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.My mouth went dry.“Like we agreed,” she demanded.“Right, Doc?”He nodded.“What do you mean?” I asked.“We’re going to get Adena and Clea, then meet Sonya at the gate to East.”I felt a rush of relief.I wasn’t in it alone, not quite yet, at least.Although, given the unspoken dialogue that was happening between Sonya and Ric, my nerves tingled with uncertainty.What weren’t they telling me?“Right.Okay.Good.” I finished getting dressed and put my gun into the back of my pants.As Ric readied the bike, Sonya’s face set with an odd tinge of anger as she addressed him.“I still think this is a bad idea.You don’t know what’s out there.It’s not safe.You should come with us, then go back to get them after this is all over.”“I’m not leaving Central without them,” I said.She turned to me and nodded.“He said you’d say that.” Her eyes darted back and forth between us.“You sure you can handle this alone, Doc? Maybe I should come with you?”Bubbs’s dark eyes shot wide.“You can’t! We can’t bust the gate without you.”Was that what they had planned all along? I found it difficult to believe they’d neglected to tell me that by accident.“Is there anything else you’re not telling me?”Sonya shot me a weird look, but Ric spoke before she could reply.“They’re headed to East,” he explained.“They’re going through the gate and then through the wall to outside.We’re going to meet up with them after we get the girls.”“When was this decided?”“While you were, uh.” Sonya started, then stopped.Ric finished her sentence.“Sleeping.”My lips pressed together and my face felt hot.They meant when I’d been alone in the room at the warehouse, sobbing my heart out.This was what they’d been talking about? Our escape plan? I felt a mixture of betrayal and relief and uncertainty.But I let it lie.“We don’t even know what’s outside the walls,” I said.“It’s got to be better than what’s inside!” Minnie said.“The gates are probably mobbed already.” Bubbs adjusted the straps on his backpack and glared at Sonya.“If we don’t get moving, we’ll miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” He looked to Ric.“You’ll be fine.Right?”“Right,” he said.Sonya didn’t look too happy at the prospect of splitting up, but she also probably knew there was no arguing with me about it.“Fine,” she said.She leaned over toward Ric, who was standing right beside her.“Don’t fuck this up.I’m not going through that gate until you arrive.You understand? Don’t take too long.I’m counting on you.” As if it was second nature, she kissed him on the cheek.My chest tightened and I forced myself to look away.“You too,” she added.Then she hugged me stiffly and stepped back before I could say another word.“Come and find me, you promise?”“Yeah.” I nodded.She moved to the van and tugged on a crate of guns and ammunition, bringing it toward her, then stuffed several handguns into the waist of her pants.Ric jingled the keys in his hand and faced me.He looked determined but not unhappy.There was a slight flush to his cheeks.I wondered if he looked that way because Sonya had just kissed him, or because we were leaving the others to save the girls.There was so much I wanted to say, to ask, but I kept it in.I could see a million words on his lips, too, but none came.It would all have to wait.“Let’s go get the girls,” he said, straddling the motorcycle.I stood staring after him for a moment before I followed.Chapter NineThe streets of Central didn’t improve the farther we drove.Small mobs of people had collected on every block.Stores, and even a few homes and apartment buildings, were either looted, or burning, or both.Bedlam.The bodies of dead and beaten Auberge guards lay in random places, baking in the noon sun.They were scattered from one neighborhood to the next, sometimes tossed atop the piles of garbage on the curb as if that was where they belonged, sometimes in the middle of the street, or strung up on lampposts.We zipped through the mayhem on the motorcycle, steering clear of as many people as possible.At one point, someone reached out and tried to grab us off the bike, but Ric skidded and slid to the side and we kept going.Shaken.After we rounded Avenue N and 15th Street and passed a marketplace, we arrived at the apartment building.Rather than leave the bike out on the street, we rode it straight into the lobby.I was expecting to be greeted by Shirel holding the shotgun, but the entrance was empty.My throat constricted as I slid off the bike and began searching.What if they weren’t here?The two apartments on the bottom floor had their doors ajar.I checked one, while Ric checked the other.There was no one inside.The place looked as if it had been rummaged through in a hurry.A couple of the dresser drawers were opened and empty.They’d packed and fled.I went out into the hall and found Ric.He’d discovered the same as me in the other one.It was hard to breathe.Panic rose in my chest.We pounded up the stairs, ignoring the apartments on the second and third floors, and went to ours on the fourth.Our door was open, as well.I felt my legs weaken and my vision blur as I went inside.My hands shook as I ran about the apartment.Dirty dishes sat in the sink.A pair of half-empty bottles of milk sat on the kitchen table.I reached out and touched one, accidentally knocking it over in my haste.It was warm.They had been sitting there awhile.“Shirel?” Ric called.I knew it was pointless, but I ran into my room and checked the crib.Empty.The walls spun when I realized the girls’ favorite sleeping blankets were gone.At least they had those with them, wherever they were.But still.Tears stung my eyes.“Oh, my God.”I came back out of my room and spotted Ric exiting his.He looked as white as a sheet and his eyes were moist.“I’ll check Shirel’s place,” he grunted.I nodded, unable to speak.My legs gave out.I slouched on the rough carpet and dug my fingers through the fibers, trying to keep the floor from spinning.A part of me knew searching Shirel’s place was fruitless, but we’d never have peace unless we checked.I could hear the pounding of Ric’s feet through the walls.He called Shirel’s name a few times, but then he returned a few minutes later looking all the worse for the effort.He shook his head.Thunderstruck, my face contorted and I choked as a sob erupted from the pit of my gut.My babies are gone.Missing.I fought for air as my throat closed.Ric watched me sobbing on the floor, and swallowed thickly.“I’ll check the basement [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]