“No, lord commander,” Tester said.
“Get in a line. Now!” She spun on a heel and strode back to her truck. It started with a rumble and puff of smoke and when Tye saw the look on Milly and Robin’s faces he almost laughed. “I’ll see each of you soon.” The rear wheels shot dirt and snow, and the truck fishtailed for an instant before she brought it straight and disappeared back through the open gate.
Larry still sat perched on the steel beam. Nobody seemed to notice the one-eyed crow any longer because he’d stopped cawing. Pepper and Turnip stood by Milly, the cat watching everything with eager eyes, and Pepper focusing on Milly.
“You greenies will bring us to Argartha?” Milly asked.
“No, and we’re squires. Use the correct term,” said the lead soldier. “I am Captain Trumont. I’m in charge of processing at Fort Hill.”
“Why squires?” Robin asked.
“Isn’t that obvious enough? We serve the knights,” the captain said. “If you keep asking questions all day, you’ll miss chow.”
“Chow? What the hell is that?” Milly asked.
“Food,” Tye said. “You aren’t going to show us the way?” Tye thought he knew the answer, and didn’t think Captain Trumont would answer the question, but Tye was surprised when he did.
“Squires aren’t allowed in Argartha,” Trumont said. “You’re worrying about the wrong things. Stay focused and be honest, and you’ll make it to the end of the path.”
“Wait, please,” Tye said. “Why do you do this if you’re not allowed in Argartha?”
Captain Trumont looked to the sky as if asking for divine intervention. He stood frozen that way for several minutes, not moving, snow covering him in an icy sheen. When he came back from wherever he’d been, he said, “They all ask that question.”
Tye said nothing.
“Will you stop asking questions if I answer?” Captain Trumont said.
Tye nodded.
“You’ll find this out soon enough, anyway.” He sighed. “Squires are infected with XK119 and receive a shot each week. If we don’t get the shot, we’ll die or become zombies,” Trumont said. “Great, huh?”
Tye’s head filled with questions, but Trumont left him and hurried toward the guardhouse. A woman stepped forward and said, “Please follow the captain. Single file.”
Larry squawked and flew off. Tye had a sinking feeling he’d never see the bird again, and his chest ached. The crow had saved their asses so many times he’d lost count and not having him watching their backs might be fatal. A gust of wind pushed away the snow, and Larry disappeared over the brown fence.
Tye and company entered the guardhouse. An electric light fixture illuminated the hallway, and Robin gasped. They’d seen broken light fixtures on the ceilings back home in Citi, and all throughout their travels in the gone world, and they’d seen some work in Stadium, but despite this there were still bits of magic from the gone world that amazed.
There was an open window in the wall before him, and beyond it four tube TVs sat on shelves. They showed pictures of the front gate, and other buildings. A man sat behind the window at a desk. Tye looked back at Milly and Robin. They were mesmerized by the TVs.
“You’ve seen one of those work before, old timer?” the soldier sitting at the desk said.
Tye stood before the service window. “Yes. I have. A very long time ago.”
“Name and birth origin,” the soldier said.
“Tye Rantic, born in Ohio, April 15th, 2008.” He’d turn sixty-nine soon.
“Ever contract XK119 that you’re aware of?”
“No, sir.”
“Step through there and wait,” the soldier said. He pointed toward an open door to Tye’s right.
Tye turned and looked at Milly, Tester and Robin, and gave them a tight nod. “Turnip, with me,” he said, and the cat looked up at Milly, who nodded.
Tye stepped through the door into darkness, and someone took his arm and closed the door behind him. He was walked in a circle for a few minutes and placed in another room and left alone. There was an electric light fixture on the ceiling, but it wasn’t lit. Faint light seeped through a high window on the far wall, and a syringe rested on a table along with plastic gloves, and two glass bottles, one big and one small. A camera was mounted above the door and a lens telescoped out, and the pinprick of red atop the camera sent swords of light across the shadowy room.
The door opened, and a solider dressed in green and wearing a white lab coat entered. He wore a surgical mask and a clear visor over his eyes. The man flicked the light switch and studied Tye like he was a cockroach he meant to stomp on. His deep blue eyes were like x-rays, and Tye got angry. He felt dirtier in that moment than at any other time in his life. He was the gutter scum, and he didn’t like the feeling.
Turnip sat on the ground beside him, staring at the newcomer and licking his lips.
“I’m going to give you an injection, that OK?” the man said.
“What is it?” Tye said.
“Standard required inoculation. No idea what’s in it,” he said.
“You just inject people with shit and don’t even ask what it is?” Tye said. “I find that hard to accept.”
“Believe what you want. You gonna roll up your shirt or not?”
Tye nodded and rolled up his sleeve. The soldier stuck the end of the needle into the smaller bottle and pulled back the plunger. He watched Tye as he did this, an awkward smile spreading across his face that said he knew everything and Tye knew nothing. When the needle was
