed to an old campground nearly swallowed in the brush. Jade had an annoying habit of checking with Sera whenever he made a decision. He grimaced for a second while they conferred, but she had to think she had some control or she might run off, so he let it go. It was getting close to sundown, and though they’d seen no signs of people anywhere along the way, he had to play it safe and bed them down for the night. Sera considered the campground and agreed.

“Glad you approve,” he muttered. They picked the sturdiest camper, which wasn’t much. It was missing its wheels and the windows were broken, but the inside was undamaged. It had two separate sleeping areas, one in the front for the girls and one in the back. Jade started airing the smell out and he left them there to walk the perimeter of the campground. He sat on a log and opened the last can of meat that he’d lifted from Jade’s pack, to hell with them if they didn’t want it, and thought back to Albany.

He’d been there alone. His family had been left in the dust that was left of South Carolina, not that they were close anyway, except for his sister who disappeared early on, and Kyria. He was never one for closeness anyway, and he hadn’t made many friends in Albany either, even after a year. In fact, he was close to blowing out of there when the troops arrived. He’d known right away they were up to no good, but the stupid people followed them like sheep. Lazarus cozied up to the captain, and after a while he offered Lazarus a spot on the team, but he never really belonged. They’d kept him away from the civic center when it all went down. He was pissed about that but he kept his mouth shut. He knew what they were doing and why. The camp was full of dissenters of the Provisional Government, he’d heard them in full volley in the street. That kind of thing can’t be tolerated, they explained, and yes, sir, he understood. That attitude had kept him alive.

However, someone higher up on the chain had a different job for him. Lazarus picked the dirt from his fingernails as he remembered the General’s face. He’d never spoken to him before, this man was too high up to talk to mere soldiers, but he sought Lazarus out for a special job.

Lazarus was incredulous when he heard it. Sit around that dump and wait for two girls to show up? But they were not just any girls, General Clarke peered over his reading glasses as he explained. They were capable of bringing down the whole government and they must be stopped—brought in by any means possible, and alive. He’d agreed, of course, what choice did he have? But when the unit pulled out of Albany, he brooded. He wanted to be with them, see some action. For a while he considered blowing the whole thing off again, traveling south to find Kyria, then he met the old woman and settled in, and damned if those girls didn’t just fall in his lap.

“What’s our plan?” Jade asked when he got back to the camper. He had to admit, they did a pretty good job of cleaning up, even cleaning the dirt off their own faces, and damned if Jade didn’t look half bad. Too bad she was an insurgent, he thought, or he might make a move. Sera caught him looking at Jade and the color rose to his cheeks. He coughed and turned away.

“Same as it’s always been,” he said. “Once we’re through these mountains we hit route 91, cut across to 93 and the Valley will be there, right in front of us.”

“Yeah, about this Valley,” Jade said. “How do you know this is where they went?”

“I told you, Mrs. McGovern told me,” he said. “We talked about it a lot. Following them.”

“She never told me,” Jade said. She was going to be tough. Lazarus considered trying to be sensitive and charming. Unfortunately those were not two of his top personality traits and they didn’t come naturally to him, so he reverted back to sarcasm.

“Well, what did she tell you? Did she tell you to go south to Richmond and make friends with the Provisional Government? Be my guest.”

“There’s something familiar about the Valley,” Sera interrupted. She lay on the thin mattress and tucked her hand under her head. They had tied sheets up over the windows but the breeze still cut through. Jade twisted around to see Sera, but she didn’t seem surprised. This wasn’t the first time she was hearing it, Lazarus thought, and he was immediately interested. He didn’t know much about the Valley itself. His only instructions had been to get them there and bring them to President Vise. They didn’t even leave him a damned map, he’d lifted it from an old convenience store.

“Familiar how?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jade cut him off, but Sera continued.

“It’s okay, Jade, he’s with us,” Sera said. “I don’t remember much, anyway. Just the words, and the way they form a picture in my mind. A tall, white building, a lake, a long chain fence.” Not for the first time, Lazarus thought there might be something unstable about this girl.

“Do you know the place or not?” he asked. He didn’t deal in feelings, in pictures formed by words. He dealt in facts, and Sera was so wishy-washy she was almost useless. Again he wondered what the Provisional Government wanted with her.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe.”

“Well, that’s helpful.” He got up and went to the door of the camper as Jade told him to leave her alone. He bit his lip and opened the door, but twilight had rolled in too fast for him to go wash up or get away from them. A wolf howled in the distance and he slunk back in, closed the door, and locked it. They’d have to deal with him for the night, and if he felt like it, he’d wash up tomorrow. Or not. He didn’t really care what they thought, anyway. He’d better not care, because he had an idea what the Provisional Government wanted to do to them, and it wasn’t holding a ticker tape parade down Main Street. He reminded himself not to get attached, which was never really a problem, anyway. He’d hand them over and wash his hands of the whole damn thing, then collect his reward of a position in the Government or Army. A position of importance.

He lay on the dingy mattress in the back, closed his eyes, and went over the conversation with General Clarke. He dreamt of the Valley and his place in the new world and he was asleep by the time the wolves slunk in to circle the camper. They were gone by dawn, and no one knew the giant beasts had been right outside the door sniffing them out, making sure they were headed the right way. By dawn, even their footprints were gone.

Chapter 22

The first signs that there was life in the mountains appeared as Jade, Sera and Lazarus approached the highway the next day. A thin trail of black smoke curled up from a mountainside north of them. Lazarus decided they couldn’t take chances, not when they were so close, so instead of following the highway, they cut across the woods and followed the Connecticut River. Lazarus explained how it used to mark the boundary between two states, the words “New Hampshire” and “Vermont” hazy in Jade’s memory. Officially, they were all “Provisional Government territory” now, and although it was disputed, it was still a depressing thought. Jade focused instead on the changing colors of the leaves and the beautiful mountains, the sound of the leaves crunching under her feet and the fresh breeze. There were plenty of places to hide here, and Jade still toyed with the idea of running from Lazarus.

The rain had swelled the river to overflowing, and the sound washed over their attempts at conversation, making the trip at least bearable. Even the weather cooperated, and Lazarus succeeded in catching fish with a pole they’d found in a hunting cabin. As a result they ate better than they had since camp. They even shared some laughs over the next couple days, and come evening they would find a house or campground to hide out in. Once or twice, Jade thought she heard an animal sniffing outside or the lone howl of a wolf, but there was never any evidence in the mornings and she chalked it up to nerves.

Eventually they veered away from the river and crossed through several small towns. Jade felt the same unease that she felt when they entered Albany. Signs appeared pointing the way to Route 92 and the CDC camp, but they were shiny and newly painted. Sera didn’t react to them, but Jade suspected she knew something. Jade didn’t have concrete evidence that the Provisional Government was responsible for Albany, only a strong feeling, but if she was right and the Government had destroyed Albany, what would they find here—at their headquarters?

“What if they’re gone?” Jade asked. “What if it’s just like Albany and they’ve moved on to someplace else?”

“They’re there all right,” Lazarus responded with confidence. He poked his stick into some leaves on the side of the road and a snake slithered out and into the woods. Jade jumped.

“What makes you so sure?” she asked after she’d recovered, but he didn’t hear or didn’t respond, and they reached Route 93 by midday.

The highway was as broken down as anywhere else. It was cracked in places, but once or twice new paving patched the biggest holes. Here and there abandoned cars littered the side of the road, but they were less frequent, and they’d been pushed out of the middle of the road. This road had been used, and recently. The smoke continued its upward spiral north of them, but it was closer now. Lazarus took it as a sign they were going in the right direction, but Jade wasn’t so sure. They kept to the side of the highway and stayed quiet. The weather cooled again and Jade noticed the mountaintops were already covered with snow.

They stopped outside an old university building in Plymouth to stay the night. The large clock tower that had stood over the campus had fallen into a pile of rubble a long time ago, its broken face sitting on top of a mountain of bricks, but several other buildings were still standing and they seemed sturdy enough. They stepped over the debris and checked out dorms, kitchens, and libraries, and settled on a small apartment just outside the main town. There was no one in the town, but they’d seen more and more signs for the CDC camp as they got closer, and twice along the way they’d hidden on the side of the road as an army convoy passed going north. Always north. Outside the dorm Lazarus risked a fire to warm them. Jade reluctantly handed him the last of the matches she’d found, grumbling about safety at the same time. Lazarus had been getting less careful about revealing their location.

“There’s no one here, except up at the camp,” he said. “We’re so close now.” He wrung his hands together, then pulled a piece of rabbit off the stick he was roasting on. He was a good hunter, though Sera preferred to stick to canned food. She would have been a vegetarian in another life, Jade thought, but she didn’t have the luxury anymore.

“We’ll be there tomorrow,” Sera said, nibbling on the rabbit. She was sitting cross-legged in the grass in the backyard of a small apartment building. Lazarus had built a small fire pit but the fire was dying out. He picked up an old horseshoe and threw it at a stake, missing wildly. It felt like Cambridge again—almost. Everyone’s nerves were on edge and it was palpable.

“How do you know?” Jade asked her.

“She can read, I assume,” Lazarus said, referring to the numerous road signs they’d passed, but Jade knew there was more. Lazarus picked up the horseshoe, aiming again. He’d found a small bottle of some pungent liquor and offered to share, but the girls weren’t interested.

“No, I remember things,” Sera said. “I remember this place. I think…” She drifted off, and Lazarus stopped mid-throw to glare at her.

“I think this is where I’m from,” she finished after a few seconds. “I think this is home?”

“You mean Before? Before the infection?” Jade asked.

“Before, and After. I told you I lived at a camp with my parents. They worked there. I think that camp was here. Things are so familiar.” She picked up the meat and twisted it in her fingers. “But then, they’re not. I’m not sure.” Lazarus tossed the horseshoe, missing again, his ear cocked to the conversation.

“We’d better go in,” he said. He kicked dirt onto the fire, which was mostly out anyway. “I think it’s about time you tell me what you two are up to.”

They followed him in, Jade assuring him they were “up to” nothing, but not quite believing it herself. She had been there when Sera arrived at camp, years ago—maybe five, and assumed Sera was an orphan. Sera remembered little, but she was young then, and Anyon insisted Sera be given space. What did she really know about Sera? Only pieces, but everyone was left with only pieces of their lives. Maybe Lazarus was right to be concerned.

Lazarus shuffled them into a large common room, checking the doors and windows to make sure they were safe. Jade and Sera kicked debris out of the way to sit on the floor. Jade picked up a small picture frame and looked at it before she flung it. It was a team softball picture, covered in mold.

“I know I haven’t told you everything,” Sera said, sitting by the wall and drawing her knees up to her chest. “But it’s not because I was hiding anything. I can’t remember. There are big pieces of my life that are missing.”

“Convenient,” Lazarus said.

“My memories begin the day I was left in Cambridge,” Sera continued. “Not really, I remember things before then, but I never knew if they were real. They’re so fuzzy. I was so young then—do you remember, Jade? I thought that’s how everyone’s memories were. Maybe it was stress or age, or whatever.” She flashed a smile at Jade. “I’m sorry if I’ve been dead weight this trip. I’m trying, I really am.” Jade scooted next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

“You’ve been anything but dead weight,” Jade said. “I wouldn’t have made it this far without you.” Sera rested her head on Jade’s shoulder for a minute.

“It was only the last couple years I started thinking something wasn’t right. People would talk about their home, where they came from Before, what happened to them before camp, and I couldn’t remember any of it. I know I have a reputation for being flighty, but I kept my mouth closed on purpose so I could figure things out. I never did, I guess, but this place has sparked a lot of memories.” She ran her hands through her hair then continued.

“I can’t be sure, but I think I was at the CDC camp. I think my parents were there, too, but I don’t know what happened to them. I have no memory of what happened or why I left, but I remember a feeling of being rushed out, like I was in danger or in trouble?”

“You think you left the CDC camp on purpose?” Jade asked. “Because it was dangerous?” Sera shrugged.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m sorry! It’s so frustrating. I can’t remember it being dangerous. I remember…” she paused. “A town, a big white building, a long white hallway and lots of rooms. Lab equipment, coats, goggles. I remember other children. My parents.” She drew a breath in.

“What?” Jade and Lazarus said in unison.

“They worked there! It was a hospital or something. I remember my father giving injections and yelling at me that I wasn’t supposed to be in there.” She shook her head and the tears started to flow. “I’m sorry, this is so overwhelming.” Jade gave her a minute, but Lazarus tapped his foot with impatience.

“What is it, Sera?” Jade asked softly.

“I remember the needle, the injection he gave me. He said it would keep me safe, that I should go with these people and blend in. That they would protect me.”

“What people?” Jade asked. Sera took a deep breath.

“Anyon.” She wiped her tears with her sleeve. “They sent me with Anyon.”

Chapter 23

Jade had always suspected there was a connection between Anyon and Sera, but she was startled to hear it out loud. She shouldn’t have been. Anyon and Sera had arrived at camp around the same time and he hovered over her like a big brother. Still, Jade was a little jealous. She pushed the feeling out of her head for the moment. She knew there was more to the story by the way Sera bit on her bottom lip, but she couldn’t ask her in front of Lazarus. They retreated to separate corners of the room, and Jade thought of ways to get Sera alone. She would have to get the whole story from her, or at least as much as Sera could remember. She was missing a lot of memories, that much Jade knew, but she also knew they were coming back to her, perhaps piece by piece, and Jade would need to help her see the big picture. They would have to figure it out before they got to the camp, because Jade suspected the camp wasn’t the nirvana Lazarus was selling. In fact, she wondered if they were walking into a trap.

She couldn’t tell if Sera fell asleep, but she could tell when Lazarus did. His breathing deepened and he snored. Loud. He’d stayed up for a long time, but Jade faked sleeping and after a while she heard the familiar throaty sounds.

She got up and looked out the window and down the empty street. The moon was so bright it was almost like day outside. It was full, she realized, and thought back to all the stories that went with a full moon. She’d never paid attention to them, choosing to focus on the stars, which were out in abundance. She hoped Anyon got their message.

“Pretty, aren’t they?” Sera got up and stood next to her. Lazarus took a breath and muttered something in his sleep that sounded like Kyria, then went back to snoring.

“What do you remember, Sera?” Jade asked.

“All of it.” Her eyes were wide and watery, and far off. “Well, maybe not all, but enough.”

“We can’t go to the camp, can we?” Jade asked. Sera nodded sadly.

“My parents sent me away to keep me safe from something,” she said. “I need to know what that is before I go back there.”

“We have to get out of here,” Jade whispered, but she realized at that moment the snoring had stopped. She turned around slowly, with a pit in her stomach and her suspicions were confirmed. Lazarus had his eyes wide open and a sly smile. His arms were folded behind his head.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“We were just…” Jade wondered how much he heard, how long he’d been up. “We were just talking about the stars. See?” She pointed out the window to beef up her feeble excuse, but he didn’t fall for it.

“Yeah, okay,” he said. “Maybe you should rest. We’re going to the Valley tomorrow if I have to carry you.” Jade’s eyes flicked to her backpack where she carried Anyon’s dagger, but it was too far away. He followed her eyes.

“Don’t even think about it.” He pulled his hand out from behind the head. He was holding his handgun. Jade’s shoulders slumped. “I think I’ve had enough rest for tonight.” He sat up to wait the night out. Jade put an arm around Sera and led her back to the couch. She knew none of them would sleep.

“But now that we’re all up,” he said. “Out with it, sweetheart. What’s at the camp?”

“Don’t you know?” Jade asked. “You’re so hot to get us there.”

“Maybe I do and maybe I don’t,” Lazarus responded with a sneer. “Talk.” Jade nodded to Sera, but she’d begun to talk already.

“We moved to the camp when the infection broke out,” she said. “Or maybe we were there already. The early times are still fuzzy, but all my memories begin there.”

“Keep talking.” He lowered the gun.

“My parents were doctors, or scientists, or something. They were working for a cure. They helped set up the camp. In the beginning there were refugees and volunteers working together.” Jade thought of Anyon.

