Jayden jumped down from the wagon. If I knew that, I would have picked it up myself when I was here two days ago. Grunts tagged meds and an X-ray machine; go do your thing.
Marcus hopped down to the street, and both he and Jayden held up a hand to help Kira. In a fit of mischief she took both hands, and smiled inwardly as they helped her down with sullen scowls.
Sparks, Brown, you go in first, Jayden barked, and half the soldiers began to pour out of the truck, hauling one of the generators with them. Patterson, you and your team secure the area, keep it secure, and escort the medics to the next site. It looks like someones been through here since yesterday, and I dont want any surprises.
Someones been here? asked Kira. How can you tell?
Eyes and brains and a shiny new haircut, said Jayden. Its probably just a pack rat, but Im not taking chances on the effing North Shore. If you find something good in there, honey-bunnies, prep it for transport and well pick it up on our way back. Im taking my team north to site threePatterson, I want blips every fifteen minutes. He climbed into the back of the wagon and called out to the driver, Lets move.
The wagon lurched into motion and headed north. Kira slung her medkit over her shoulder and looked around; Asharoken was buried in kudzu, like most of these little cities, but the Long Island Sound was lapping gently at the shore, and the sky was clear and calm. Pretty town.
Eyes up, said Patterson. The other soldiers fanned out, slowly building a perimeter around the clinic while Sparks and Brown approached the broken building with assault rifles raised to their eye line. Kira was fascinated by the way they moved, their entire bodies turning and raising and lowering to keep that eye line as solid as a rockit almost looked like the gun was on invisible rails, while the soldier moved freely around it. The front wall of the clinic had been mostly glass, now shattered and overgrown with kudzu, but a central pillar of concrete had been marked with the bright orange glyph of a salvage crew. Kira had done enough runs to recognize most of the glyphs, but this was the one she knew best: partially catalogued, return with medics. Sparks and Brown covered each other seamlessly as they entered, picking their way through the rubble and vegetation. Patterson climbed carefully to the roof, keeping to the edges where the footing was firm, and kept watch from elevation.
While they secured the building, Kira and Marcus tested out the generator. It was a heavy frame with two wheels on one end; the bottom held a massive battery and a hand crank, while the top held a small solar panel and coil after coil of cords and plugs. Medics came on every salvage run to keep the workers safe, but when the grunts tagged a piece of medical equipment, they brought these generators so the medics could plug it in, test it, and see if it was worth bringing back. The island was cluttered enough as it was, there was no sense filling East Meadow with salvaged junk they couldnt even use.
The street was full of parked cars, the paint rusted, the tires flat, and the windows broken by years of neglect and exposure to the elements. One of them held a skeleton, grinning horribly in the drivers seatan RM victim whod tried to go somewhere, tried to drive away from the end of the world. Kira wondered where hed been trying to go. He hadnt made it out of his driveway.
A full two minutes later, Brown opened the door again and waved them in. All clear, but watch your step. Looks like some wild dogs are using this place as a den.
Marcus smirked. Loyal little fellas. Must have really loved their vet.
Kira nodded. Lets fire it up.
Marcus tilted the generator back on its wheels and slowly walked it in, but Kira noticed Brown had pulled up his mask, and she paused to prep her own: a folded cloth bandanna that she dabbed with five tiny drops of menthol. Any bodies left behind would have rotted years ago, like the skeleton in the car, but a pack of dogs would have brought in more carrion of their own, not to mention musk and urine and feces and who knew what else. Kira tied the bandanna around her nose and mouth, and walked in to see Marcus gagging and searching his pockets for his own mask.
You should pay better attention, she said smoothly, walking past him to the back room. All I smell is the brisk scent of mint.
The med room was well stocked and didnt look like it had been hit yetthough someone had obviously been rifling through it recently, leaving prints and scuffs in the thick layer of dust. Probably the grunts, she thought, though Ive never seen a grunt run actually sort through the meds before.
