“Yes, ma’am. Over.”
What follows is exactly twenty minutes of Taylor sitting on that dreary hill with a sniper rifle aimed at a mountain of broken concrete blocks. Nobody emerges. True to her word, once the twenty minutes is up, she walks the long journey to where a portion of her platoon rests in an abandoned storefront, windowpanes shattered, but there is at least a roof over theirheads. Her camera pans over huddled soldiers, some injured, some not. I don’t recognize any of them.
“Is everyone all right?”
Soldiers nod and she walks along, checking in with the members of her squad who’ve taken refuge with her. Mason is there, too, and I sigh in relief. He doesn’t look hurt, either. Finally, she slides down next to him and props her elbows on her knees.
“You okay, Lil’ T?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” she says. “We have at least four hours before Dunn gets here.”
“He’s in for a surprise.”
Taylor huffs out one, short laugh. “Yeah. Or, we die. So, really, a surprise for everyone.”
“Nah. We’re gonna be okay.”
“We better. Maria would kill me if you died. Maria would kill you if you died,” Taylor says, and I laugh out loud into my hand.
Mason laughs. “Oh, yeah. Somehow, she’d hauntmyghost.”
Their laughter fades into silence as they, and I, gaze into the strange calm of the street outside. “What do you think she’s doing now?”
“Maria? Probably asleep. If not, up drinking and playing cards,” he says fondly. “Have you heard from Lucy?”
“No one in Lansing has access to my comms.”
“Right. They can access your cam though, can’t they?”
Taylor’s fingers caress the lens on her chest. In turn, I touch the screen. “Sure, if I turn it on. Looks like it got turned on by accident.”
“Why not leave it on?”
“Too risky. If Dunn hacks into the camera system, we’re goners.” She missed the opportunity to say “We’re Dunn for.” If only I were there. I am, at the very least, good for a pun.
“He’s gonna be dead soon,” Mason insists. “Lucy will want to know you’re okay. If Maria could access the feed, she’d do it in a heartbeat. If you care about Lucy?—”
“That’s not the same. Maria is your…partner.” I hear Mason chuckle, and what I assume is the sound of Taylor nudging him. “I do care about Lucy.” My heart thumps so loudly I think it could wake Delilah two rooms over. “I do not want her to watch me kill people.”
“She can handle that. She’s strong.”
“I know. It’s me who is weak.” Tears prick at my eyes as Taylor drops her hand away from the camera. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I cannot risk anyone knowing our position.”
“All right, if you think so. Maria’s gonna be real pissed there was a way to see me and you kept the cam off.”
“She will not know if you do not snitch on me.”
“Honesty is important in a relationship,” he says in faux instructional voice.
“Oh, shut up.”
I don’t know who falls asleep first. Taylor’s fingers are clasped over her chest, blocking the camera as much as she is holding it. Exhaustion drags me kicking and screaming into oblivion, my fingers pressed to the glass.
By early February,most of the MidCountry is in Order hands. Taylor’s ambush of Dunn obliterated his forces and forced his surrender. She is subsequently dispatched to Toledo, Ohio, to assist other units. From there she’s sent to Cleveland, then back to Detroit. I’d be more upset at her continued absence if it isn’t the only way I know she’s alive. Theia remains in Pennsylvania, a growing presence on the hijacked radio and television stations.The Southeast has only a handful of holdout cities left, and tensions in my region are coming to a boil. Boston, Providence, and Baltimore are reporting skirmishes and violence between Force and Order. It’s all coming together as it all falls apart.
Every so often, Delilah joins me on a morning run and together we plod along the unfamiliar, comely streets of Lansing. Today, we rest on a bench near the bank of a partially frozen lake on cloudy Sunday morning. Water shimmers beneath the surface of the ice, trying to break through.
My feet bounce on the bench seat, my butt propped up on the back. Delilah stretches next to me, bent at the waist and panting heavily. I don’t think she normally does this kind of exercise, but she needs the time away too. Our lives are exhausting, but also strangely invigorating. Or maybe she thinks I’m going to try to run off if she leaves me to my own devices. If only I had the stamina.