“But things became…tense,” Sera continued. “There were fights, a cluster of infection broke out in the camp itself. After that I was kept away from the others. My parents argued with the other camp founders. I heard them at night. Things had gotten out of control. There were kidnappings, horrible experiments. They wanted to leave, but they were so close to a cure, and they were afraid this colleague of theirs would take over.”

“Who?” Lazarus asked. “Who was the colleague?” Sera continued as if she didn’t hear him.

“I didn’t see them at all, the last couple days. I was young, but I’d learned to take care of myself and I knew enough to hide. Our home was ransacked while I hid in the woods, but I saw everything. I stayed in hiding for two days, until I saw my father return in the middle of the night.” She paused to wipe the tears off her cheeks.

“He apologized, but not just to me—it was for all of us. Anyon and Malachi—all the boys there. He told me things were out of control and he was handling it, but he had to get me out of there. He gave me a shot of something and handed me off to someone. He said the shot would make me forget things, but it would protect me. The man put me in the back of a truck and drove off through a path in the woods. I don’t remember anything else until Cambridge.”

She looked at Jade and the smallest connection occurred between them. There was more. Jade didn’t ask. Lazarus held tight to the gun and stroked his chin with the other hand.

“Who was this colleague?” he asked again. Sera thought hard.

“Vise? Yes, that’s it. Doctor Vise.”

Lazarus laughed out loud. Jade frowned. Sera realized the connection, and inhaled.

“That’s right, sweetheart,” Lazarus said. “President Vise. Oh, I’m fixin’ to collect me a good reward tomorrow.”

* * *

Anyon and Malachi made record time through Vermont and the mountains, but they had to ditch the bikes somewhere just outside the border. They woke one morning to find the tires torn to shreds. Animals, he supposed, but he had the feeling they were being followed. Not overtly, they never saw anyone behind them, but they knew when they rested and heard the howls in the night or saw prints in the sand the next day. Paws that were bigger than Anyon’s hand. Not many things scared him, but when he remembered the giant wolf that took down Mrs. McGovern, he was inclined to move fast. And move fast they did, stopping to get only a few hours’ rest and moving through the night. It was risky, he knew, but not as risky as staying still. At least this way they’d be a moving target, and they’d be that much closer to Jade and Seraphina. In fact, the howling seemed to back off a bit as they finally crossed into New Hampshire (he’d studied the maps and refused to refer to it as Provisional Government territory), and he allowed both of them a much needed full night’s sleep before continuing on to the Valley.

Chapter 24

Sleet came down in sheets as Jade, Sera and Lazarus got ready to leave the dorms in the morning, but Lazarus pushed them on, anyway. It stung their faces and made moving slow, but at least it kept conversation to a minimum. Lazarus led them to the highway and walked straight down the middle of the road. By mid-morning they reached the exit that led to the camp. The rain was too thick to see Sera’s reaction. She only blinked it out of her eyes and shivered.

“Home, sweet home!” Lazarus shouted. There was a sign off the highway that directed them to the check-in post three miles ahead.

“Hold it!” Jade grabbed Lazarus’s arm. His jacket was slick and he pulled it away. The gun was out in the blink of an eye and pointed right at her.

“No funny business,” he said, his hand no longer shaking. He’d gotten used to the weight of the gun in his hand, and he liked the power. She could see it in his eyes.

“What’s your angle?” she yelled over the wind. “What the hell do you care about us? Just let us go!” She’d been thinking about him since the night before, until she’d finally caved in and slept a bit. She woke with an uncertainty gnawing at her.

“That’s none of your business,” he said. He pointed down the exit with the gun. “Just walk.”

“No,” she said.

He pointed the gun at her again. “I suggest you get moving,” he said. The rain lightened just enough for them to be able to talk without shouting. A veil of steam rose from the road.

“I suggest you get talking,” she said. “You can go ahead and shoot me if you want, but I’m guessing you were instructed to bring us alive?”

“I was instructed to bring ONE of you alive,” he said. She held his bluff and didn’t back down. They stood at an impasse until Sera came to Jade and hooked her arm through her elbow.

“It doesn’t matter how they got to him, or why. We have to go,” Sera said. She turned to Lazarus, who had started to lower the gun but lifted it again when she addressed him. “You should know, though, that they’ll sell you out in a minute, once they have no need for you. I don’t know what they promised, but they’re liars. They’ll kill you without blinking an eye.”

“Brave words, Tinkerbelle.” Lazarus motioned forward. “Get moving.” He followed behind them, just far enough off so they could whisper without being heard.

“We can make a break for it, after the intersection,” Jade said. If they split up, he could only chase one of them and Jade could lead him away. It wasn’t an option, though, for either of them, but she couldn’t think of anything else.

“No,” Sera said. She didn’t bother keeping her voice down. “We need to find out what’s going on in there. It was important to my parents, I know that, and if they’re still alive they’ll be there.”

“As important as your life?” Jade asked. “We should run, then come back and stake it out.”

“We’ll never find anything out that way. We need to go right in.”

There was no changing her mind, and it was only as an afterthought, when Jade turned around to see the rain clear behind them and a light rainbow cross the mountains, that she remembered she hadn’t left any instructions for Anyon since Albany. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted him to follow them, given what they were walking into. It might be better for everyone if he just went off his own way. These thoughts made her heart heavy, and a lump settled in her chest. She wondered if he felt this way about her. If so, there was no way he’d give up.

They crossed into the village of Campton (“Provisional Government territory”), and there was a small lake to their right. It had stopped raining by the time they approached the makeshift wooden tower and roadblock entering the Valley. The road was long and straight before it, and the soldiers spied them when they were far off. Two men took up position in the middle of the road with their guns crossed. They wore some kind of matching uniforms, but were unkempt enough to appear unprofessional. Boys playing soldier, Jade thought. Sometimes they were the most dangerous of all. One of the soldiers addressed them when they were close enough.

“No civilians.”

“We’re not civilians, amigo.” Lazarus held his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. He either didn’t remember he had the gun or didn’t think it important, but the soldiers did. They aimed their guns right at him.

“DROP THAT WEAPON! DOWN ON THE GROUND! NOW! HANDS OVER YOUR HEADS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM.”

Lazarus hung the gun on his finger, then put it on the ground softly. The girls had already dropped to the wet pavement. Lazarus was muttering as the soldier approached, trying to explain that they were friends.

“I was invited here! I’m on a mission!” The soldier kicked his head back down. It cut his cheek and blood dripped onto the pavement. Lazarus hollered, earning him another kick.

“What have we here?” The other solider bent to look into Jade’s defiant face. She was about to spit at him, which would have earned her much more than a kick, she supposed, when Lazarus spoke again—a kind of high-pitched whiny squeal.

“I’m here on orders of General Clarke! I have the girls! The girls he’s looking for! I was told to come here! I was recruited!” The soldier turned to him, just as Lazarus muttered under his breath. “I’m supposed to get a reward!”

“What did you say?” The soldiers flanked Lazarus on the ground and ignored the girls. A guard pulled him up by the jacket and frisked him roughly. The other held him at gunpoint.

“Do you know how many people we have coming to see President Vise who claim to have the girls he’s looking for?” The soldier stepped up to Lazarus. “Do you know what we do when we find out they’re faking?”

“I’m not faking! For real! These are them, Jade and Seraphina! I found ‘em in Albany after they left the Cambridge camp!” This piqued the guard’s interest and he turned his attention to the girls.

“Stand up,” he instructed Jade and Sera. Jade wiped gravel off her pants as she stood. He looked them over. “Physically they meet the description. Maybe. What’s your name?” he asked Lazarus.

“Lazarus Walker.” He puffed out his chest.

“Well, Lazarus…” The guard circled Jade, taking more time than he should have examining her backside. “Looks like you’ve got a reprieve.” He turned to the other guard. “Let the tower know we need an escort. Looks like you’ll be going to see the elusive Presidente. Hope you got your story straight.”

“Elusive?” Sera asked.

“President Vise rarely comes out, but I’m sure he’ll be interested in you.” He winked and she dipped her head down. Jade heard the crackle of a CB radio, then the soldier directed the girls to sit on the side of the road to wait. He tied their hands together with some kind of rope for good measure. Lazarus stayed with the guards, and after a few minutes they were shooting the breeze like old friends. Jade couldn’t decide between whispering strategy with Sera or listening to the soldier’s conversation. She strained to hear them talk, but in the end only understood one thing—they were screwed.

A tarp-covered army truck approached from the other side of the roadblock after a few minutes.

“Here comes your ride,” the soldier said. Jade had a hard time getting up with her hands bound, but she didn’t ask for help. Sera followed her into the back of the truck without a word. Lazarus sat in the front with his new friend and laughed as they pulled away.

Chapter 25

The road to the Valley was smoother than most others they’d traveled on, but it was an uncomfortable ride for Jade and Sera, who occupied the long bench with their hands tied behind their backs. One guard stayed in the back with them, and Lazarus sat between two more in the front. There was a small window between the front and back that was open. Jade studied the soldier across from them. He was about their age, pale and freckled, with bits of orange hair that peeked out of his helmet. He looked nervous holding the machine gun across his lap and he avoided eye contact.

“Who are these people?” Jade asked him. “What’s happening here?”

“Please, I’m not supposed to be talking to you,” he said.

As if on cue, the driver shouted: “Quiet back there!” Jade waited a minute and spoke softer.

“This is more like a prison than a camp!” she whispered fiercely. “What do they want with us?”

The guard looked at the driver to see if anyone was listening. The driver was deep in conversation with Lazarus (who let out a loud guffaw—kissass, Jade thought), the boy let out a deep breath.

“I don’t know what they want with you,” he said. “But if you are the girls Dr. Vise has been looking for, you’re in a lot of trouble. He’s called you an enemy of the new government and offered a big reward to bring you in. See those fliers?” He nodded to the corner, where there was a stack of wanted posters. Jade could only just make out her face and Anyon’s, and felt a wave of nausea.

“He’s been looking everywhere, burning camps,” the boy said. His eyes flashed to the front. “But you didn’t hear that from me.”

“Did they find Anyon and Malachi?” she asked. He looked confused.

“The boys on the poster? No.” He shook his head. “Sometimes people come in claiming to have them, but none of them have been the right people. They’re still out there.”

“We have to get out of here,” Jade said.

“You’ll never get out,” he said. When the truck hit a bump, he paused. “The guards will be all over you. They usually take outsiders to the hospital first. If they take you there, I’ll see what I can do. There’s a group of us…” He broke off as the driver stopped short and started talking to a man on the road, who hooted and cheered.

“Next stop, town square, my friends!” the driver shouted back. “You’ve got a one way ticket to the oval office!” The truck heaved forward again and clunked against the road. The boy whispered something Jade couldn’t hear over the conversation in the front. She was about to ask, but Sera smiled at him and he blushed, turning his face even redder than it already was.

“His name is Nicky,” Sera whispered. “And he wants to help us.”

The truck rolled in to another checkpoint and sunlight cut through the front window. The storm had passed.

“A lot of security,” Jade said.

“You have no idea,” Nicky replied. The tarp was thrown from the back and Jade squinted at the outline of a man as he directed them out. She stumbled as she got out of the truck and entered the town square. It was surrounded on three sides by buildings, and had a crude statue of a man in a lab coat holding a beaker in the center of the square. Sera studied the square with a cool detachment.

“This way,” the guard said. He pushed Jade with the end of his gun. She looked back towards the truck before she moved. Nicky stood outside the passenger door, his gun held ready. He nodded his head just slightly, but it was enough for her to know they had friends here. She just didn’t know if it would be enough to keep them safe.

“This is the old hotel,” the guard said, as they all piled down a hallway and into a small, old elevator with wood paneling and soft music. He hit a button as the other guard squished in with his eyes (and gun) on the girls. The first guard ignored them and spoke only to Lazarus.

“This place has power, water, you name it. It’s like the infection never happened!”

“Hmph,” Sera said. Jade would have given anything to hear what was on her mind.

“Anyway, the President’s at the top—fifth floor,” the guard continued casually. “NOBODY goes up there. This is huge.” The elevator stopped with a lurch and the doors opened. Jade let out a breath. Lazarus issued an impressed whistle. They stepped into the carpeted reception area, where a young girl sat behind a large round desk. Her hostility radiated past her red rimmed glasses. Her hair was dark, like Jade’s, but cut angular to her face, and there was something off about her pallor. She was pale, too pale.

“Took you long enough,” she said. The guard stammered apologies but she ignored him. She hit a button under her desk and announced they were here. “You two,” she pointed to the guards, “can go back. We’re good.”

The guards hung around for a moment until she stared them down. They backed onto the elevator and disappeared behind the doors. The girl pushed a button under the desk and two more heavily armed guards appeared from a side door and flanked Jade, Sera, and Lazarus. The guards wore the same army uniforms, mismatched and ill-fitting.

“So you must be Lazarus,” the girl said. He nodded. It was one of the only times he had nothing to say. She turned her attention to Jade and Sera. The glasses didn’t hide her yellow eyes and Jade wondered if she knew she was infected.

“Possibly,” the girl muttered, searching Jade’s face. “At least the closest so far. I hope you’re right, Mr. Walker. There’s a lot at stake.” She pressed a well-manicured finger into a scanner next to the door behind her desk.

“President Vise will explain everything. Follow me.”

Lazarus held the door open for Jade and Sera to enter the hall, but not out of any sense of decency. Rather, Jade intuited, it was because he wanted to go in last, but the guards pushed him through and came up silently behind them. They went down a long hallway with closed doors on either side and the girl scanned her finger again at the last door. The display turned from red to green with a soft beep, and she opened the door.

They entered a spacious office, with windows that overlooked three sides of the Valley, including the square they’d just come from. The mountainous backdrop was gorgeous, but they were too high up to see the courtyard below. The office was warmly furnished. Medical books and journals filled the bookcases that were sandwiched between the windows, and a seating area was arranged in a U-shape in front of a large mahogany desk. A man sat behind it, his back to them as he looked over the square. President Vise.

“Mr. President,” the girl cleared her throat. “Mr. Walker has arrived with the two girls.”

“Thank you, Zaria,” he said. “You may go back now. Leave the guards outside the door, we’ll be quite comfortable on our own. We have some things to discuss.” He waited until the door clicked closed behind Zaria to wheel his chair around and face them. The chair creaked from strain though he was a thin man. He was older, most of his hair was gone, leaving a thin ring around his head. Behind his glasses, his eyes rolled over Lazarus, then Jade, and settled on Sera with a big smile.

“Well, well. Seraphina Grace, finally. Welcome home.” Sera glared at him.

“What have you done here? Where are my parents?”

“Ah, so you do remember?” he said. “Sit. Have a drink. You’ve been a long way, child, haven’t you? Cambridge to Albany—then all the way here. Sit, I won’t bite.” He got up with the help of a cane, limped around the desk, and took a carafe off a bookcase. Jade and Sera hovered near the couch for a minute, then decided it was safe to sit. Lazarus stood behind the chair, with his hands on the back.

“Water is all right?” President Vise asked. “Unless you want something stronger?” He laughed at himself as he poured the water into a glass, then offered it to each of them. They all declined. He shrugged and drank it himself, then replaced the glass on the shelf and made his way back to the desk.

“I want to know what’s going on here,” Sera said. She had balled her hands into fists. Jade had never seen her so angry and defiant.

“The simple explanation is that we’re saving the world,” Vise said.

It was only then that Jade noticed the yellow of his palms. She had to squint to look at his eyes behind the glasses, but as she expected, they were yellow and bloodshot. The President had the beginning signs of the infection.

Chapter 26

Jade tried to hide her shock when she took in the President’s yellow skin and red-rimmed eyes, but it must have shown on her face.

“Yes, we’re all infected,” he said, as nonchalant as if he were talking about the weather. Lazarus stepped away from him. “It’s all right, though, because we have the antidote. Well, not quite the antidote, but enough of one to help us deal with our symptoms and live a long and almost healthy life.” He laughed, but no one else did. A commotion interrupted them from outside the windows by the town square. The President looked up over his glasses and sighed.

“Excuse me.” He hit a button under the desk. “Zaria, they’re acting up again in the square. Take care of it.”

“Yes, sir.” Zaria’s voice echoed through the intercom. The President released the button and relaxed.