Kira started organizing the counter space, designating one area to keep and one to destroy. Salvage training was the first thing the interns learned: which meds could last, and for how long, and which were too far gone to be safe. Bringing expired medication back to East Meadow was even worse than bringing back broken machines, not because they took up space but because they were dangerous. The medics were the caretakers of the entire human race; the last thing they needed was for someone to take the wrong pillsor worse yet, for a vast stockpile of discarded medication to get into the water table. It was safer and easier to sort it out here; theyd even learned how to deal with animal meds, for exactly this kind of scenarioa dog antibiotic was still, at the end of the day, an antibiotic, and without extensive manufacturing facilities, the islanders had to take what they could get. Kira was already sorting the cupboards efficiently when Marcus staggered in, his mask finally in place.
This place smells like a crypt.
It is a crypt.
And the animals are not the worst part, he said, though I swear there must be a whole dog civilization in here to have this kind of stink. He opened another cupboard and started tossing medicines into Kiras piles, knowing exactly which was which without even looking. No, he said, the worst part is the dust. Whatever else we collect from this place, Im taking a pound of it home in my lungs.
It will build character, said Kira, laughing as she tried to impersonate Nurse Hardy. Ive been on nine million-billion salvage runs, intern, and you just have to learn to deal with it. Breathing corpse dust is good for youit activates the kidneys.
Salvage isnt just good for you, said Marcus, launching into a dead-on impersonation of Senator Hobb, its essential for the very survival of all mankind. Think of the part youll play in the glorious new page of history!
Kira laughed out loudHobb was always talking about the new page of history. Like all they had to do was keep writing, and the book would never end.
Future generations will look back with awe at the giants who saved our race, continued Marcus, who threw down the Partials and cured RM once and for all. Who saved the lives of countless infants, and . . . His rant died off, the room feeling suddenly uncomfortable, and they worked in silence. After a while Marcus spoke again.
I think theyre getting more nervous than they let on, he said. He paused. They didnt mention it in the meeting, but they really are talking about lowering the pregnancy age again.
Kira stopped, her hand in the air, and shot him a quick look. Youre serious?
Marcus nodded. I saw Isolde on my way home to change. She says theres a new movement in the Senate pushing for statistics over studythey say we dont need to look for a cure, we just need to have enough children to hit the immunity percentage.
Kira turned to face him. Weve already hit the immunity percentage. point-oh-four percent means one out of every twenty-five hundred kids will be immune, and weve passed that twice now.
I know its stupid, said Marcus, but even the doctors are getting behind itmore babies helps them either way. More opportunities to study.
Kira turned back to her cupboard. Another drop would take it to seventeen. Isolde is seventeenwhats she going to do? Shes not ready to be pregnant.
Theyll find a donor
This isnt a dating service, said Kira harshly, cutting him off, its a breeding program. For all we know, they put fertility drugs in the water supplyin fact, I wouldnt be surprised if they did. She took the boxes from the cupboard angrily, slamming them down in the keep pile or throwing them full force in the trash. Forget love, forget freedom, forget choice, just get yourself knocked up and save the damn world already.
Its not seventeen, said Marcus softly. He paused, staring at the wall, and Kira felt her stomach twist into a knot as she anticipated what he was going to say. Isolde says theres a referendum in the Senate to drop the pregnancy age to sixteen.
Kira froze, too sick to speak. The pregnancy age wasnt a restriction, it was a rule: All women of a certain age were required, by law, to get pregnant as soon as possible, and to be pregnant as frequently as possible.
Ive known this was coming for two years, Kira thought, ever since they enacted the thing. Two years to prepare myself, to psych myself up, but stillI thought I had two more. They keep dropping it. Theres no way Im ready for this.
Its stupid, said Marcus. Its stupid and unfair and I knowI can only imagine how it feels. I think its a terrible idea, and I hope it dies as quickly as possible.
Thank you.
But what if it doesnt?
Kira coughed, squeezing her eyes shut. Dont start this now, Marcus.
Im just saying that we should . . . think about it, he said quickly, if the law goes into effect. If you dont make your own choice, theyll just
I said not right now, said Kira. This is not the time, this is not the place, this is not anything approaching the circumstances in which I want to have this conversation.
