And to Orozco’s astonishment, seventeen-year-old Candace Tomlinson rose from the shaft. The girl who, less than twenty-four hours ago, had been whining and fighting over a jar of pickles.
Though in that first instant he barely recognized her. Her face was drawn and pale, her skin swollen with the puffiness of recent crying.
“Is it over?” she asked, her eyes shifting nervously around. “Is it safe? Reverend Sibanda said that when it was safe—”
She broke off, her face screwing up as she belatedly focused on Orozco’s bandages and arm sling and splatters of dried blood. She opened her mouth, and Orozco braced himself for a scream.
But the scream never came. With a visible effort, the girl dragged herself back from the edge of hysteria.
And when she finally closed her mouth again, her face had aged ten years.
“Yes, it’s over,” Orozco told her quietly. “But it didn’t turn out very well. Are you alone in there?”
Candace swallowed hard.
“No,” she murmured. Moving like a sleepwalker, she pushed the cover the rest of the way off the hole and climbed out.
“It’s all right,” she called softly into the shaft. “You can come up now.”
A minute later, they all had. Eight of them, ranging in age from Candace’s seventeen years to Rob’s fifteen, all the way down to Olivia’s seven.
Orozco watched them as they climbed out and lined up silently next to Candace, his heart sinking within him. Eight children, lost in a building full of their dead parents and friends.
Eight children, looking to Orozco for help.
“All right, this is how it is,” he said when the last of them was out and Rob had pushed the cover halfway over the hole again. “The nine of us are all that are left. Everyone else is dead.”
He watched their faces closely, waiting for explosions of disbelief, denial, or hysteria. But they all merely looked at him out of their tear-stained faces.
They’d already had their private bouts with denial and fear. And like Candace, they’d come out the other end with whatever was left of their childhood gone.
“All right, then,” Orozco went on. “I know a place, not too far away, where we can go settle in for the next day or so. After that, we’ll probably have to move somewhere else. Getting out of the building won’t be pleasant, though, so I want you all to promise you’ll keep your eyes on me as we go through the lobby. Okay? Everyone promise?”
Hesitantly, Candace raised her hand.
“What about food and water?” she asked.
“I’m told there’s some there,” Orozco said. “I don’t know how much. Once we’re settled, I can come back here and look for more.”
“But you’re hurt, aren’t you?” Rob asked.
“I’m not
“There’s no point in you going all that way and then having to come back,” Candace said, her voice under tight control. “I know where there’s some food. I’ll go get it.”
“That’s all right,” Orozco said quickly. The last thing he wanted was any of his charges wandering around among all those bodies. “We need to get to the hideout.”
“We’ll need clothes, too,” Rob spoke up. His voice, like Candace’s, was shaky but determined.
“I’ll go help Candace.”
Orozco shook his head. “I can’t let you—”
“They’re all dead,” Candace said, her eyes welling with tears. “We know that. We won’t be…We’ll go get the food, okay?”
Orozco sighed. “Okay. We’ll meet you at the big pile of rock where the archway used to be. Be careful.”
Candace nodded. “We will.”
Walking close together, she and Rob disappeared back into the rabbit warren.
“Okay, let’s go,” Orozco said to the others. “Everyone follow me.”
“Do you need help?” Olivia asked timidly as Orozco got a grip on his M16. “We could try to carry you.”
“Not right now, thanks,” Orozco assured the girl. “Better save your strength for later, when my pain meds wear off.”
Actually, the morphine was already starting to wear off, and the trip back to the building was considerably harder and slower than the trip out had been. Maneuvering his way back in through the window was minor torture, and Orozco’s face and shirt were wet with sweat by the time he was once again inside Moldering Lost Ashes.
He fully expected some of the younger children to panic or scream or at least break down in sobs as they passed through the lobby. But there wasn’t even a sniffle. However it was that Sibanda had chosen these particular children for a second chance at life, he’d chosen them well.
They had reached the pile of rocks when Candace and Rob returned with two canvas bags each full of food, water, and extra clothing. Over Rob’s shoulders were slung a shotgun and another rifle.
Strapped to Candace’s back, to Orozco’s surprise, were Cap Royer’s spare set of crutches.
The universe was a strange place, Orozco thought as the group worked their way over the heap of stone. He’d turned down Connor’s invitation mainly because he was tired of authority and responsibility and having to do and care for others. He’d looked forward to spending some time being strictly on his own, with no one’s life in his hands. Now, in a single stroke, that option was closed to him.
And what was truly strange was that he couldn’t even imagine having wanted such a thing.
These were his children now, his responsibility, and he would take care of them.
Because he was a Marine. And that was what Marines did.
The End