“As you can see, some of us respond better to the treatment serum than others,” he said. “The effects vary.” A gunshot echoed from the square, then a scream. A white mist filed the air outside the windows like a great cloud. Vise continued as if nothing happened.

“Unfortunately, for some of them we can’t stop the mental degradation. We’re working on it, but your arrival may make that obsolete now.” He focused on Sera as the white smoke thinned outside the window. It disintegrated until only a fine mist was left on the glass like the morning after a frost, and soon that was gone, too. From her seat Jade couldn’t see anything but the mountaintops. She didn’t dare get up. Her legs were so shaky she was afraid they wouldn’t hold her up.

“You’ll never get anything from me,” Sera said. Jade snapped back to attention and looked from the President to Sera, who seemed to share some secret past that Jade knew nothing about. She wondered how much she really knew Sera, and if she didn’t know Sera, then maybe she didn’t know Anyon. The thought made her cold.

“What is going on?” Jade asked. Lazarus backed as far away from the desk as he could, finally leaning on the far wall by the door and blending into the dark, paneled wall.

“We’re old friends,” President Vise said, the skin stretching tight on his face as he smiled.

“Not quite,” Sera said. “He worked with my parents, but they didn’t agree on how to run the camp. My parents did it the right way, taking their time and testing their theories. Dr. Vise began recruiting people to test on! Children! And when they ran out of test subjects, he kidnapped them from the streets!”

“That’s it, in a nutshell, isn’t it?” he said. “I won’t go into why your parents were wrong, but suffice it to say they took too long to isolate a cure, although I suspect they got further than they let on. Innovation requires certain sacrifices.” He shrugged. “Although I have to say, I’m surprised you remember. I understood they wiped your memory before you left. I’d like to get my hands on that serum as well.”

“What happened to them?” Sera asked. Vise gave her a condescending smile.

“That’s not important right now. Play along and I may tell you. We don’t need your cooperation but it would make things easier.” He pressed the button under the desk and spoke to his secretary again.

“We’re finished here. Send the guards back.”

“Wait a minute,” Jade said as the door opened and the guards came in with guns at the ready. Jade looked for Nicky, but these two were older and bigger. His personal guards, she assumed. Lazarus slid down the wall away from them so he was in between Vise and the soldiers. His face blanched.

“What the hell is going on here?” Jade stood and put her hands on her head, her thoughts spinning. Everything was happening so fast, and her thoughts turned to Anyon. He was on the wanted poster too, and if he followed them he could be in more danger than he knew. Or did he?

“Take these two to be processed, and this one to the Pit,” Vise said, pointing lazily to Sera. Jade opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. “Don’t worry, it won’t be long. You, my dear, are a priority.” As the guards flanked them, he got up and rounded the desk. He leaned heavily on his cane, his right side dragging behind him. He touched Sera’s face and several things happened at once. Jade stepped forward to push him away and the guards raised their guns. Sera backed off on her own, just enough so he couldn’t reach her.

“Now nothing can stop me,” he whispered.

“Go to hell,” she said back. He dropped his hand.

“Take them.” The guards kept one hand on the guns and grabbed each girl with the other. A third guard entered the room and approached Lazarus.

“What the..? I’m with him!” Lazarus said. He threw his hands up. President Vise went back to some papers on his desk and shuffled them around, uninterested. Lazarus fought the guard.

“I’m with him! I belong here!”

“Let’s go!” the guard said. He raised the gun and Lazarus fought him.

“Stand down, boy!” Vise said. “You need to go to the hospital and get sorted out. Then we’ll figure out what to do with you.” He went back to his papers and it was only then that Jade noticed the skin on the guard’s face was sallow and he had a sore on his cheek. She stopped fighting him. He shoved her out in the hall and they walked down to the elevator one by one. They passed Zaria and squeezed in the elevator. Sera’s face was still angry, Lazarus scared. Instead of getting off at the ground level, they went down through several sub-basements.

“Where are we going?” Jade asked. The guard rolled his eyes.

“The hospital, are you thick?”

“You ain’t supposed to talk to them,” the other guard said.

“What difference does it make?” He eyed Jade. “She ain’t going nowhere.”

“The hospital is underground?” Jade asked.

“Yeah,” the guard laughed. “Nearly everything is. Hope you’re not scared of the dark.”

The elevator rolled to a stop on the second lowest level, sublevel 3. The doors opened and there was a metal grate in front of them. One guard produced a set of keys and opened the grate with a loud squeak. Beyond it was a long, white, industrial hall. A man in a lab coat approached with a clipboard in his hand. He was portly and middle aged, and he looked over his glasses at the papers on the clipboard.

“We’re not scheduled for new arrivals for two more days,” he said.

“This is a special case.” Jade’s guard thrust her forward and the man looked her over. He took a paper from the guard’s hand and whistled low.

“Well, well. This changes everything. Which one is Seraphina?” No one answered.

“She is.” Lazarus kicked her ankle. The man studied her, then took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

“I haven’t seen you since you were a little girl.” He replaced his glasses. “I’ll take care of them from here. Thank you.”

“Doc wants her down in the Pit.”

“Oh no,” Jade started, but the doctor cut her off.

“I’ll keep her here for now,” he said. The guards mumbled something about orders. “I will talk to Doctor, er, President Vise. I can assure you, there will be no funny business.” He turned his attention to Jade.

“We have our own guards down here, you know. Our own set of rules. Almost totally self-sufficient! Let Octavius stick that in his pipe and smoke it!” He giggled and Jade realized that he might not be totally there, whether it was from the infection or being locked in the basement. She was reminded of a book her mother read to her when she was younger about going down a rabbit hole and a mad, mad world. She’d have to be careful around him.

“Yes, anyhow.” He straightened up. “Let’s go. Off with you!” He waved the guards off and shut the gate behind them, locking it with a raspy squeak. He bounced down the subterranean halls and they followed, trying to look into the side rooms as they passed, but for a short man he bounced rather quickly. He approached a door at the end of the hall and entered a key code.

“Special precautions,” he said and held the door open for them. Jade scooted widely around him and entered a kitchen area.

“Staff quarters,” he explained, but there were no staff there at the moment, only metal counters, a couple refrigerators that had seen better days, and a long metal table in the middle of the room. He exited through a side door and went down more hallways that all seemed the same. At the last one he fumbled with a large, round key ring.

“Ah! Here it is. We haven’t used this room in a while. Saved for VIPs, if you will.” He winked and opened the door.

He stepped aside as they walked in. It was a white living room, with a sofa and two chairs around a built-in gas fireplace and TV mounted to the wall. The only thing missing was windows. The man hovered in the doorway.

“You’ll find two bedrooms off the hallway. The kitchen is stocked with nonperishables, although we’ll bring you meals. Every comfort required!”

“Yeah, except fresh air and freedom,” Jade mumbled as she checked out the room.

“Hey listen, Mister…” Lazarus began. He tried to approach the man but kept his distance at the same time.

“Doctor. It’s Doctor Kilpatrick. Sera knows who I am.” Sera ignored him and made her way to the kitchen. Jade’s stomach rumbled but she didn’t pull herself away from the doctor.

“Doctor,” Lazarus said. “Whatever. Look, I brought these two clowns here and I was promised a reward. I don’t belong here.”

“Oh dear…” He flipped a page on his clipboard. “It says here you need to go through the treatment process. I’m afraid I’ll have to keep you here for now, but think of it this way—you have every comfort required!” Lazarus took a step toward him and Dr. Kilpatrick retreated outside the room and slammed the door. Several locks snapped in place. He opened a small slit in the window.

“Way to go,” Jade told Lazarus.

“You might thank me for keeping you out of the Pit, Seraphina,” Dr. Kilpatrick said. “I don’t often cross Octavius but I owe your parents a great deal. Now we’re even.”

“What’s the Pit?” Jade asked. Dr. Kilpatrick talked through a mesh screen.

“The basement level, where he keeps the other…oh never you mind. I’ll get you sorted out in a jiffy. Enjoy your stay!” The window slid closed.

“Did he really just say enjoy your stay?” Jade asked, but no one was listening. Lazarus approached the door and examined the side of it. There would be no escaping that way, but he ran his hand up the crack and banged on the small window anyway.

“Hey!” he called. “Let us out!” Jade sighed and went into the kitchen with Sera. She was rolling a water bottle between her palms, lost in thought.

“Water for your thoughts?” Jade joked, but Sera didn’t crack a smile. “It must be hard for you to be here?”

“It’s frustrating,” Sera said. “I remember some things, but others… I can’t explain it. I know they’re there but I can’t get to them. Like Dr. Kilpatrick. I know him, somehow. There’s something important I need to remember, but AGGGHH!” She yelled and slammed the plastic bottle on the table. Lazarus was still pounding on the door.

“You’ll get there.” Jade put a hand on her shoulder. “Look how far you’ve come in just a short time. Do you remember this place at all?” The kitchen was perfectly tiled, clean and sterile. The red light blinked on the refrigerator to dispense ice.

“Remember it?” Sera laughed. “I lived here!”

“You lived here?”

“Maybe not this exact room, but pretty much the same. At least the staff quarters were. These were the dorms. I wouldn’t put it past them to put us in the same room.”

“What can you tell us about this place? Are there any weaknesses? Any ways to break out?”

“I can’t tell you anything. When I was here this was all open. There were no locks or prison cells. People came and went as they wanted. This is what my parents feared, why they sent me away.”

“But you know the layout? The floors and the rooms?”

“Maybe. It’s fuzzy. I used to crawl around the ventilation systems, they’re huge.” She smiled. “Admittedly, not the best idea in a containment facility, but I didn’t know better, and everyone was too busy to watch me.” Lazarus gave up and came to the kitchen.

“It looks like I’m stuck with you guys for now,” he said. Jade rolled her eyes.

“Let’s check out the rest of this place. Maybe we can figure something out.” She headed off down the hallway that led to the bedrooms.

They passed a small bathroom, then two identical bedrooms. They were white and sterile, and contained two twin beds each. In the closet were clean clothes, which, after some consideration, they changed into. Jade’s polo shirt was stiff but it was the only one that would remotely fit. Something crinkled when she pulled it on. She felt in the pocket and took out a small, square piece of paper.

Be careful, you are watched.

Dr. Grace’s work lives on.

We will free you.

Jade looked up. She couldn’t see any cameras in the room, but that didn’t mean anything. She slipped the note to Sera, who smiled when she read it. Sera ran her hand over the symbol as she handed the note back to Jade, who folded it and put it back in her pocket.

“Andromeda,” Sera said, but Jade already knew. All they could do now was wait.

Chapter 27

Anyon and Malachi followed Jade’s route almost exactly. Lazarus was careless and left many clues along the way, and Malachi was a good tracker. They skirted the checkpoint when they approached the Valley, staking it out just long enough to know there was something going on that didn’t smell right. A few boys playing soldier protected the road, and they didn’t look friendly. They handled their weapons with a carelessness that made Anyon’s headache start acting up. Anyon didn’t want to take his chances with them. They retreated into the dense woods and cut around, but the roundabout route cost them precious time.

Twice they were nearly caught by routine patrols. Anyon was surprised to see soldiers so far into the woods, but the ‘soldiers’ were loud and clumsy, and Anyon altered their route in response. As a result they strayed so far from the road they almost got lost.

“This is where a map would be good,” Malachi complained. They had ditched the map a while ago. All it showed was a large swatch of green labeled “National Park State Forest,” and they had figured that out for themselves. Anyon had to judge their distance to camp by the river and the position of the sun, and it was hard going for a while.

Anyon had the route to the Valley memorized. The access road was twelve miles long, and it took them most of a day to traverse it. It was twilight by the time they approached a cluster of condominium buildings that Anyon found vaguely familiar. They crouched in the woods across the street.

“Holy shit, bro! They have lights!” Malachi whispered.

The condos were three stories high and contained about four or five units. Malachi was right; they had power. Anyon hadn’t seen electricity in so long he forgot what it was like. The shades were drawn inside, but it was easy to imagine warmth and comfort inside, everything they’d been missing for so long.

“They probably have refrigerators, too!” Malachi continued. “And running water. I don’t know about you, but I could use a hot shower about now.”

Anyon shushed him, but he was equally enthralled. He forced himself to remember the words of Mrs. McGovern. The girls may have gone here willingly, but someone was hunting them, someone here, someone who would have done anything, include incinerate innocent people, to get to her. He remembered the flier. This place was not what it seemed. They were enemies here.

“We won’t be safe anywhere here tonight,” Anyon said. The sun had almost set, covering the woods in a quiet darkness. They were only one more shadow in a mass of trees, but they couldn’t risk leaving the safety of their cover. He swatted a black bug on his arm that left a large, itchy welt. They would be uncomfortable, but there was no choice.

“We’ll have to take shifts,” he said.

“Screw that, let’s just go in and storm them!” Malachi pumped his fist in his hand and raised his voice.

“Cut it out!” Anyon hissed. “We have no idea where they are or what’s in there! Use your head!”

“You’re right, you’re right,” Malachi responded. “It’s just we’ve come such a long way, and I’m hungry, man.” As if on cue, Anyon’s stomach rumbled. They hadn’t eaten since that morning.

“We’ll have to find something in the morning. Don’t we have one more can left?”

“Yeah, lima beans.” Malachi made a face. The only cans they could find along the road were the ones everyone else had picked over already, which left them eating a lot of beans and generic meat courtesy of the Provisional Government.

“I’ll take the first shift,” Anyon said after they cleaned out the can. Malachi stared with longing at the condos, and Anyon worried about what the boy would do if given the opportunity, but he was too exhausted to care. He was pushing himself as it was to stay up a few hours so Malachi could rest.

“Okay.” Malachi leaned back on a tree, crossed his arms behind his head, and closed his eyes. “But we move out first thing in the morning.”

“Agreed.” Anyon turned his attention to one of the windows, as if he could look elsewhere even if he wanted to. A shadow moved across it, but he couldn’t tell particulars. Who was in there, he wondered? He stared inside for a few minutes, and when he turned back, Malachi was asleep. He felt bad for Malachi, he felt bad for all of them, but Jade was here somewhere and she was in trouble. He resumed his watch.

The moon was high when someone shook him awake. The first seconds were confusing as he shook off a dream of Cambridge, a dream where he watched the stars with Jade, her eyes reflecting the moonlight. Her face evaporated, and then he registered danger. His eyes snapped open and he remembered he was in the woods and he was on watch. Damn it! His eyes adjusted to the dimness and he reached around for his pack, but the first thing he saw was a gun pointed at his face.

“Easy,” he said, and raised his hands. The face in front of him was undecipherable, except for tufts of orange hair that popped out of a backwards baseball cap. Beside him, Malachi was still sleeping. He slumped over and his chest slowly rose and fell with each breath. There were only two guards, and Anyon wondered if he could take them both.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” the boy said. His voice was younger than Anyon thought, barely past changing. His hold on the gun was unsteady, Anyon could knock him over if he wanted to, but something told him he should listen.

“Why should I believe you?” he asked.

“You’re here for the girls? Jade and Seraphina?”

“How do you know that!” Anyon said, louder than he intended. Malachi snorted and rolled his head.

“We’re here to help them, too,” the boy said. He nodded to his friend. The other guard kept his gun on Anyon, while the first lowered his gun and rolled up his shirt sleeve. On his shoulder was a symbol Anyon recognized from his discussions with Sera, and even before that. He remembered it from this place.

“Andromeda?” Anyon asked.

“Yeah.” The boy pulled his sleeve down, thought for a minute, then extended his hand in friendship. Anyon took it gingerly and shook it.

“I’m Nicky,” he said. A sound broke the silence, an engine coming down the street in front of them and over the hill. “Duck!” He pushed Anyon’s head down. A spotlight glazed over the top of their heads from the truck. They stayed down after it had passed.

“That was close, man,” the other boy said. He was so dark skinned he almost blended into the night. His voice was deeper, but still young.

“This is Michael.” Nicky introduced his friend, then gestured to Malachi. “Do you think we should wake your friend up before I start to explain things?” Malachi’s eyes opened and he smiled.

“I was up, bro. Just feeling things out.” He unwrapped his hand, which held a rock that he could have used as a weapon. He unceremoniously let it fall from his palm to the ground. He met Anyon’s eyes and nodded, agreeing to play along for now.

