LITMIR.BIZ

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firing?”

      “That wasn’t toward us,” said Xochi. “Somebody’s beat us to the Partial’s room.”

      “The other stairwell,” said Kira, and threw open the door. Halfway down the corridor the soldiers were crouched low, facing the other direction, guns trained on the far end of the hall. She gasped: Haru was there, and Jayden, and three other armed rioters, though Kira couldn’t tell who was with who. She dropped to the floor and brought her pistol forward, though at this range it would barely do anything.

      “Behind us!” shouted one of the soldiers, turning toward Kira, and in that instant one of the rioters landed a lucky shot on the man’s shoulder. The soldier cried out and fell prone, and Haru swung his rifle around and shot the rioter. The lone remaining soldier pressed himself even farther into the doorway.

      “We’re surrounded!” he shouted, thumbing his radio. “We need backup on the fourth floor ASAP!”

      “They’re going to kill Samm,” Kira growled, racing forward. “Haru! Jayden!”

      The second soldier was down, and at least one of the rioters lay sprawled on the floor several yards behind the rest. The group swung up their rifles, but Haru and Jayden recognized Kira and ordered everyone to lower them again.

      “Kira,” said Haru, “can’t say it’s a surprise to see you here.” He checked his chamber and racked the slide, pointing back the way they had come. “Barricade those doors. Most of the mob hasn’t figured out he’s up here yet, but they’re going to eventually.”

      “We’re not here to guard him,” said Kira. “We’re here to break him out.”

      Haru stared, then laughed and shook his head. “Are you serious? Are you crazy? We brought that thing here so we could interrogate and dissect it, and now you want to make a deal with it? I was with you before, Kira, but this has gone too far.” He pointed his rifle at her chest. Xochi and Marcus pointed their guns at him, and Jayden and the other three pointed their guns back. Kira stood in the middle, breathing slowly, trying desperately to stay calm. Her head swam with the morphine.

      “Samm is innocent,” said Kira. “The group we met on the island was coming to East Meadow to offer us a truce. Peace, Haru.”

      “How do you know this?”

      “He told us.”

      Haru looked around, as if to ask if he was the only one who hadn’t lost his mind.

      “It’s true,” said Marcus.

      “He tried to kill us,” said Haru, turning his gun on Marcus. “They took our scout, shot Gabe in the face, and chased us off the island with a squad full of rifles, and all of a sudden that means they wanted peace? That’s not the kind of peace I want any part of.”

      “He’s an ally,” Kira insisted. “He can help us rebuild.”

      Haru shook his head, as if the world had gone mad. “Damn plague babies—do you have any idea what we lost the last time we trusted the Partials?” He gestured angrily toward the city. “Every one of the houses out there used to be filled. Every building was still standing—every school was full of children. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the population died, Kira: If that happened again, we’d have two people left. Two, on the entire island. We will never rebuild anything.”

      “They’re dying,” Kira insisted, “just like we are. If we work together, we can save us both—”

      “I don’t want to save us both!” Haru shouted. “I want to save my child and murder every Partial on Earth!”

      “Saving your child is why we’re here!” Kira said, raising her voice. “You can guard him all night if you want but the Senate is going to kill him in the morning, and we don’t have a cure yet. If I go with him, we can find one.”

      Haru stared at her, rage and confusion warring in his eyes. “I’m not letting you take it.”

      “She named her, Haru.” Kira felt her voice crack and forced herself to stay firm. “Your baby has a name: Arwen Sato. Your daughter is Arwen Sato.” She glanced at Jayden. “Your niece is Arwen Sato.” She looked back at Haru, drilling into him with her eyes. “We can save her.”

      “Not in time,” said Haru. His eyes were wet, his face red, his teeth bared.

      “No.” It was Jayden. He moved his arm, swinging his rifle around from Marcus to Haru. “Kira’s right. Put down your gun.”

      “Are you crazy?”

      “I hate the Partials as much as you do,” said Jayden, “but Maddy is relying on us. If there’s any chance we can save my sister’s baby, I’m willing to take it.”

      “So you’re going to kill her husband instead?”

      “Not if he puts down his gun.” Jayden’s eyes were cold. “The rest of you too, put them all on the floor.”

      Slowly Haru complied, and the other three men behind him. Xochi gathered their weapons while Jayden kept them covered with his rifle. Kira tried the door, rattling the locked knob, then dug through the pockets of the dead soldier until she found a ring of keys.

      “This one’s still alive,” said Marcus, examining the other downed soldier.

      “Stable?” asked Kira.

      “If we stop the bleeding.”

      “Wrap it,” said Kira, standing up. “We’ll lock him in with the others and they can help him after the riot.”

      “Speaking of which,” said Xochi, “we need to get out of here. These guys called for backup, and the instant this riot comes even partly under control they’re going to send every soldier they have up here.”

      Kira nodded. “See if you can see how they’re doing.” Xochi ran back to the stairs. Kira turned to the door, trying several keys before finding the right one. The room beyond was dark, and Samm was chained to a chair in the middle of it, speckled with cuts and scabs and bruises.

      “You look like hell,” said Kira.

      “It’s okay,” said Samm, grunting in pain, but Kira could have sworn she saw the hint of a smile. “I have a very advanced platelet system.”

      Kira ran forward painfully and searched through her key ring for something to unlock the chains. There were two pairs of manacles and three different padlocks, and she opened each one with a turn and a click.

      “You didn’t have to save me,” said Samm.

      “You didn’t have to save me.” She opened the last lock, pulled away the chains, and paused there, crouching beside him. He turned his eyes from the door and looked at her for a split second, their eyes only centimeters apart, his breath on her cheek. When she spoke again, it was a whisper. “Thank you.”

      Samm stood and followed her into the hallway, squinting at the light and rolling his head back and forth to work out the kinks.

      Jayden led Haru and the others into the room as they left it; Haru spit on Samm as they passed, but Samm didn’t respond. Marcus finished binding the soldier’s wound and put him into the dark room with the others, and Kira locked the door tightly.

      The door at the end of the hall swung open, and Jayden and Kira spun to face it, guns ready, but it was only Xochi; she ran toward them anxiously.

      “We have to get out of here now. The soldiers gave up on the decoy room and fell back to guard the maternity ward, so the mob’s searching the whole building for this thing.” She motioned to Samm with her chin. “It’s only a matter of time before they make it up here.”

      “Give me one of their guns,” said Samm.

      “Do we trust him with a gun?” asked Jayden.

      “We’re a long way past that,” said Xochi, handing over Haru’s rifle. Kira

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