“It’s too low for a good watchtower,” said Jayden. “It’s just a small government building, maybe three stories at the most.”
“A Partial camp, then,” said Haru, “like Kira said. A patrol or something, stopped for the day.”
“It doesn’t have to be Partials,” said Kira. “It might just be some weird old coot who didn’t want to leave his home.”
“There’s no way anyone untrained could have made it this far without setting off an explosive,” said Haru. “We should check it out; if it’s Partials, we can set up an ambush and save days off our trip.”
“And if it’s just a refugee, we risk exposing ourselves unnecessarily,” said Jayden. “Anyone crazy enough to survive out here is also paranoid enough to know we’re coming, and to shoot first.”
“You’re the one being paranoid,” said Haru.
“You’re damn right I am,” said Jayden. “If ‘crazy hermit with a gun’ doesn’t scare you, how about ‘Partial trap’? They might be setting this up just to lure us in and catch us.”
“They don’t even know we’re here.”
“We’ll stay alive longer if we assume that they do,” said Jayden. “I don’t want to get near it.”
“Noted and overridden,” said Haru. “We go toward the smoke—but we’ll go carefully. When we hit those three buildings Kira pointed out, we’ll climb one for another look, and we’ll send Nick and Steve around the sides to look for anything out of the ordinary.”
“You’re not in charge,” said Jayden. “You’re not even real military anymore.”
“That’s my wife and child back there dying,” said Haru. “You can try to take command away from me, but I’m not going to make it easy.”
“That’s not how it works, Haru.”
“The scouts are on my side,” Haru hissed. Skinny and Scruffy shifted slightly, as if subtly reminding the others of their presence. “What do you have, a couple of girls? We’re going to the smoke.”
In a heartbeat the room turned cold and still, each person looking at the others, gauging their distance, watching their hands.
Jayden gritted his teeth, visibly swallowing his pride. “We’ll have to use the radios to coordinate,” he said. The tension in the room eased. “Channel thirty-five, with no real locations in case the Partials are listening in. We’ll call the target building Holly, and the three towers next to it Max; Partials are Fred and humans are Ethel, assuming they’re wearing uniforms we can use to identify them. Anyone we can’t identify is Lucy.”
Jayden sketched out a quick map of the city, marking the smoke and any other landmarks he could find. The trip back down the stairs was tense, but nothing happened. Haru explained the plan to Gabe, and they set off through the city, climbing frequently on top of cars to get a clear view over the saplings that filled the street. Kira noted key buildings as they passed them, and stopped in surprise when she saw a lean black horse nibbling grass from a gutter. The horse looked back at her, whickered primly, and turned and trotted away down a side street. Yoon watched it go with almost wistful appreciation.
“You like horses?” asked Kira.
Yoon nodded. “Horses, dogs, cats, you name it. I had a pet penguin for years before I joined the Defense Grid.”
“Why’d you join?” Kira asked. “Why not become a vet or a rancher or whatever?”
“Because my mom was a soldier,” said Yoon, shrugging. “At least I’m pretty sure she was. I remember she had a uniform—navy, I think. It was blue. I have a picture somewhere.” She paused a moment, then leaned in closely and whispered, “Keep your eyes open. We all knew Haru was a blowhole, but I never thought he’d challenge Jayden like that. And Nick and Steve are his guys, not ours.”
“What about when we split up?” Kira whispered. “That will change the power structure.”
“Nick and Steve are a lot more dangerous when you can’t see them,” said Yoon. “Them leaving isn’t going to set my mind at ease.”
Kira watched Haru like a hawk all afternoon, but nothing happened. They reached the three apartment buildings—actually five, now that they had a better angle to see them—and Skinny and Scruffy split off on their flanking missions. Haru led the others to the northern building, and they picked their way carefully through the lobby and up the stairs. The building smelled strongly of rot, both plant and animal, and Kira pulled on her face mask to blot out the stench. They reached the top floor and quietly popped the lock on an apartment door. The family was still inside, leathery skin stretched tightly over old, dry skeletons. A swarm of rats scurried back into the walls, leaving a dead sparrow half-eaten on the floor. Jayden kicked it away and crept to the window.
The smoke was clearer now, a mere half mile away, rising up in a single windless pillar from a chimney in a small brick house. Jayden and Haru and Yoon all pulled out binoculars, and Gabe set up a watch in the hall behind them. Kira looked out the window—hundreds of houses and buildings, thousands of tiny black windows staring back like blind eyes. One of those eyes was looking for them—had it already seen them? Would they see it first? Which group of soldiers with binoculars would find the other, and what would happen then?
They watched and waited. A pair of rats crept out from the wall and pulled their sparrow under the couch. Kira grew restless and explored the apartment: one skeleton on the living room couch, one on the kitchen floor, two in the back bedroom. Their arms were draped over each other in a final embrace. Kira closed the door gently and walked back to the living room.
A radio crackled quietly. “Timmy calling Jimmy.” The voice was distorted enough by static that Kira couldn’t tell if it was Skinny or Scruffy.
Haru put his radio to his mouth. “This is Jimmy. Sitrep.”
“I’ve got eyes on Holly, and I don’t see anything. You want me to get closer?”
“Negative, Timmy. Maintain your position.”
“Copy,” said the voice on the radio. “No sign of Fred or Ethel, but Holly does appear to be inhabited: paths to the doorway, that kind of thing. Whoever’s there has been there for a while.”
“Copy, Timmy. Let me know if anything changes.” Haru set down the radio and rubbed his eyes. “We’d better see something soon. I really don’t want to sleep in this apartment.”
Kira opened the cupboards, looking for canned food. She’d worked enough salvage runs that the habit was ingrained. “Jimmy and Timmy, huh? You guys have the manliest call signs ever.”
“That’s nothing,” said Haru. “The other one is Kimmy.”
As if on cue, the radio crackled softly. Kira pulled a trio of canned vegetables down from a cupboard over the fridge, and Haru picked up the phone.
“Kimmy calling Jimmy.”
“This is Jimmy. Sitrep.”
“The report from Timmy was false, repeat false. Fred is at Holly, I have them in my sights right now. Timmy is compromised.”
“Radio silence,” said Haru immediately, and set down the radio. “Bloody hell.”
Jayden turned from the window, his brow furrowed in sudden worry. “That’s not good.”
Haru hit the table. “We do not have time for this!” He hit the table again.
Kira frowned. “They got . . . Timmy? Which one is he?”
“Steve,” said Yoon.
“Skinny or Scruffy?”
Yoon hesitated a moment. “Skinny.”
Kira