Nicky stooped in the foliage and scanned their surroundings.

“How did you find us?” Anyon asked. He crouched and brushed the dirt off his pants. The moon was high and the sky full of stars. His muscles tingled with adrenaline and stress; they wanted to run. His brain had to override the instinct and keep him still.

“That’s our place.” He pointed to the closest patch of condos, the one Anyon had seen movement in before. “You’re lucky it was me who saw you.”

“Yeah, well, I thought I blended in pretty good,” Anyon said. Nicky bent over and picked up the empty silver can that had held the beans.

“Light reflected off this. You have to be more careful.” Anyon blushed in the darkness. He was a better soldier than that.

“Just a mistake.” Nicky shrugged. “And it worked out anyway, because who knows what would have happened if we didn’t find you.”

“Who are you, anyway?”

“Let’s go inside. It’s just Michael and me in our apartment. It should be safe enough.” Anyon judged a distance of fifty feet to the door.

“What happens if one of those trucks comes by?” Malachi asked.

“Then, we run.” Nicky smiled. “Unless you’d prefer to stay here?” He swatted a bug from his face.

“No, no. Let’s go,” Malachi said.

“Listen.” Nicky hesitated. “I’m putting my ass on the line too, but what’s happening here isn’t right. If they catch me…” He exchanged a look with Michael. “It won’t be pretty, but I know what I’m getting into by helping you.”

“Thank you,” Anyon said. He reached out his arm and shook Nicky’s hand again. This time his grip was stronger, steadier. This time he meant to offer his trust.

“Okay, let’s go,” Nicky instructed. They darted across the street, unseen by any trucks or spotlights. Nicky plowed through a front door, ushered them in, and locked it behind him. Then he pulled off his hat, wiped the sweat off his brow and let out a long sigh.

“Kitchen,” he pointed down a hallway, then glanced at a clock on the wall. “I’m on duty in three hours, and we have a lot to talk about.”

Chapter 28

“Kitchen?” Malachi asked. He didn’t have to be told twice. He plowed in while Michael was rummaging through the refrigerator. It was old and rusted, but Malachi pushed Michael aside to open and close the door a few times just to see the light go on and off inside.

“I never thought I’d see one of these again!”

“Why don’t you sit down?” Michael pulled food out, and Anyon and Malachi devoured everything he put out, including meat and cheese and fruits that Anyon hadn’t seen since Before. Nicky pulled a chair up next to Anyon and rested his head on his hands in a gesture of exhaustion that Anyon was familiar with. With reluctance, Anyon pushed the rest of the food away so he could listen.

“We’ve been wracking our brains since the girls showed up about how to get them out,” Nicky said.

“We?” Anyon asked.

“The Andromeda society.” He gave Anyon a sort of half smile. “I should start at the beginning, huh?”

“Not quite the beginning, I was here. Years ago.”

“Yeah, we know. Anyon Drake. Aged 19. Perimeter soldier from ages 11 to 14, but most of your file is sealed—or lost, so we’re not quite sure what you were trained for those last couple years. Current whereabouts unknown. Enemy of the state in the highest order.”

“Pardon?”

“That’s what they’ve been saying about you, but we didn’t believe it. There’s so much disinformation around here, it’s sickening.” Nicky picked the leaves off the last remaining strawberry. “But anyway, I’ll start from when you left. Things went downhill, as you can see.”

“You can say that again,” Michael said and took a bite of a hunk of cheese. Anyon’s mouth watered. Nicky continued.

“When Doctor Grace ran the camp, he and his wife were looking for a cure, and the place was run like a standard bio-lab or hospital facility. The focus was medical, not political, but that changed when they brought on Dr. Octavius Vise. He weaseled his way into control, and when he had the soldiers’ support, he took over. The hospitals and research facilities went underground. There were rumors of experiments on kids, and kidnappings, but everything is pretty secretive. You have to understand, things were getting desperate. We didn’t care so much who was in charge of the camp as long as they produced results, and unfortunately Dr. Grace backed down one too many times. When he finally went public disagreeing with Dr. Vise, it was too late. That’s when the shit hit the fan.”

“I was one of the kids who were kidnapped,” Michael said. “But I was lucky, I guess. I was recruited to the army and not the hospital.” Malachi scrutinized him.

“Me too,” Malachi said. “But I was sent to the hospital. I busted out a couple weeks after I got here with a bunch of other kids.”

“Yeah?” Michael said. “I remember that, man. That caused a lot of trouble for us. That’s one of the reasons the town is so cut off and guarded. No one’s done that again.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think how it would screw things up here. I just had to get out,” Malachi said.

“Don’t be sorry, you did what you had to do. So did we.”

“What he means,” Nicky said, “is we wanted to complain, but it would have been suicide to say it out loud. We saw what happened to Sera’s parents and it wasn’t pretty. So we formed a group, a society if you will, honoring Dr. Grace. Its purpose was to find a cure for the infection but retain our humanity. In time it became a group that resisted Dr. Vise’s totalitarian take over. He’s got troops loyal to him and they call themselves the Provisional Government. We haven’t been very successful in opposing him, I might add. Not yet.”

“How many members do you have?” Malachi asked.

“Not many, to be honest. We have to be completely sure before we tell anyone about it. Otherwise…”

“What happened to Dr. Grace and his wife?” Anyon interrupted. Nicky and Michael exchanged an uncomfortable glance.

“They’re dead,” Nicky said. “They destroyed their research and let a bunch of kids go. When Dr. Vise—sorry, he’s President Vise now—found out, he flipped. They were hung in the town square for everyone to see.”

“Geez,” Malachi said.

“Yeah, and they weren’t the only ones, either,” Nicky continued. “It happens all the time. If they find out what we’re doing, or that we’re helping you, we’ll be next.”

“We appreciate it, more than you know.” Anyon yawned. “Do you have a plan?”

“We have lots of plans,” Michael laughed. “Just none that would actually work.”

“The society has talked about everything from a mass break out, to an assassination, to destroying the whole dang town,” Nicky added. “The problem is we have no way to get to President Vise, and security around him, as you know, is pretty tight, especially since your friends showed up. There’s even rumors of booby traps in his lab and apartments.”

“Can you tell me what you know? Where Jade and Sera are kept? Any changes to the town in the last ten years?” Anyon asked. Malachi yawned. They’d only gotten a couple hours of sleep in the woods. Nicky glanced at the clock.

“We’re on duty in a couple hours. Why don’t you guys get some sleep? I’ll leave a town map and any info I can dig up on the table. We’re off at 2. Do NOT leave this condo. There are guards everywhere and you’re not going to find anyone sympathetic. Besides, your friends know we’re trying to get them out.”

“Jade? You’ve seen her? Is she okay?” Anyon asked.

“I brought her in, dude. They’re fine, and they know we’ll help. We snuck a message to her last night.” Anyon stood. He was ready to break down the doors to the hospital if he had to, and he had to force himself to calm down. He made a conscious effort to unclench his fists.

“What’s the plan, then?” he asked.

“The plan is for you to stay here while we’re on duty. I’m not going to risk any rash moves just because you showed up,” Nicky said. “We need to think this through.”

“Yeah, how’s that worked out for you so far?” Malachi asked.

“Stand down, bro,” Anyon said.

“It’s okay. Like I said, things changed with Seraphina’s arrival, there’s more guards downtown and less on the streets. It’s possible I can call a meeting of the society here tonight so we can brainstorm. Two’s better than one, and all that.”

“Two? There’s only two people in this little club?” Malachi asked.

“It’s a metaphor, dude. Chill out,” Nicky said.

“Not many more than two,” Michael muttered as he stood. All in all, Anyon did not have a great view of the Andromeda society. The way he saw, it was probably a bunch of loose knit kids playing around. But, he thought, a bunch of loose knit kids have changed history in the past and it was better than nothing. Besides, they had no other options, or friends.

“You’re welcome to whatever you want from the closet. There’s not much to pick from. Mostly uniforms, but they’ll help you fit in, just in case.” Nicky got up and led them down a short hall, back the way they’d come in. His bedroom was on the right, Michael’s on the left. Anyon was exhausted and the thought of a bed and a pillow was pure paradise. He sat on the edge of Nicky’s bed and immediately laid his head down. Malachi stood in the doorway as Nicky and Michael retreated back to the kitchen.

“What do you think?” Malachi whispered. “Can we trust them?”

“I think…” Anyon closed his eyes and had a hard time reopening them again to answer. “We have no choice.”

“Okay, boss. Catch you on the flip side.”

Anyon was asleep before Malachi could even close the door behind him.

* * *

The Andromeda society did meet the next afternoon, after a long day of isolation in the condo for Anyon. As much as he’d told Malachi not to worry, that’s all he did. He worried that Nicky would get caught, that Nicky would sell them out, that Jade was being harmed right now at this very moment. The last one made him red with rage, and he had a hard time controlling it. There was nothing he could do though, at least nothing that would help, and he owed it to the girls to see if Nicky could find help. It was their best chance. Their only chance.

They tried to ration themselves, but after they’d been hungry for so long it was hard not to devour everything in the refrigerator. The end result was that they’d almost wiped the food out by the time Nicky and Michael arrived home mid-afternoon, carrying paper bags. Anyon met them at the door and pulled the bags out of Nicky’s hands.

“Be cool, man!” Nicky said, checking behind them. They closed the door but Anyon had already taken the bags in the kitchen and unloaded them. A variety of food was laid out on the table and Malachi whooped. At the bottom of the bags were some papers and technical manuals. Nicky picked them up and thumbed through them.

“The food was really just a ruse to sneak these out.” He handed them to Anyon, who opened to the first page of blueprints. It read “HOSPITAL—SUB-BASEMENT ONE.”

“Is this what I think it is?”

“Yep,” Nicky said. He sat on a kitchen chair and put his feet up on the table. “I was sent for hospital duty today of all days! I wasn’t on the same floor as your friends, but I was still able to find a lot out.” Anyon studied the papers as Nicky continued. “I got the blueprints from Brenda, she’s a society member, I guess you’d say. The third sub-basement is empty except for your friends. I guess they’re expecting a new ‘crop’ in the next couple days.” His voice fell as he said the offensive word for the kidnapped test subjects.

“Are Jade and Sera okay?” Malachi asked.

“Yeah, they’re locked down in sub-basement three. Dr. Vise is trying to get the scientists in the Pit to work on her but I don’t think he’s had any luck. He’s told the rest of the camp they’re enemies of the state, but they’re not, are they?” Anyon shook his head silently.

“Naw, we didn’t think so. But he has them quarantined. The official story is they’re undergoing evaluation. Look, can I be frank with you?” Nicky put his feet down.

“Of course.” Anyon put the papers down.

“There’s rumors around, rumors that Dr. Grace found a cure and had to smuggle it out or Vise would destroy it. It’s been suggested that they smuggled it in the kids they freed. Is it possible that one of your friends has the cure or knows about it?”

“We’ve thought about it, too,” Anyon responded. “It makes sense. Sera. It would be Sera. It’s why I was sent to protect her. Maybe her parents thought they’d come back for her, but Vise got to them first? Maybe they tried to pass on the information but didn’t have enough time? I don’t know, man. I don’t know what happened here, but yeah, I think you might be right. I think Sera might have the cure.”

A soft knock interrupted them, followed by two more short knocks.

“You expecting someone?” Anyon jumped up.

“Actually, yeah,” Michael said as Nicky opened the door. He ushered a young girl and boy into the kitchen. They were dressed inconspicuously to blend in. “We’ve called a meeting of the Society.”

Chapter 29

“Now?” Anyon asked. He pulled back the shades and peeked out the window to catch a glimpse of these secret society members, but all he saw was the early afternoon sun filtered through the trees, the first of their leaves falling to the ground in a light wind. The streets were quiet. No one was about.

“I thought it would be less suspicious than skulking around at night,” Nicky said. “If we act natural we won’t get caught. We’re still allowed some freedoms, and everyone will arrive separately. Sparrow, this is Anyon and Malachi.” Nicky led everyone into the small living room. Anyon shook hands with a short, thin brunette who bore a shadow of a resemblance to Jade. “And this is Winter.” Winter was older, about twenty if Anyon had to guess, but nervous. His eyes darted around the room.

“How many more?” Anyon asked.

“Depends who can get here. There’s twenty-five of us or so.”

Every few minutes another would arrive, until Nicky’s living room was full. Including themselves, there were eighteen. Others were on duty, some chickened out, and some couldn’t make it. Nervous chatter filled the room as they waited. Nicky’s neighbors were on duty, but a gathering this size was strictly forbidden, no matter what the reason. They’d be in a mountain of trouble if they were found out and every person there knew it.

Nicky opened the meeting by introducing Anyon and Malachi and explaining what they’d already figured out: that Sera was the daughter of Dr. Grace, that she wasn’t an enemy of the state, but possibly carried the cure, and that’s why President Vise wanted her. He told them about Anyon’s time at camp and how he was protecting her. He also explained to Anyon that most of them already carried the infection in various stages.

“What the hell!” Malachi shot up so fast that he knocked his chair over.

“It’s okay,” Nicky said. He waved his hand and a girl came forward. She handed him a manila folder. Nicky held it up. “This is your file. We have reason to believe you’re immune.”

“What?” Malachi asked.

“Do you remember when you were here? It was only a short time, but they gave you a series of shots?”

“I remember a lot of various tortures.” Malachi ran his hands up and down his arms and looked around the group with a new fear.

“You were in Vise’s group, I’m not surprised. At that point the rest of the camp didn’t know about his kidnappings and he kept his research a secret. Brenda was able to get a copy of this from his archives.”

A small Asian girl stepped forward and held out a file. Anyon committed her appearance to memory, but she seemed like someone who could blend in well. He hadn’t even seen her arrive.

“What is this?” Malachi took the folder and flipped through it. Anyon skimmed it over his shoulder.

“We don’t have a lot of time tonight, so let me summarize,” Nicky said. The forms were a jumble of lab results, chemicals, and numbers.

“We think you were in a designation called Group Alpha-4. For some reason, some of that group are immune. Vise’s serum acted like a vaccine in some of you, but there were some unfortunate side effects that resulted.” He cleared his throat. “You seem like you’re fine though, and unfortunately for him, the boys you broke out with were the ones who were immune, so I’m not sure he ever knew how well it worked. At any rate, he was never able to really replicate it, at least not without some pretty awful side effects.”

“Side effects?” Malachi raised his brow.

“Don’t worry, dude. You’re past that window,” Nicky said.

“Why didn’t he chase us, then? If we were so important?”

“He had plenty of other kids to experiment on, and I think he was sure he could reproduce his results. What he ended up with instead was a kind of treatment. Most of us are in the early stages of the infection, and we will be for years. We get weekly shots.” He pulled up his sleeve to show the boys the needle marks and bruises on his forearm. Malachi winced.

“It’s not as bad as it looks, and most of us have no outward symptoms. Vise, though, is farther down the line than us. We think he might be starting to lose whatever marbles he had. Anyway, give me your arm,” he said to Anyon.

“Why?”

“Because you’ve been exposed. You need to start on the same drugs we’re on to keep the infection away.”

“I’ve been exposed all my life,” Anyon grumbled as the needle went in. He didn’t flinch.

“That may be, and if you’re somehow immune, this won’t harm you or affect you at all.” He slid the needle out, put a small white cloth over Anyon’s arm, and pressed hard.

“Why do you want to help us?” Anyon pulled his hand away and wiped up the small blood spot. He took out a chair for Malachi, who was still flipping through the folder and shaking his head. “What’s in this for you?”

“We need to get rid of Vise. And with our situation being what it is, we’re just as desperate for a cure as anyone. If he does find the cure, I’m afraid of what he’ll do with it. ”

“You’re going to have to tell me more about him,” Anyon said.

“It’ll have to wait. We might have an opportunity to get your friends out tonight, and we have to move.”

“Tonight!” Anyon sat up straighter.

“Brenda’s been listening for us. They’re going to begin the experiments on Sera tonight, so they’ll be taking them to the lab. Brenda thinks she can arrange to be the guard on duty on their floor.”

