"I'm sorry that happened to you," York told her. "But it doesn't mean you have to become... like this."
"Al, drop it," Lucy said quietly.
"I wish I could," he said. "But, to see how much you've changed."
"It's nice, Sergeant," Bunny told him slowly. "To be able to hold the high ground morally. I won't try to take that from you, and that's half the reason I shot him. So you wouldn't have to. But let me give you a piece of friendly advice about that piece of property you're holding so hard. It gets you nowhere."
"What they did to you was wrong, Beckman, I won't argue that," he said, no malice in his voice. "But with what's happening, we have to hang on to our dignity, our humanity if we want to survive."
"Alvin, please," Lucy begged him. "Let this go."
"Yeah, Alvin," Angel echoed. "Please drop it."
"I wish I could," he told them.
"No, it's fine," Bunny said. "I'll tell you what, York. You hang onto that goal. I tried to for a while. Sooner or later, you'll let it go, when you have no other choice."
"I refuse to believe that," he told her.
"Yeah, well, wait until an innocent person dies in your arms because you didn't pull the trigger. It's amazing how fast you get past that whole human decency issue," she said.
York started to say something more, but chose not to, instead turning to look back out the window. Bunny was kind of glad, really, because she didn't want to have to explain further. A quick glance in the rear view told the story, as Lucy just smiled at her and Angel stared off into space.
Next to her, Tanner was looking at the floor. She sighed, and said, "Spill it, Private."
"Nothing," he said softly, picking up the radio.
"I don't have time, or patience, for unspoken objections. Whatever it is, put some air to it and let’s be done with it," she told him.
He looked up at her. "Whatever you decide, Bunny, I'll have your back. That's all."
"That's all?" she asked.
"You're tougher and meaner than me," he said. "I figure, long as you think it's right, I don't have room to argue."
"Amen, brother," Angel intoned from the back.
Bunny shook her head. "We actually get into the Park, I'll be grateful as hell."
"Why's that?" Tanner asked.
"I lost my taste for people depending on me years ago," she told him bluntly.
Behind her, York gave her a sad look, but not one of pity. Somehow, in that moment, she realized that he understood her. Something in what she’d said made him get it, and his expression of sorrow wasn't for her attitude, but the loss of the person he had known her to be.
She’d wept all the tears she could for that Bunny, years ago. Let him throw some flowers on her grave if he wished. She had a car to drive.
"This is Private Jake Tanner of the 43rd Mechanized Infantry to any Blackhawks circling, please copy."
Bunny wove the car through the debris-littered streets, avoiding the straggling dead as they lurched towards the sound of the motor. They were within blocks of the Park now, and as Tanner had told her, the dead were getting thick.
"Anything?" she asked as she drove.
He shook his head. "They can hear me, but nobody is answering."
"Are you sure they can hear you?" York asked.
Tanner nodded. "It's the right channel. I know it like I know my own dick."
"Are you sure there's anybody left to answer?" Angel asked.
Tanner pointed out the window, at a Blackhawk hovering in the distance. "You tell me."
"Then why don't they answer?" Bunny asked.
"Probably think I'm dead," Tanner replied. "It's been three days since I lost contact."
Bunny gunned the engine, roaring down the street, gritting her teeth as more and more of the dead crowded the road. She needed some good news right now, but more than that, she needed to hear a voice on that radio. She'd been through too much, seen too much, and lost too much to not hear it at this point.
"Repeating, this is Private Tanner to any Blackhawks circling, please respond."
Nothing, not even static, came back as Tanner was forced to shoot two dead in the road before they hit the hood of the car. Bunny darted the wheel back and forth, weaving through them, determined not to be put off from reaching her goal this time.
"We’re getting crowded here," Angel said jabbing her machete through the window as a body made a lunge for the car.
"Noticed that, thank you," Bunny told her.
"It's too dangerous. We should go back," York suggested.
"Like hell," Bunny answered.
Giving the gas another push, she sped through the obstacle course, avoiding overturned cars and dead bodies as best she could, but more than once, she heard the thump of hands on the frame. One thing was growing certain, if they didn't get some assistance from one of the helicopters, this was going to get rough.
"I repeat, this is Private Tanner calling to any Blackhawks in the air. Goddamn it, boys, answer me!"
Bunny spun the wheel, turning down a side street when it became clear the way ahead was growing too crowded. Between the tall buildings, the roar of the engine was deafening in the eerie silence the rise of the dead had created. Eyes darting, she looked for the way forward, believing it must exist.
"Take a right at the next intersection," Lucy said suddenly.
"Okay," Bunny replied as she spun the car that way. "Why am I doing this?"
"You'll see in a minute," Lucy told her. "Left, up