Im not just talking about sex, said Marcus. Im talking about marriage. He took a step toward her, paused, and looked at the ceiling. Weve been planning this since we were thirteen, Kirawe were going to intern together, work at the hospital together, and get marriedthis was your plan too
Well, its not my plan anymore, she said quickly. Im not ready to make these kinds of choices, okay? Im not ready now, I sure as hell wasnt ready at thirteen. She turned to the cupboard, swore softly, and turned again to the door, walking out. I need some air.
Outside she pulled off her mask, sucking in long, deep breaths. The worst part is, I can totally see their point.
The trees to the north lit up suddenly with a brilliant orange, followed a second later by a deafening roar. Kira felt the shock wave pass through her, twisting her gut. Shed barely had time to process the sight and sound of the explosion when her hearing returned and she heard the soldiers shouting.
Private Brown rushed toward Kira, grabbing her in a full tackle and dropping her to the ground beside a parked car. Stay down!
Whats going on?
Just stay down! Brown pulled out his radio and thumbed the call button. Sergeant, this is Shaylon. Are you taking fire, over!
The radio crackled; nothing but white noise.
Someones shooting at us? asked Kira.
If I knew that, I wouldnt be asking Jayden, said Brown, and thumbed the radio again. Sergeant, do you read? Whats your situation?
The radio buzzed emptily, Kira and Brown staring at it desperatelyan explosion could be an accident, or the Voice, or even Partials, for all they knew. Was this an attack? An invasion? The radio said nothing; then abruptly Jaydens voice tore out of it in a ragged burst of static.
Site three was rigged to blow! Five men trapped insideget the medics up here ASAP!
Brown whirled toward the clinic, rising to his feet in one smooth motion. Casualties at site three! Kira started running before he even turned backshe could see the smoke rising up from the site, not more than a mile down the road. Brown fell into step behind her, his rifle held tightly in front as he pelted full speed down the road. Kira felt for her medical bag, whispered a silent thank-you to whatever had kept it on her shoulder, and lowered her head for a sprint. Brown barely kept up with her.
She saw Jayden first, standing on the cab of an overgrown truck with a pair of binoculars, scanning the full circle of the horizon. Next was the wagon, the left front wheel blown off and at least two of the horses down, the others whinnying in terror. Last of all she saw the buildinga smoking ruin between two other structures, like a tower of wooden blocks thrown down by an angry child. One of the soldiers was dragging another by the hands, pulling him clear of the wreckage. Kira dropped next to the fallen man, one hand on his wrist to check his pulse while the other probed his chest and neck for injuries.
Im fine, the soldier coughed. Get the civvies.
Kira nodded and sprang back to her feet, staring at the shattered house in shockwhere should she even start? She grabbed the standing soldier and pulled him away from the fallen one.
Where are the others?
The basement, he said, pointing down. This corner.
Then help me get in there.
The building was two stories talltheyre completely buried.
Then help me get in there, she insisted again, pulling him toward the house. Kira was already picking her way through the rubble when Marcus arrived, still out of breath.
Holy . . . crap.
Kira delved deeper into the ruin. Mr. Turner! she called. Ms. Cantrell! Can either of you hear me? She and the soldier froze, listening, and Kira pointed to the floor on her left. Down there.
They knelt down, flipping aside a wide piece of ruined flooring. She paused, and heard it againa faint flutter, like a gasp or a muffled cough. She pointed at a section of brick and the soldier helped her move it, handing up bricks to Marcus and Sparks and the other soldiers, all scrabbling at the wreckage to clear it away. Kira shouted again and heard a feeble answer.
Right here, said a voice. Kira recognized the feminine timbre, knew it was Gianna, and hefted up a piece of fallen furniture. The soldiers pulled it up and out of the hole, and underneath, Gianna grunted in pain. Thank the gods.
Kira slithered farther into the hole to help her. Are you still pinned?
I dont think so, said Gianna. Kira grabbed her hand firmly, bracing herself on another section of overturned floor. She lost her grip, slid down, and felt a strong hand grab hers from behind.
Ive got you, said Kira, and theyve got me. Keep coming. Slowly Gianna pulled herself free of the broken wood and bricks, and Kira hauled her up inch by inch. When Gianna was high enough, the strong hand on Kiras pulled them both to the top of the pile, and Kira turned to see Jayden straining with the effort.