“And after that?” Anyon asked. Nicky laid open the blueprints on the kitchen table and a group of them circled around.

“After that, we have to figure out a way to get them out of three levels of basement, past the other guards, and the hell out of here.”

“But where?” Malachi asked. “Where can we go that’s safe?”

No one spoke up, but there were mumbles from around the table and Anyon realized he was in over his head. He couldn’t just break Jade and Sera out. It was about more than that now. Somehow Vise had to be removed and neutralized. This wasn’t just about them anymore. Anyon and Nicky nodded in agreement. They had to work on the plan, not only to free Jade and Sera, but all of them.

Chapter 30

Jade felt like a character from an old story she’d once read. It was a horror story about a man strapped to a bed as a swinging pendulum got closer and closer to slicing him in half. They’d heard no word for two days. Meals came and went through the window in the door, but none of the staff would talk to them or answer any questions. The waiting was driving her crazy.

That first night they stayed up devising strategies to break out. They searched the apartment but there was nothing that would help them, not even a heating vent, at least not one large enough. Dr. Kilpatrick hadn’t returned, and Jade had bitten her nails down to the skin.

Jade and Sera were in the kitchen when the door finally opened. Lazarus was sitting on the couch with the TV remote in his hands. All he had access to were old movies, and he flicked back and forth between some spy movie and a horror. Violence and more violence. Jade was picking at some crackers and dropped the box on the floor. The crackers scattered on the tile floor as guards barged in, wearing head to toe bio-chem suits. Their breath was filtered through the masks and sounded forced. It echoed.

“Lazarus Walker, come with us.” Lazarus jumped off the couch, tossed the remote on the sofa, and put his hands in the air.

“What is this about? I was told to bring these girls here. I was told I’d get a reward!” Here we go again, Jade thought. The kid would sell them down the river in a second. It was almost better they didn’t find an escape route with him around.

“Just come with us, son. Don’t make this difficult.” The taller guard swung a rifle over his shoulder and pointed it at Lazarus, who began panicking more, if that were possible. He whipped around to find Jade. She could tell by his face that he was thinking of taking her hostage, but there was a half wall in between them and he’d surely get shot before he made it to her. So would she, Jade thought, but it didn’t bother her much. Lazarus turned back to the guards.

“Hands on your head!” they ordered. He complied, beads of sweat dripping down his neck. One guard held the door open, then the other ushered him out with the nose of his gun poking into Lazarus’s back. The door swung shut and locked behind them, and it was only then that Jade wondered what the hell was happening.

“Wait!” She crossed the living room as a woman screamed on the television set. “What about us? What’s going on?” She knew it was useless, but she banged at the door out of frustration.

“Damn it!”

“It’s okay.” Sera swept up the mess on the floor. “We don’t want to go with them, anyway.” Jade threw her hands up in the air and rounded on her.

“Oh, we didn’t? And just who do we want to go with? Santa Claus? When he comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve? Oh wait, there’s no chimney. Damn it, Sera, I love you, but you are so naïve sometimes! How the hell are you expecting to get out of here?”

“I’m not as naïve as you think. I just have faith.”

“Faith?” Jade issued a high-pitched laugh that could have quickly turned into an all out panic attack if she didn’t stifle it. “Faith. Well then, that settles that. All we have to do is sit on the floor and chant or pray or something, right?” Sera shook her head.

“No, all you have to do is believe.”

“Believe what? Believe in your God? Look around, Seraphina. Look what he’s done for us so far. For the whole human race. I bet there’s a lot of people who believed and ended up just as dead.” Her panic was receding, they’d had this argument before and it felt familiar and comforting, in a strange way. Sera’s faith and Jade’s skepticism balanced each other out, like yin and yang.

“Everybody dies, Jade. Just some of us die believing it’s not the end.” Sera popped a cracker in her mouth.

“Well, I don’t accept that.” Jade went back to studying the door but she knew damn well there was no way out. Her eyes burned with tears but she wouldn’t let them spill.

“Have I told you how much I appreciate our little talks?” Sera came into the living room, sat on the couch where Lazarus had been, and changed the channel to some sappy love story.

“Have I told you how frustrating your attitude is?” Jade said through gritted teeth. “At least you could try to help me! Wait, what’s this?”

Jade was on her hands and knees, examining the bottom of the door. It fit right up against the carpet so there was no slack, no way to see the feet of anyone outside. There was a small folded up piece of paper wedged under the door, only a corner showed. She could have sworn it wasn’t there that morning, or even a few minutes ago. One of the guards must have dropped it. Sera looked over Jade’s shoulder as she unfolded the small paper, careful to keep it hidden in her palm. It contained only one word and symbol:

TOMORROW

“Careful,” Sera whispered, holding her hand over her mouth. “The cameras.” They had no idea where the cameras were, maybe the ceiling or lights, but she did her best to keep the paper hidden. Jade folded it and slipped it in her pocket.

“Huh,” Jade said. “Just dust, I guess.”

“Just dust.” Sera’s eyes twinkled. “Or fate?”

“Shut it,” Jade told her, but she couldn’t help smiling herself. “I’m going to jump in the shower. It looks like I have some time to kill.”

“Whatever.” Sera waved her off and switched the love story to a romantic comedy. Jade could hear the laugh track as she left the room and she shook her head again at Sera’s undying optimism.

* * *

The plan was in place, but it was flimsy at best and relied on a lot of luck. Anyon had been over it a dozen times with Nicky. He pointed out the holes and flaws, but they could see no way around them.

“It’s the best we can do.” Nicky laid a hand on Anyon’s shoulder. “And I know it has a few…problems…”

“You think?” Anyon’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“But you have to have faith, dude. We can do this.”

“Faith, pfft.” He preferred to deal in the tangible, and he couldn’t stop thinking of the what-if’s. What if someone recognized him despite the disguise? What if the guard stopped them on the way in? What-if, what-if, what-if? Maybe Nicky was right and he just had to let go.

“Besides, Brenda was able to get a message to them, so they’ll be ready. Tonight, dude. Just try to relax until then.”

It wasn’t easy for Nicky either, he had just as much on the line as Anyon, maybe more. Anyon managed to thank him, though it seemed insufficient.

“No problem, compadre,” Nicky said. “We have the same goals. Total world domination!” Anyon frowned. “I’m just kidding. I’d be happy just to break your friends out right now, and maybe pry this camp out of Vise’s hand. Oh, and get the cure. No biggie.” He laughed.

Anyon retreated to his room. He shared it with Malachi. Nicky had moved across the hall with Michael. They all sensed his need for privacy and left him alone. He’d never prayed, not once ever. Not when the infection claimed his family and friends. Not in the camps when things were at their worst and they were out of food. Not on the way from Albany, when they faced unknown dangers. What was different now? He could feel her here, close, and he prayed that if he could get her out safely, he would tell her, finally, how he felt. He prayed that he’d have that chance and then he did the one other thing he’d never done in all that time in camp. He cried. Lonely, bitter tears. Tears that only one person could heal, one person that he would move heaven and earth to free.

Chapter 31

President Vise watched the square below from his vantage point three stories up. His knees bent with difficulty. The inflammation in his joints was a bad sign, and there was trouble in the town square again. Fighting. They were progressing faster, all of them. He was lucky to get to the girl when he did.

The fight broke out into violence, but he didn’t stop it yet. Sometimes it was best to see how these things played out. One of the guards, young and small, landed a punch right in another’s face. The bigger one retaliated with enough force to send the smaller one sailing backwards into the pond before the others could subdue him. Octavius sighed. At least he didn’t have to release the gas this time. It looked under control, but it was clear they didn’t have much time left. He’d been letting the girls stew in the hospital to ensure their cooperation, but they were running out of time.

All he needed was her blood, really, but the cooperation of the scientists that were loyal to her parents would go a long way towards their research, and lately their allegiance was questionable. Years ago he’d tried to convince them they were working toward the same goal—a cure, but they never really cooperated and they doubted his sincerity. He didn’t have much of a plan then, anyway. He thought he could stockpile the cure when they isolated it, sell it to the highest bidders or dole it out to whomever he deemed worthy. Perhaps Grace was right in denying him the opportunity, but he’d had years to perfect the plan and only a short time left to implement it.

Dr. Grace and his wife were gone, of course, he’d made sure of that, and for a while he’d thought the knowledge of the cure went with them. He’d been enraged, of course, but he thought he could replicate their experiments. The sin of pride. He couldn’t. It wasn’t until years later that he found the scope of their betrayal. He began to hunt for the daughter and the other children, and rounded up members of this “society” one by one. Some died, which was unfortunate but necessary. The rest were imprisoned in sub-basement four of the hospital, the Pit, as it was known, and forced to work for the cure, which they did haphazardly. Octavius hoped with the girl’s cooperation he could get the rest of the scientists on board. He couldn’t risk letting them outside, but he’d build them a lab with top of the line equipment, and they had as much on the line as anyone else. They were all infected as well.

The sound of gunshots broke his reverie and Octavius frowned. They couldn’t contain the boy in the square and had to shoot him. Octavius watched his body crumple onto the brick square, the blood pooling under him. He wasn’t the first victim of violence here in the Valley, but with any luck he could be the last.

The episode in the square concerned Octavius more than he could admit. If the soldiers were showing signs, if he himself was showing signs, then it didn’t bode well for the imprisoned scientists. He’d avoided experimenting on them to spare their minds, but he might be too late even for that. It was possible their minds had begun to decompose already. He buzzed Zaria.

“The time table needs to be moved up,” he said.

“Yes, sir.” Zaria was nothing if not efficient. He’d chosen her and groomed her as an assistant himself. If he was twenty years younger, a lover perhaps, but he’d learned a long time ago not to mix business with pleasure. Maybe when he was healthy again he’d reconsider.

“When?” she asked, her fingers typing as she spoke.

“We begin the protocol tonight. Please make sure the perimeter is clear by dusk. I’ll be going with them.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And make sure the square is cleaned up. There’s been another altercation.”

“Yes, sir.”

He broke the connection and cursed into the empty room. He hated leaving the building. He could run everything from here. He could see everything from here. He’d built his own personal residence with every creature comfort and every safety measure imaginable, but sometimes it couldn’t be helped. Sometimes he needed to motivate his troops, or put fear in them, make a speech about how they were all in it together. This time, though, he’d slink out of the building like a common thief, cross under the town square to the hospital building, and submit his ultimatum to his new visitors and scientists alike. Help him, or die. After all, it was her blood that Octavius needed, and there were plenty of ways to get that.

For the first time that day, Octavius smiled.

Chapter 32

Nicky’s shift didn’t begin until two. He hung around the apartment until then so he wouldn’t arouse suspicion. The society members left one by one, Brenda first because her shift at the hospital started at noon. Anyon went over and over her part until she finally told him to lay off. The clock ticked slowly after she left.

“It’s five minutes after the last time you looked,” Nicky said. “Chill out.” It was one fifteen. By that point Brenda should have switched the roster for the afternoon so Nicky and another Society member were Jade and Sera’s guards. So much could have happened already. She could have been caught. They could have moved the girls to another floor or started the experiments ahead of schedule. They could be walking into a trap with no way for Brenda to warn them. They were going on blind faith, not a strategy Anyon was comfortable with, but it was the only one available.

The clock ticked off another minute. Nicky perked the coffee maker and poured some for both of them. It was black and bitter but Anyon swallowed without tasting it.

“Michael will bring you around the back of the hospital at four o’clock,” Nicky started.

“I know,” Anyon said. He squeezed the coffee mug, letting the warmth seep into his hands. He turned it over and realized the mug read “Property of the Provisional Government” in block letters.

“Maybe you could cut me a break,” Nicky said with a frown. “I’m a little nervous here, too.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I just hate the waiting.”

“Me too, but you get used to it. You’d be surprised what you can get used to.”

“At least you’re fighting back,” Anyon said. “Okay, run through it again.”

“Brenda will let you in the back door. We’ve arranged, or at least I hope we’ve arranged, to get most of the society members working the hospital tonight, but don’t assume everyone you meet is on our side. You’ll be given weapons, and you can’t be afraid to use them.” Anyon nodded. Killing was the last thing he was worried about.

“You’ll go directly to the staircase,” Nicky continued. “I’ll be at the entrance to sub-basement 3 to buzz you in. I don’t know who my partner will be yet, so be careful. We may have to neutralize him or her.” Nicky’s eyes shifted. They’d had a heated discussion about it at the meeting. Anyon had no problem taking out the guards, but Nicky argued they were just kids following orders. In the end they’d agreed to tie them and leave them in one of the rooms. Precious time lost, as far as Anyon was concerned.

“And we let the girls out and run like hell,” Anyon said.

“That’s pretty much it.”

“And what about you?”

“Your job is to get Jade and Sera to safety, my job is here. They’ll know who was involved, of course, but we know passages through the woods and we can hide. You guys head toward the ocean, there are groups out there that will help you. We’ve sent a message out so they’ll be on the lookout for you.”

“Nick…”

“I can’t go with you, man. I’ll leave the decision up to the others, but I don’t think they will, either. We have to fight. Don’t you get it? They messed with our lives, our families. We were stolen, kidnapped, assembled.” He shook his head. “It’s got to stop.”

“I feel like we’re abandoning you,” Anyon said. He thought of what Jade would say. He didn’t have to think long to know she would not agree to leave Nicky and his friends.

“We know what we’re doing,” Nicky said. “It’s the right time. Besides, we have a plan to fight Vise.”

“A plan?”

“Can’t talk about it. Anyway.” He got up and rinsed Anyon’s mug. “I’ve got to roll.”

“Good luck,” Anyon said. He pulled Nicky into a one armed hug.

“See you in a couple hours.” Nicky slipped out the door and the condo became oppressively quiet.

All they could do then was wait. Anyon marked time by following a sliver of sunlight slowly cross the living room floor through a crack in the shade. He peeked out once in a while, in awe of the mountains beyond. It had been so long since he’d seen anything but the urban destruction in Cambridge, then the long road to Albany and north. He’d forgotten what this place was like, the awesome power of nature, or maybe he chose not to remember. The vibrant colors of fall were fading into browns, leaving half empty branches. He wondered if it were even possible for Nicky’s men to hide in the woods anymore or if this was a suicide mission. He hoped Nicky knew what he was doing.

The two hours crept by slowly until Michael tapped his shoulder and told him it was time to go. The three of them left the condo in Nicky and Michael’s old uniforms, the greens and browns complimenting Malachi’s dark skin so that he blended into the scenery. Anyon, on the other hand, stood out like a sore thumb with his pale skin and pants that were two inches too short. They stayed to the side of the road and circled around the valley to town square, a longer but safer route. They avoided most patrols and only got a couple sidelong glances as they entered the back of the square.

“It’s too quiet, man,” Michael muttered under his breath. Wind blew across the sidewalk and circled the first dead leaves around their feet. Anyon looked at the pale sky. He knew Sirius would be the first star and it would appear in the northwest. Then, soon after the night darkened, he’d see Andromeda and Perseus. Jade had taught him all of them, their locations and their legends, and he’d fallen in love with them as he’d fallen in love with her.

“Let’s go,” Anyon said. Michael led them around to the back of the hospital. They encountered no patrols, but there was movement inside the buildings. Anyon held his breath as Michael knocked on the back door, hoping someone from the Society would be there to open it. Anyon and Malachi blended in well enough with the uniforms, but if someone asked for ID it would be over. They had one handgun between the three of them. Anyon tightened his hold on it in his jacket pocket.

There was no answer. Michael wrapped three times, and mumbled a few choice words. Anyon started to sweat. Malachi clenched his fists. Michael raised his arm to knock again when the door cracked open. Anyon’s spirit lifted when Brenda stuck her head out.

“Keep it down,” she hissed. “The other guard was Bruce.”

“Oh shit,” Michael said and pushed past her inside.

“Bruce?” Anyon asked, his eyes adjusting to the dark hallway.

“One of Vise’s lackeys,” Michael replied. “Not good. Where is he?”

“Indisposed.” Brenda smiled. Anyon didn’t know how big Bruce was, but given the fact that Brenda couldn’t weigh more than ninety pounds soaking wet, it was impressive.

