g to the basement behind it. I dropped down each step as a blind man treks down a steep hill. When we finally reached the basement I saw that he had set a small fire on the cement floor

e. When I turned back to him, it was as if I'd been sl

s! Yo

top the b

t hanging off his limp body. He had been shot twice in h

when she came into the light. She was thinner than anyone I'd seen before. She gingerly took the straps in her hand and drag

other people?

tch up to them, " he said grinding h

we do?"

rished, we have to g

ywhere. Not for at l

Hamilton will stitch me up. We have to convince the others to come back here with us. If we can push these f

hey're not here now but they're

we can go, it's safe

some of them can't run, " her

d, turning her attention to the pool of blood on the floor. "You're the one who tried to save Devin,

ave him a really good buria

k that matter

"They'll come if they see them." He leaned back against t

ur names?" I

boy. He looked about nine. The skin over his co

Ann

aid. "Is Annie sh

stas

" I said. "Are

st caught by th

ould see Camden's eyes grow wide, even in the dark, even from

it, "

it's y

t. I could see she was surprised by the weight of it. "Eat it slow

at the smell of it. She held it out for Camden

" Tom said when

more than me,

n sta

I said. He gave me

s soon as it'

wil

crimson crumbs and eventually it went out altogether. I sat in t

no patrolling bad guys, nothing. The children slept on the floor, I watched them for a minute, the realization slowly set in that if not for To

o wake me, " he said

down and looked at the bandages. The bleeding h

ea

re we go, I'll

just doing this out of the goodness of my heart." I sat back

ho

uess she's a

er?" I asked

with. We got separated during a fight, then the

re lookin

am I supp

s her

cto

ost track of each other?" he thou

ou must have been about

ind us, the childr

leavin

eat first,

uggling to stand. "We have to go now. The

trong enough,

around his good shoulder and reached inside. He found a colt .45 and pulled it out. "You take that, " he said handing it to me. He re

" I said, not w

back of his pants. I picked up the heavy backpack on the floor and put it on. Tom tucked his wounded arm into his jacket

, the cold air hit me and I began

door. "Take the kids across the street, then I'll cross an

d carry the du

then left. "It's clear, " he said without turning back to me. He slowly opened the

silent street. I hadn't realized it yet, but that was the first time I had thought of someone else before myself. We rea

ut and echoed in the wind, like the sound of a branch collapsing in the forest. Tom's head

mewhere to the east. Then the clicking sound of a rifle's b

ng its way along the asphalt like a red liquid snake slithering toward us. I could

*

O

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