“We don’t have much time, though,” Brenda said. “Hurry.” The outside door shut behind them as she led them down a hallway. Anyon had flashbacks to his time in the camp, but he’d never been in this building. Even then it had a sinister feel, like it was a haunted house in the middle of town. The fact that he knew what happened here, the experiments and the kidnappings, didn’t ease his fears at all. All his senses were on alert as Brenda punched in a key code at the end of the hall and opened a door to a reveal a spiral stairway.

“I’ll stand lookout,” she said. She held the door open for them.

“Thank you,” Anyon said as he passed by. He followed Michael down the rickety steps to sub-basement three and, finally, Jade.

Chapter 33

Jade had been edgy all day. They’d heard nothing since they’d found the note the day before. The note only said “tomorrow”—not what time tomorrow, and technically the day had nine more hours left. She paced the living room floor as Sera flipped through an old paperback. Romance, it figured. The heavily muscled leading man leered at her from the back cover.

“It won’t do any good.” Sera turned a page. “They’ll come when they come.”

“Yeah, okay,” Jade said. She wasn’t going to get into it with her again. Jade hadn’t slept well the night before, because, as she pointed out, “tomorrow” could have started anytime after midnight. Sera rolled over and said “wake me if they get here then,” and snored fitfully. Jade dozed on and off, woken by phantom sounds and nightmares. As a result she was exhausted and frazzled all day, and when the door finally swung open, she was caught off guard. Sera tossed her book on the couch and sat up as the guard came in. Without the full hazmat suit, he was easily recognizable and Jade smiled.

“Nicky,” she whispered, but he wasn’t alone. Jade had to squeeze her eyes shut when two people came in the room behind him. Ever the protector, Anyon’s eyes scanned the room first, then, assured there was no immediate danger, went to hers. She was already crying. His hair was longer than she remembered, and wild, and she’d forgotten the hazel color of his eyes. How could she have forgotten such a thing? His lips opened to say something but she reached him first. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

“We need to hurry, folks,” Nicky said.

“Where have you been?” Jade wiped a tear from her cheek. He pulled her in and she collapsed against him, for the first time in weeks allowing someone else to hold her up.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he whispered in her ear, resulting in fresh tears. She pulled away to see his face again and convince herself he was real.

“I left notes, I tried to make it easy for you to follow us,” she said. He put a finger on her lips.

“Shh, I know. You did great. I’m here now.” She rested her head on his shoulder. Malachi slapped him on the back.

“I hate to break this up, but you do remember where we are, right?” Jade blushed and wiped her tears.

“What’s the plan?” she asked. Sera threw her one of the backpacks they’d packed earlier.

“The plan, such as it is, is to get the hell out of here,” Nicky said. He ducked his head out the door and checked both ways. “It’s clear.” They followed him into the hallway and turned left out of the room.

“I’m good with that,” Jade said, then whispered to Anyon. “There is a little more to the plan than that, isn’t there?” His shrug wasn’t reassuring.

“No,” Sera said. She stopped short as she left the room.

“No what? There’s no time for this, Sera, we need to go now!” Jade went back and took her hand but Sera stared at Nicky.

“We can’t leave them.”

“Leave who?” Jade asked. Nicky sighed.

“We don’t have time,” he answered. “And we don’t have the means. I have no idea how to even get past the guards on that level, we only had this floor covered.”

“I know how,” Sera said. “There’s a ventilation tunnel at the end of this hall, in the last room. The kitchen.”

“That wasn’t on the map.”

“It’s there. My parents built this place. I used to crawl there all the time. I can get us there.”

There was a pause as everyone looked at everyone else and Jade realized she was the only one who didn’t know what was going on.

“What the hell!” She threw her hands up. Sera answered.

“The other scientists, my parents’ friends, are kept downstairs in sub-basement 4 in the prison level, otherwise known as the Pit. If there are any of them left.”

“How the hell did you know that?” Jade asked.

“Just a guess, at first, but by his reaction I’m sure I’m right. They started sealing it off right before I was sent away.”

“We don’t know how many are down there,” Nicky said. “They have their own guards that only report to Vise. We don’t have any schematics for downstairs, and we’re out of time!” A loud bang echoed down the hall in front of them as the guards broke through a door.

“We can’t go your way now, anyway,” Sera said. Smoke filled the hall and soldiers’ voices echoed from close by.

“How do you know the vent is still there?” Jade asked. Sera smiled. “Oh no, don’t say faith. Don’t!”

“It’s there,” Sera said.

“This wasn’t part of the plan,” Nicky said. He coughed as the smoke filled the hall.

“And a fantastic plan it was,” Jade said. “But Sera—we need to follow Sera.” It was a moot point, Sera was already down the hallway. They took a couple turns and encountered no resistance. She made her way to the last door, entered a key code and stepped inside.

“I watched Dr. Kilpatrick enter the code earlier,” Sera said. They gathered in and closed the door behind them, locking it with a soft click. They were in a makeshift kitchen or break room, the same one they’d passed through on the way in. It was metal and institutional, with two fridges, one marked biohazard. There were two long tables in the middle and fluid-filled jars in shelves. Ventilation holes lined the ceiling like eyes, but Jade didn’t see any secret door.

“Help me,” Sera said. She pushed a table up to the far wall, then knocked at various places until she heard a hollow sound. She pushed a panel with her hand. It popped open to reveal a secret tunnel. She took a flashlight off the side of the tunnel’s wall, dusted it off, and turned it on. It blinked then shone steady.

“Boost me up,” she said. The soldiers had reached the door and started pounding on it.

“I guess we have no choice,” Anyon said. He lifted Sera, then Jade into the tunnel. For a minute Jade just let her arms hang on his neck. She’d missed him so much.

“Besides, I followed you this far,” Anyon said. “What’s a little tunnel?” She pecked his lips with a soft kiss, then disappeared into the black hole.

It was big enough for them to crawl on hands and knees, but the air was stifled. The only light came from the beam in Sera’s flashlight.

“Shut the door behind you,” Sera instructed from the front. “There’s a lock, swing it closed. They’ll see the bench but they shouldn’t find the door right away. And take a flashlight. It’s dark in here.”

She could say that again. There were four flashlights but only three worked. Sera took one in the front, Anyon in the middle and Nicky in the end. The smell of chemicals wafted up from various vents, as well as the smell of decay. Jade crinkled her nose as she crawled along. They tried to make as little noise as they could, dragging their knees in a soft shuffle. They reached a rounded hole in the floor with a metal ladder that led down.

“How did we not know this was here?” Nicky asked.

“It’s marked as insulation on the maps, or something,” Sera said. “This will lead us down to the same kitchens downstairs. You’d have a better idea than I would what we’ll find down there.”

“I have no idea,” Nicky said. “But we need to find out.”

Sera led the way down the ladder, and one by one they crawled back through more tunnels until Sera stopped at a seeming dead end. She looked out a small hole and into the room.

“Empty,” she whispered. Nicky squeezed around her.

“Open the door. I’ll go in first.” He handed the gun back to Anyon. Sera slipped behind him and he pushed the panel with both hands. The door unsealed and swung open just in time for her to see President Vise standing off to the side, out of range for her to have seen from the tunnel, with a gun in hand.

“Aren’t you clever,” he said and yanked Nicky down by the arm. Nicky screamed as he landed on the floor. Vise turned the gun on him.

“You can all exit now, or I will shoot him.”

“Shit,” Malachi muttered. As Jade climbed out, she saw Lazarus standing in the doorway behind Dr. Vise. He was pale with fresh bruises on his face. She couldn’t help but feel sad for him for a minute, until he came over and punched her in the stomach. Anyon came forward as Jade went down, but she stopped him. She spit on Lazarus’s feet.

“I see you got your reward, you little piss-ant.” She coughed.

“I wish I never met you,” he said.

“Now, now.” Vise stepped between them. “Regardless of what you think of me, we have the same goal. Our antidote isn’t working, we need the cure. The cure, Seraphina, that I believe you carry.”

“Why should we help you?” Anyon helped Jade to her feet. They were in an identical kitchen from the one upstairs, only dirtier and more cluttered. Vise smiled.

“Because we all have the same problem. You see, you all have been infected from the moment you stepped into this building. Only it seems you have an accelerated version of the infection and we have no antidote for you. So your choice is to help me find the cure, or die. Or watch your friends die, as the case may be.” He stared pointedly at Sera. She swallowed.

“We’ll help you,” she said.

“Sera, no!” Jade yelled.

“I won’t watch you die. I want these people freed, though.”

Vise waved a hand. “We’ll work out the logistics later. Right now, I believe some introductions are in order. Perhaps a little reunion will spark your memory?”

He led them out of the kitchen, down a hall and into a bright, modern, white laboratory. The room was full, with people assembled around the benches and tables, maybe fifty men and women.

“Seraphina Grace,” Vise said. “Welcome home.”

Chapter 34

There were dozens of people gathered in the lab, but you could have heard a pin drop as Jade, Sera, Anyon, Malachi, Michael and Nicky piled in. President Vise and Lazarus followed them, then Jade started coughing and Sera let out a sob and all hell broke loose. Voices rose in anger and confusion and a group circled Sera. Anyon started to her side when Vise’s voice rose over all of them.

“ENOUGH!” There was instant silence again, except for the sniffling. The people in the room were sad and pale, as if they’d never seen sunlight. Sera looked like she’d seen a ghost. Jade stayed beside her, and Sera buried her face in Jade’s shoulder.

“We have limited time.” Vise’s voice echoed around the room. “As you know, the antidote has been failing. As we are all infected, we have the same goal. We must find the cure, or we will all die. Or, at least, most of us will.”

Jade studied the crowd. They were mostly older, and some showed signs of sickness already. Yellowed skin and eyes, sores, patches of hair missing. Coughs greeted each other across the room, interspersed with cries or moans. At the far door were two guards, wearing the same biohazard suits from earlier. She thought about trying to overpower them and make a break for it, but there were sure to be more where they came from, and where would they go, anyway? It had been a crappy plan to begin with.

“I never thought we’d see you again.” A woman approached Sera from behind, and Sera’s eyes widened.

“Auntie Margaret?” she asked. Jade examined the woman, but kept a hold on Sera’s arm. The resemblance was obvious, Jade would have seen it if she weren’t counting heads or studying pallor. The woman had the same curly basket case of auburn hair that Sera had; only hers was streaked with gray. She came forward tentatively.

“I hoped you were safe…” The woman caught her words on a sob. Sera unwound her arm from Jade’s and went to her. She held her arms out to embrace her aunt but the woman stepped back.

“I’m sick,” the aunt said.

“So is everyone.” Sera pulled her in a tight hug.

“Mum and Dad?” Sera asked, so quietly Jade could barely hear. The aunt shook her head and her eyes filled with tears.

“They were killed. Hung. Just after you left, in the town square. I’m so sorry, dear.”

Sera rested her head on her aunt’s shoulder, and Jade couldn’t see her reaction. She wouldn’t be surprised if Sera already knew, with that freaky sixth sense of hers, but hearing the words must have felt like a knife to the heart. Soft murmurs filled the room, getting louder by the second. Vise watched with a distant aloofness as some agreed to his plan right away, but some stewed with dissent. Sera pulled away from her aunt and stood up straight.

“We’ll help you,” she said, to a chorus of “no” or “we should talk about this.” Vise silenced them with a hand raised.

“The lab equipment is here and set up. It’s been provided for you before but you chose not to use it. Now that the incentive is higher, I assume you will get right to work.”

“We don’t need to.” A man stepped up from behind Sera’s aunt. He was gaunt, and the strain of raising his voice was evident.

“Excuse me?” Vise raised his brow.

“We don’t need to. She has the cure. It’s just a matter of isolating it.” Everyone turned to Sera. She reached for her aunt’s hand.

“All this time all I needed was you.” Vise stroked his chin. “Well, I’m sure you still have work to do, anyway. Make it quick.”

“Not so fast!” Anyon raised his voice. He’d circled around and slipped behind Sera. He whispered a few words to her and she dropped her aunt’s hand. Anyon took her forearm and pulled her a few spaces back, then wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled out the gun from the other. He pointed it at Sera.

“What are you doing!” Jade screamed. The words tumbled out before she could think of them. Anyon looked at her but she couldn’t read his eyes. Had he gone mad? Or was there a plan behind them?

“We have conditions,” Anyon said. Vise clapped his hands with delight.

“Conditions! I love it! Tell me, what are they?” His tongue lolled slightly out the left side of his mouth, making him look even crazier than she knew he was.

“Number one, you release everyone here when we’re done,” Anyon’s voice wavered.

“I’ll take that under consideration,” Vise said, rubbing his palms together. “But certainly that’s not all? After all, you went through so much trouble.”

“No,” he said. “Number two, you step down as the head of this community.” Vise smiled, but his eyes were unforgiving.

“And?”

“Number three. The cure belongs to all of us. To the world. You will not exploit it for profit or monetary gain.” Vise laughed. Raspy at first, then into a full on howl. Anyon let go of the safety on the gun and Jade screamed.

“I’ll do it!” Anyon shouted. “And you’ll have no cure!” Vise pulled himself together and stood up.

“Please. We all know you won’t, though that was entertaining as hell. Stand down.” He motioned his hand and a guard came up behind Jade. He put her in a similar headlock, but with much more force. She screamed, until the pressure in her throat cut her off.

“Jade!”

“Enough games, boy,” Vise said. “Slide over the gun. This room is surrounded.” Anyon’s resolve weakened. He looked at Jade, then lowered the gun. He put it on the floor and slid it over to the waiting guard.

“Good boy,” Vise said. He went to Sera and took her by the arm as the guard dropped Jade. Anyon rushed to Jade just as the guard dropped her. He caught her as she fell to her knees, gasping for air.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he supported her weight under his arm. Across the room, the guard handed Sera off to a man in a gray lab coat. More people filed in. Vise raised his voice over the commotion.

“Now, you will work with my scientists to isolate the cure from her blood, and you will not leave here until you do.”

“The conditions still stand,” Anyon said from his knees on the floor. “We won’t help unless they do.” Vise smiled condescendingly.

“Your conditions are bullshit. Of course you will help. Hurry now. Time is of the essence.” He turned and exited the room taking Lazarus with him.

For a minute no one knew what to do, not even Vise’s men. They shifted uncomfortably. Sera broke the silence.

“I suppose you should begin by taking some blood,” she said. She gestured to a corner where a cot and IV bag were set up. “I could use some juice and something to eat, I think.” Her aunt took her hand again.

“Are you sure, sweetheart?” Margaret asked.

“I have to. I have no choice.”

While her aunt led her to the cot, Jade and Anyon stood up on shaky legs. Anyon sank into a plastic chair and dropped his head in his hands. Jade knelt in front of him.

“I failed,” he said. She put one hand on his knee and reached up to touch his face. He turned his head and blinked away tears.

“How so?” she asked. “We’re alive, and we may have a cure.”

“At what cost?” he said and gestured to the room. “Look around. We’re prisoners here. The cure will go to a madman. We’re no better off!”

“Speak for yourself,” Jade said. “Yesterday I was locked in a room with no hope of escape. Last year I was in a survivor’s camp with an infection raging around us. Anyon, we have hope.” For a brief moment, she embraced the faith that Sera talked about. The darn girl had infected her with it after all. Anyon rubbed a hand over his tired face, then smiled at Jade.

“I’ve missed you,” he said, and pulled her onto his lap.

I’ve missed you, too, she wanted to say, but her lips were otherwise occupied.

Chapter 35

It was a grueling two days in the lab. The fluorescent overhead lights were always on and the scientists worked day and night, stealing naps on the cots when they could. Jade only guessed it was two days, but it could have been more or less. Time was irrelevant. Sera let them take so much blood that she was on the verge of passing out all the time. Jade provided her with food and drinks and insisted she rest, but there wasn’t much more she could do to help. As the time passed, a feeling of anticipation and excitement grew in the room, and Jade could see the scientists were onto something.

Nicky and the other members of the society were shuffled down to the lab with them. They gathered in groups and talked in furious whispers, but there was nothing for them to do. There was no way to break out, and they needed the cure as much as anyone. Mostly they stayed out of the way of the scientists, who worked feverishly. Aunt Margaret stayed by Sera’s side as much as she could, but she was called to work often. The door was guarded at all times. Supplies flowed in, food and clean clothes as well as scientific equipment that Jade had never seen before, but as for Vise himself, he stayed away.

“Why do you think he’s hiding?” Jade asked. She lay her head on Anyon’s shoulder. They were on a cot next to Sera, who dozed with an IV in her arm, a soft steady beep sounded every few seconds from the machines connected to her.

“Why not? He has what he wants,” Anyon said.

“We should talk about what we’re going to do once we have the cure. We’ll have leverage.”

Anyon laughed. He pulled Jade in and kissed her forehead softly. “Not much. What do you want to do, stuff it down your shirt and run?” He nodded to the guards at the door. “I guarantee there’s more where they came from. They’ll never let us out.”

“Aren’t you even going to try?” Jade shifted and sat up so abruptly that the cot nearly fell over. She wrapped her arms around her knees. She never said the things she’d wanted to say to him, the things that burned inside her the whole way from Cambridge. It was too hard now, and Anyon wasn’t big on displays of emotion. If she told him she loved him—well, she didn’t know what he would say.

“Whoa…” He steadied the cot, then pulled Jade back into his arms. “What’s your plan?”

“I don’t have one,” she admitted with a pout.

“Then we’re in the same boat. I don’t, either.”

“Sera would say to let it play out.” Jade glanced over her shoulder at Sera, dozing on the cot. “I’m worried about her.”

“I’ll be more worried after they’re done with her. She’s fine, for now.” Anyon wrapped their fingers together. Malachi hopped over a table and twisted a chair backward to straddle it in front of them.

“Any news?” Jade asked.

“Close, man. Real close. They’re experimenting now.”

“On who?”

“Themselves, of course.” He pointed his thumb behind him to a series of doors and windows in the far wall. They led to more glass-enclosed labs. It just looked like white coats and computers to Jade.

“They’re experimenting on themselves?” Her jaw dropped.

“What did you think they were going to do, cats and rabbits? Didn’t you hear our esteemed Presidente?” Malachi puffed his chest in imitation. “The hour is late! Anyway, the dude in room A, his viral rates are going down. That’s great news, for you non-science heads. They need to watch him a little longer then we’ll be good to go.”

“And then what?” Jade asked.

“Jade…” Anyon warned.

“It’s a good question, dude,” Malachi said to Anyon, who’d become the default leader of the rebels. A commotion at the far end of the lab interrupted them, and Sera woke up at the same time.

“What’s going on?” Sera asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Jade sat beside her while Anyon and Malachi went to check things out.

“I’m not sure,” Jade said. She took Sera’s hand. It was freezing. She rubbed it between her own. “How are you?” Sera tried to sit up but Jade put a hand on her shoulder and laid her back down.

“Tired,” Sera admitted. “Have they found the cure?”

“I don’t know.” Jade tried to listen to the discussion going on by the door between the guards and society members, which was becoming heated. Anyon, as always, was in the middle. He raised his hands in the air and stomped off back to them.

“The group in room A were removed.” He threw himself down on the cot next to Jade. “We’re not sure where or why. Those are the ones that were closest to the cure. Hey, Sera, how are you feeling?” He put his hand on the back of Jade’s neck, and she could feel the tension pulse through him. There was something he wasn’t saying.

“I’m fine,” Sera said. “What’s happening?”

“We’re not sure. They’ve isolated room A and the scientists who were working in it. I heard rumblings they’re bringing them to Vise.”

“They’ve found the cure! Anyon—” Sera sat up and grabbed his shirt. “We can’t let him have it, we have to get out of here! Now!”

“I know, I know. It’s okay.” One the other side of the room, Nicky waved his arm at Anyon.

“You have a plan, you sneaky bastard.” Jade punched his shoulder.

“It’s not much of one,” he admitted. “Remember our original plan?”

“Knock the guards over and run like hell?”

“That’s pretty much it.”

“I love you.” Jade leaned over and kissed him. The words came out before she could think about them, natural and easy, and Anyon couldn’t hide the smile on his face. Sera lay back on her cot.

“You better get moving on this plan,” Sera said before Anyon could reply.

“What happened to letting fate play out?” Jade asked.

“Sometimes you have to help fate along. Here, help me with this.” She began pulling the IV wires out. “I might have to get out quickly.”

“It might be sooner than you think,” Anyon stood. “There’s the sign.” Nicky held a hand up toward the door and Anyon popped up and ran toward the guards. On the way, several others, both scientists and society members, joined him.

“Well, how about that. He did have a plan,” Jade said.

“Did you ever doubt it?” Sera said. “Help me up, we need to go.”

A ruckus erupted by the door, and it was becoming intense when a hissing sounded from the air vents, and Vise’s voice came through the speakers as clearly as if he were standing in front of them. Everyone stopped to listen, some in half stride. A wheezy laugh echoed, but Vise’s voice was stronger than it was days ago. Sera was right, he was getting better and the hour was late.

“Bravo, my children, but did you think I wouldn’t notice your little plan?” He laughed again, then coughed. “Surely you see the steam billowing out the vents? It’s a sedative, along with a little something of my own making. An air delivery system of the infection. Guaranteed to work fast. In minutes you’ll all be walking zombies.” Panic rose inside the room and people pushed toward the doors. Jade slipped an arm around Sera and scanned the room for Anyon. He pushed against the crowd back toward them. Vise’s voice continued.

“But I like a game of cat and mouse as much as the next mad scientist, so here’s the deal. I retreat my guards and give you the chance to escape. Run off to the woods if you can make it, I won’t chase you. Or you can find me in the town square and join me. I offer you the cure if you’ll join my army. Know this, though. I’ll have the full weight of my military force behind me—who have all been offered the cure at my benevolence, so don’t try anything stupid. We will have weapons, and we will destroy you. Choose quickly, the gas should be settling in the room about now.”

He was right, the clouds from the vent circled the ceiling and drifted down. The room broke out into pandemonium. Anyon and Aunt Margaret fought through the crowd to help get her out.

“We have no time,” Anyon said when Jade tried to drag Sera with an arm around her. He picked her up as if she were as light as a feather.

“Hurry,” he said. He followed Nicky out the back door, the one opposite everyone else.

“Doesn’t this lead further into the building?” Jade asked.

“Exactly.” He met Nicky in the hallway and they slammed the door to the lab behind them. Anyon looked at the small group, about twenty of them had followed.

“If any one of you wants to turn back,” Anyon said. “Do it now.”

No one moved. A couple people mumbled they were with him, but they were scared. Margaret spoke up.

“We’ll help you.”

“All right.” Anyon nodded. “Let’s take the bastard down.” He held onto Sera and led them into the grim interior of the building, with no weapons but their faith. Still, Anyon didn’t hesitate or falter, and the group followed him into the darkness.

Chapter 36

Anyon led the group down the dark, silent corridors. They made slow progress, as Vise had cut the power and the only light came from emergency bulbs illuminating the floor in a dim blue. They ran into no resistance. The air vent had stopped hissing, but Jade didn’t kid herself that they were out of danger. If anything they were walking into a trap, but running wasn’t an option. Not after all they’d been through. No, they owed Nicky and his friends more than just their lives.

Sera gave directions, but it had been a long time since she’d been in these halls and her memory was still weak. They got lost a couple times and had to backtrack, but once they climbed two levels, the air cleared and the rooms brightened. They passed offices, open and abandoned. The shades were closed but Jade felt the chill of the outside air. Anyon stopped when they entered the deserted lobby. It was surrounded in tinted glass, distorting the shapes of people outside. There were a lot of them, Jade realized with a sinking heart. Anyon set Sera down on a chair in the corner.

“Are you okay?” he asked her. Sera was still pale and shaky, but she was wide awake. Malachi handed Anyon a piece of a chair leg he’d pulled off, but otherwise they were unarmed. Jade sat next to Sera and put an arm around her. Her skin was still cold.

“I’m okay,” Sera said. “Let’s go.” Jade got up and took Anyon’s hand. They crossed the lobby with Sera and Malachi behind them. He only dropped Jade’s hand to open the door outside, but first he lifted it to his lips.

“I love you too, Jade Andrews,” he said, and kissed her hand softly. She blinked a tear from her eye, and then he was gone. He was the first into the town square, and they all followed him until they were in the middle of the bricked promenade, surrounded by buildings and soldiers. Trapped. Soldiers closed around behind them so they made a small circle, cutting them off from any hope of escape. Their numbers were dwarfed by Vise’s soldiers. No one moved until there was a break in the soldiers’ ranks on the far side. The soldiers made room for Vise to come through, followed closely by his assistant, Zaria. Next to Jade, Nicky inexplicably smiled. Jade looked from Nicky to Vise, but she couldn’t find anything to smile about. They were trapped and about to die. Maybe Nicky really worked for the other side, or, more plausibly, he was losing it.

“Welcome,” Vise said to the ragtag group. “I see you’ve decided not to take my offer. Pity there’s so few of you, I thought we might have a real fight on our hands. It’s been so long.” He licked his lips, and Jade noticed his skin was taking on more color. He was healing.

“We will fight you with every last breath,” Anyon said. Brave Anyon. She wanted to tell him how proud she was of him and how much he meant to her, but it was too late. She only let a silent tear slip down her cheek for the future they lost.

“One last offer,” Vise held his hand up and the soldiers mounted their guns. “Join me.”

“We’ll never join you,” Sera responded for all of them. Jade saw her eyes flicker to the spot on the town square where the gallows still stood. The spot where her parents died.

“No?” Vise chuckled. “No one? Well, then…” As he lowered his hand to give the word, a single shot rang out and cut him off. It wasn’t the soldiers. They looked around in confusion, some lowering their guns, some raising them. Jade tried to follow the sound as another shot rang out and one of the soldiers went down, shot in the hip.

“There! Get them!” Vise pointed to the top of the hospital building, where more and more faces appeared, and more advanced on the ground. The soldiers were surrounded. Some of the new group were familiar, and some still wore their lab coats. Jade laughed. The others hadn’t left them; they’d regrouped and got weapons.

“Your plan?” Jade said out of the corner of her mouth to Anyon. He reached out and put a hand behind her neck. For a breathless minute she thought he was going to pull her in and kiss her, and nothing else mattered, not the shots or the shouting in the square, but then he pushed her head down.

“Duck,” he said. Chaos broke out all over the square. Shots rang out everywhere, Jade didn’t know who was shooting who. She crawled to Sera and they ran off under an eave of the hospital building. They had no weapons, so they could only watch it play out in front of them. She covered her ears when Vise’s voice came over the loudspeaker. He was standing on the gallows, oblivious to the chaos. His voice amplified above everything.

“This is the only bottle of the antidote!” He held up a vial of clear, pink liquid and shook it around. “Shoot me, and it goes. I’ve set the hospital up with explosives.” A collective gasp sounded when he took out his other hand, and a few people screamed. He held a small detonation device and flipped it open with his thumb. The courtyard quieted.

“Enough of these games,” he said, in a normal speaking voice. He didn’t need to raise it anymore. He had everyone’s attention. The factions had gone to their own sides. Anyon helped Jade stand up.

“We should run,” she whispered. “We’ll take Sera, there must be somewhere else.” Anyon’s eyes remained rooted on Vise. He stroked the back of her hand.

“Oh ye of little faith,” he said.

Vise turned and handed the vial to Zaria, the assistant. She saw Zaria nod almost imperceptibly and look at Nicky, who was in the corner under shadow. Nicky lifted his gun and aimed, and everything happened fast.

Vise went down at the same time she heard the crack of the shot. He called out and tightened his hold on the detonation device, but somehow it was in Zaria’s hand. Vise fell to the ground, bleeding onto the wooden gallows.

“Fools,” he spat out blood. Another shot rang out, Jade couldn’t see from where. It could have been from Nicky, or Anyon beside her, or anyone, but Vise was finally silent. He was dead at last.

There was silence on the square. Zaria had blood all over her but a huge smile. She held the vial in one hand, the detonator in the other. A lone figure crossed the square, walking first, then running to Zaria. Nicky took her in his arms in a giant hug. Then he pulled back and kissed her. She handed him the detonator.

“Oh,” Jade said and blushed. “The plan.” Anyon raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.

“The plan.”

“You could have told me!”

“There wasn’t time. We were figuring it out as we went, and you were busy with Sera.”

“You are brilliant.” She pulled him into a hug as she heard the first sounds of chaos from the square. People were muttering, the soldiers were at a loss of what to do without their leader.

“Hello?” Nicky’s voice came through the intercom with a high pitched squeal. “Sorry.” He held a tiny microphone between his two fingertips and moved it away from his face.

“I just want to say, um, that obviously things are going to change around here. We haven’t had a lot of time to decide how to go forward, but, um, we want there to be elections. A free process. Oh, and the antidote. Right away.” Mutters went through the crowd, and the occasional cheer.

“To the soldiers and supporters of President Vise, I’m sorry it had to come to this, but we are all equal now. Put down your weapons and join us in a new society. A free, healthy society.” Nicky’s voice strengthened as he spoke. Anyon began clapping, slow and strong, and people joined in. One by one, the soldiers put down their weapons. Only a couple of Vise’s stalwart supporters had to be subdued. A crowd started to gather around Nicky, and Anyon, Jade, Sera and Malachi joined them.

“I think, maybe, a meeting, in the square. Tomorrow? After we clean up.” He nudged Vise’s body with his foot. “Until then, um, let’s work on the antidote, shall we?”

Nicky had his foot right next to Vise’s arm, and at that moment the body twitched. Vise wasn’t dead, he shot up and pulled Nicky’s leg. Nicky stumbled and fell backwards into Zaria. She screamed. She still had the vial in her hand but the detonator went sailing.

“Shit,” Malachi said. Anyon pushed them to the far end of the square. Jade looked back. Everything depended on how it landed. She could see it clearly through the disorder, and it happened in slow motion. It landed on a corner. She could hear the clunk as it hit brick. The plastic cover popped open but the button wasn’t pushed. It was on the back bounce that the detonator fell flat on the red button.

“Get down,” Anyon cradled both Jade and Sera as they hid behind a cement piling. They heard the explosion and felt the heat. The hospital went up in flames.

* * *

It could have been thirty seconds or thirty years. Jade heard nothing, only a soft ringing in her ears. She wondered if she’d gone deaf, then she heard the screaming and smelled the smoke. The noises were soft at first, like they’d come through a tunnel. There were piles of debris on them. She shook her head and dug out. Sera was awake and crying, and Anyon was already helping the wounded. Malachi guided Sera to safety and then tended the wounded.

On Anyon’s orders they moved the wounded to the green beyond the pond. It was far enough away not to feel the heat from the dying flames. Everything that could burn already did. The fire burnt out quickly, leaving a huge crater. All the material for the cure had been destroyed.

Jade didn’t see Nicky, not at first. but rather felt him. She should have heard his sobs, but her hearing wasn’t quite right. She turned to where he was on the square. He’d been frantically digging and was wounded. Blood covered him from head to toe, she hardly recognized his face, but she knew what he felt. He pulled Zaria out of the rubble with a resounding cry and finally Jade could hear, but she didn’t want to. She tripped over piles of steaming rubble to help him.

It was bad, but Zaria wasn’t dead. Her breath came raspy and uneven, but she was still alive. Jade tried to get Nicky’s attention.

“The doctors are gathered on the green. You have to get her to them. Now!” Nicky’s eyes glazed over with tears as he looked around the ruins of the square, then to Zaria’s broken body.

“Nicky!” Jade shook him. Her hand came off with blood on it. He blinked and only just seemed to realize Jade was there. He was in shock, she knew, but she didn’t have time for it.

“The green.” She pointed. He looked down at Zaria and a fresh wave of grief washed over his face. Jade wondered how long they’d been together. She tried another approach and touched his shoulder gently.

“You have to get her to the doctors for her to have a chance.” He blinked again, nodded and steadied. He whispered something to Zaria as he picked her up. Zaria reached her hands around his neck with blind trust and Jade’s heart melted a bit. She hoped the girl wasn’t as injured as badly as she seemed. Zaria whispered something to Nicky and he took a step toward the green.

“Wait.” Jade touched Zaria’s arm and she winced. “Thank you.” Zaria nodded with a slight smile. Please, let her make it, Jade prayed. She couldn’t stand to see the heartbreak on Nicky’s face again. A coughing fit doubled her over and when she caught her breath, Jade realized something else.

The coughing was only the first sign of the infection. Even if she lived through the explosion, they had no cure. She was dead anyway.

Chapter 37

Anyon shook Jade back to reality. She was standing in the middle of the square, crying, vaguely aware that she was now in shock. She was wounded but she couldn’t isolate exactly where. There was so much blood, and then she was folded into Anyon’s arms and carried to the green. No, not to the green, past it. Someone shouted directions and they entered a tall building past the pond. Anyon cut through the lobby of an apartment complex and down a hallway. Doors were open on either side and people floated in and out, dirty and bleeding and some still in singed lab coats. Brenda met Anyon and led him to the last door on the right. He placed her gingerly on a flowered couch.

“This is where we’re regrouping,” Brenda said. She carried a small medical bag and rifled around in it. When she found what she was looking for, she quickly set up an IV bag and tried to jab Jade with a needle, but Jade fought her.

“This is the antidote Dr. Vise was using,” Brenda said. She clenched her teeth and jabbed the needle in. “It’s not very potent, but…”

“I know,” Jade said, giving up the fight and letting the antidote drip into her veins. “The cure is destroyed.” Jade teared up and looked at the floral pattern on the couch, some kind of rose and vines. But there were no thorns, and that wasn’t real. You can’t have the roses without the thorns, not even on a couch. Anyon had let go of her hand and she felt like she was floating.

“Anyon?” She started to panic. He was at her side in a second and took her hand, though he didn’t meet her eyes.

“You should have this too, the antidote,” Jade said. She tried to sit up but got a wicked headache. He shook his head sadly.

“Jade,” he knelt next to the couch, then opened his mouth and closed it twice. Jade wondered what could be so hard to say. “I was in the group with Sera when I was here. Group A. I didn’t know for sure until we got to the hospital and Brenda found my paperwork. There’s a reason I never got sick in the camps.”

“You’re immune?” She stared at him. “And Malachi?”

“Malachi too. He was in Vise's test group.”

“So I’m the only one?” Her voice rose an octave in hysteria. “I’m the only one who’ll get it, and I’ll die.”

“We’ll find the cure. We’ll do everything we can.”

“There’s not enough time,” Jade looked at Brenda, who fiddled with the IV and avoided looking at her. “You need labs, equipment. There’s not enough time!” She tried to take a deep breath but the fear took over.

“We will find the time,” he said. “I won’t let this happen.” Jade pushed him away and bent over to cough.

“What can I do?” he asked. He handed her a tissue and she wiped blood from her mouth. There was nothing he could do. They finally found each other, and now there was nothing. Her mind spun backwards to all the ‘could have’s’ and ‘should have’s,’ and she had the strongest memory of her childhood home and the happiness she’d felt there. She wanted to bring him. If it was the last thing she saw, the last place they went together, she wanted him to feel that happiness and safety that she’d once known.

“The ocean,” she said, and dried a tear on her sleeve.

“What about it?”

“I want to see the ocean again. Where I grew up, in Maine. It’s not far from here. I want to die there and be buried next to my parents. Take me there, Anyon. Take me home.” Anyon looked over her at Brenda, who shrugged. It didn’t matter, she knew. They could do nothing for her here and she wanted to see the tides again, to be reminded of the circle of life. She had no idea if her old house was even still standing, but she felt it calling.

“Yes.” Sera drifted in with Malachi behind her. She was dirty and bruised, but better off than Malachi, who had a long gash on his cheek. “Let’s go, let’s all four go.” Sera took Malachi and Anyon’s hands and made a semicircle around Jade.

“You can’t go,” Jade argued. “They need you here.”

“I’ll come back here,” Sera said. “With you, too. There’s something there that will heal you, Jade. I know it.”

“Oh, not this crap again.” Jade smiled, then coughed into her arm.

“I’m not taking no for an answer,” Sera said. She looked to her right. “Malachi?”

“Yeah, I guess. All for one and one for all, and all that, right?”

“Anyon?” Sera asked. Anyon’s eyes glistened with tears. He held her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

“I would go to the ends of the Earth,” he said softly.

“It’s settled, then.” It was different to have Sera in charge. She started to arrange things with Brenda and they went off to find anything that was left to collect samples of Sera’s blood. There was a small lab in Vise’s office with enough equipment to start. Hopefully enough equipment to isolate the cure and get started on it too, though Jade’s hopes weren’t high on that.

“Zaria?” Jade asked. She was feeling fuzzy from the medication.

“She’s in rough shape, but she’ll make it,” Anyon said. She scooted in and he sat beside her on the couch.

“Lazarus?”

“No one’s seen him. It’s possible he died in the explosion.”

“No. He escaped. He’s out there, somewhere.”

“Well, he’s none of our business right now, then. Get some rest. We’ll leave as soon as we can.”

* * *

It took a week for Jade to regain her strength and for them to get enough supplies. The trip to Maine wasn’t long, and they had vehicles this time. Nicky provided them, he had become the camp’s de facto leader until elections could be held, but he made it clear he expected them back by spring. Jade would be gone by then. The way things were progressing, she’d be lucky to see the New Year. This new mortality made her uneasy. She’d been living in the shadow of this disease forever, it had taken so many people she loved, and it was almost a fitting ending to her story. Almost, except for the fact that she wasn’t ready to go. Except for Anyon and the life they could have had. She only hoped the accelerated version of the infection spared her the mental disease, the zombie part, to put it in crude terms. She’d tried to make Anyon promise to end it if it came to that, but he refused. Of course, she would refuse too if their roles were reversed. Sera wouldn’t even consider it and Malachi stalked off.

They left the Valley the morning of the first snowfall. It was light and soft and sailed across the sky like the Valley was waving goodbye. The square had been cleaned and rebuilding had already begun. The camp would be in a good place by spring, when Anyon returned with Sera and Malachi. Jade harbored no illusions. She knew this was a one-way trip for her, despite what Sera said and the hope in Anyon’s eyes.

They snuck out of the Valley with little fanfare, following the snaking road back to the highway. Jade recalled their last trip in the back of a military truck, where she’d met Nicky, and thought of how much changed. The truck was quiet except for the hum of the engine and the heat vents. Jade studied everything they passed, wondering if it were the last time she’d see the Mad River bubbling over its edges, or the forest blanketed with white. The antidote hadn’t worked very well and she felt herself getting sicker. She rested on the car door and slept all the way to the coast.

PART FOUR – MAINE

Chapter 38

The course of the infection was well documented, so Jade knew she was failing. At least the antidote helped with the confusion and mental issues, but the tightness around her chest was more uncomfortable by the day until she was coughing up blood, and by mid-December fatigue had taken over and she could hardly get out of bed. She knew it wouldn’t be long.

The others did their best to keep her spirits up. They took turns sitting by her side and put on happy faces when they were with her, but she saw the tears they were quick to wipe away when they came into the room. She saw the looks between them, heard their hushed whispers that she wouldn’t make it much longer. Anyon didn’t want to leave her side, but she insisted on spending time with Sera and Malachi, mostly to give him a break.

“Look,” Sera said. She pulled the curtain back and let in light from the window. It had snowed the night before. The wood stove downstairs warmed the whole house, but Jade still shivered. She’d argued with them that the smoke would draw outsiders.

“Who, Jade?” Anyon had answered. “No one is left here.”

When they arrived she’d spent two days wandering the town and the neighborhood where she grew up to relive her old memories, both good and bad. She didn’t have the strength to go downtown and see the vacant shops, but she did pass houses she knew. Houses she’d played at, places she’d felt safe. Never did Before seem so real. It was almost as if there were a film between worlds and she could walk through it and be ten again, riding her bike in circles around the cul-de-sac, the neighbor’s little terrier barking at her from the edge of his yard.

Things weren’t even broken here. People just fled to bigger settlements, or died. Here and there they’d see evidence of a recent camp, and once Malachi had seen someone downtown, a lone drifter, but he ran off. Jade’s house was exactly the same. They’d thought to lock the door when they left the last time, as if her aunt thought someone might return someday, someone that belonged here. Anyon had picked the lock to get in.

She chose her parents’ room to sleep, holding their framed wedding picture as she thought about how much they’d lost already and how much she still had to lose. She spent a whole day crying about it. Anyon held her, and he finally opened up about his own family, his own losses. It took so long to get past the shell he’d built around himself, and Jade wondered if his parents or sibling were still alive, but he’d given up hope long ago. It was time to start over, and she cursed that she had to die now, now that they’d finally found each other.

Jade struggled to sit up and look outside the window. It hurt now. To sit up, to move, to breathe. She tried not to complain too much. It surely hurt Anyon more to watch her. They’d learned how to set up an IV and gave her pain medicine and the antidote almost constantly, though it didn’t help much. The clear liquid dripped into her arm with a calm steadiness. It made her tired just to exist, and sometimes she closed her eyes and forgot who and where she was.

It was dusk when she heard an unfamiliar noise outside. She opened her eyes and struggled to sit. Sera had thrown the curtains wide open. The sunset reflected on the fresh snowfall and Jade winced from the brightness. Everything outside was covered, like someone had laid a white blanket over the world while she’d slept. She couldn’t even see her old swing set under the mound of snow. The humming grew louder.

“Who?” Jade struggled with her voice and lifted her arm as far as she could to point. The movement gave her a headache and an awful bout of nausea, (not that there was anything left to throw up, but she’d learned a few weeks ago that didn’t matter). Sera sat on the end of her bed and took her hand. Jade had lost so much weight her hands looked like a skeleton’s.

“What is it?” Sera asked.

“No, no!” Jade fought her body. “Who?” She pointed to the window. Sera looked at her with a combination of sadness and puzzlement.

“No one, sweetie. No one is there.” Jade shook her head yes, then Sera realized there was a new noise outside. It was an engine. She got up and grabbed the curtains to close them as a plow pulled in front of the house and a figure jumped out the passenger door.

“I think you should rest.” Sera pulled the curtains closed with a jerk as two loud knocks sounded at the front door. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

As if Jade could go if she wanted to. And she wanted to. She was afraid she’d hear gunshots, but the voices that drifted upstairs were surprised, then happy. She rested her head back and cursed her weakness. Who could be there? Footsteps ran up the stairs and then several people came in at once.

Anyon first, with an IV bag in his hand. He looked happier than she’d seen him in a long time, his face flushed with excitement. He switched out the bag at her side, even though it wasn’t finished, then sat next to her on the bed. Others were behind him but she couldn’t focus on them. She reached up and Anyon kissed her fingers.

“What?” she asked.

“The cure.” He smiled. She looked over his shoulder. Malachi stood behind Sera in the doorway, with the same stupid grin as Anyon. Next to Sera was a woman in a dark winter coat. She hadn’t even taken it off yet, only pulled down the hood. Snow was still melting in her curly hair, white on auburn. It was Aunt Margaret.

“Oh, Jade!” Sera came and sat at her other side. “They were able to recreate the experiments in Vise’s personal lab and they have the cure.” She took Jade’s hand and squeezed it. “The cure! For the whole thing! Just hold on, and rest.”

“It’s actually a regiment of meds, not just the first one,” Aunt Margaret said. She wrung her hands in the doorway. “But a lot will depend on how you react to this one. Oh, I hope we’re not too late.”

“Hush, Auntie,” Sera said. “You got here just in time.” The room started to spin.

“Dizzy,” Jade said. She put a hand to her forehead. Aunt Margaret let out a sigh.

“That’s a good sign.”

“Why don’t you get Margaret settled, at least take your jacket off. I’ll stay with her.” Anyon sat by her other side and took control. His presence steadied the dizzying. For once no one argued with him. It was the last thing Jade heard before the darkness crept in again.

Chapter 39

They stayed on the coast for two weeks and Jade grew stronger every day. Anyon wanted to wait the winter out, but Jade insisted they needed Sera at the lab. They had just begun the process for synthesizing the cure, but they would need Sera to make more.

“Let her go, then,” Anyon argued. They sat across from each other at the kitchen table. Jade traced the side of it, where she’d carved her name with a butter knife in her previous life. “I’ll stay here with you until the spring, until you’re strong enough to make the trip. Or maybe forever? Maybe we can just make a life here?”

He babied her, and the last couple weeks had been a blessing, but it was time to let go. She dropped her hand from the table and looked around. This place was part of her old life, but Anyon was her future. She couldn’t move on if they stayed here, and even with Anyon it would be lonely. In the Valley they would be part of something, part of a community, part of rebuilding, part of a new family.

“No,” she said. Her voice was still soft but strengthening. “We should go. I’m okay. I can make it.” They’d had a warm couple weeks and much of the snow had melted. Malachi was convinced they could make the drive.

“But this place is your home…” Anyon gestured around to the family portrait over the fireplace.

“No, my home is with you now.”

“I’ll stay.”

“Anyon, we’re part of this. Don’t you see? We’re part of the cure and the world,” she paused. “And this family.” Sera came in and hugged her from behind.

“And don’t you forget it,” Sera said. Anyon looked like he was getting ready to argue.

“If I feel sick we can stop, I promise. There are places we can rest along the way. But Anyon, I can do it, I know I can. I want to go home.” Anyon looked up to Margaret, who had become Jade’s de facto doctor.

“Can she?” he asked. “Can she travel safely?”

“I’m not a package for delivery,” Jade joked. It was nice to be able to take a deep breath without coughing.

“I think so,” Margaret said. “Look how much stronger she’s gotten in only a couple weeks. I still can’t believe it.”

“You took such a chance coming here. Thank you,” Jade said.

“You’ve taken plenty of chances, too. Without you four we never would have the cure at all,” Margaret said. “I should go and get things ready. If the weather is clear we can leave tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Jade said again.

That night she went from room to room saying goodbye to the memories and ghosts inside them. She was thankful for the chance to return, but it was clear she didn’t belong here anymore. She spent the night with Anyon and he reminded her of all the things she had to look forward to every day. Before she fell asleep in his arms, they talked about starting a new life in the Valley. In the morning, as everyone gathered supplies, Jade went through and closed every door. She took a few photos and mementos, and as she closed the front door behind her, she whispered good-bye to the ghosts she left behind. And she locked the door behind her. Just in case.

THE END

Acknowledgements

I owe a world of thanks to so many people for making this book possible.

Much credit goes to the Norfolk Writer’s group, and Margo Ball in particular, for their honest, sincere, and helpful feedback.  Every writer should be so lucky.  I’m thankful to Jeff and Megan Belanger for a little workshop at the Bellingham library years ago that lit a spark.  Thanks to Mark Seagrave for making me go, and for encouraging and sharing the same artistic pursuits, not to mention genes.

Many thanks to a great group of friends and early readers, without whose encouragement I might have folded and gone home.  Shannon and Amy Clement for their advice and friendship. Lynn Scornavacca, who saw promise even in early drafts.  Kathy, Joey, and Patrick Randazzo for being my cheering team and putting me on their school reading log.  My cousin Chris Jenkins for her insightful edits and for always having a positive word.  My fellow August mom’s and writers, especially Melissa Kerfoot, who is always willing to help with an edit or bounce an idea off.

Everyone at Limitless Publishing has been amazing, and I owe them a huge debt of gratitude for taking a chance on a new author and for putting up with a never ending stream of questions.  Thanks to Jennifer O’Neill, Jessica Gunhammer, Dixie Matthews, Jen Snowden, and everyone else at Limitless, not to mention all the amazing Limitless authors that I’ve connected with.  Special thanks to Toni Rakestraw for a great editing job, too.

Lastly, to my friends and family for giving me the space and time I needed to chase my dream. To Craig, Erin, Lily and Danny for being my source of inspiration, and to a world full of surprises and magic.

About the Author

Amy Bartelloni is a reader, writer, & coffee addict who lives with her husband, 3 children, and various animals in the northeast US.  When she's not playing mom-taxi, you can find her with her nose in a book or her head in the clouds.  A people watcher and science fiction junkie, she still believes dreams can come true.  Some of her favorite authors include Neil Gaiman, Jasper Fforde, Paulo Coelho, and Stephen King.

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