“They’re coming out right now.”
There was a pause here — a standard feature of the rhythm they’d developed — then the kid continued with, “Okay, they’re aboard. They’ve received their masks and appear to be — wait… yes, my corporal is reporting that they’re fine. Ready to go.”
Sarah crossed the names out. “Good, thank you. Next should be—”
“Ms. Redmond?”
The voice — which did not come through the phone but rather right in front of her — was deep enough to fill the room. Looking up, she saw a black woman at least six and a half feet tall, dressed in a camouflage uniform. She had tight curly hair and a drawn, longish face that made her appear perpetually sad. In one of her sizable hands was a portable dosimeter in a black case.
“Sergeant?” Sarah said into the phone.
“Right here.”
“I’ll be with you in a second. Please carry on with the evacuation.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Addressing her visitor directly, she said, “Can I help you?”
“I’m Captain Beverly Price.” The voice was unusually low for a female and quite powerful.
Sarah nodded once. “Hello.”
“Hello. Ma’am, this building is no longer safe for human habitation. I’m going to have to ask you to come with me.”
Sarah’s first instinct, no doubt sharpened by her dealings with General Conover, was to argue. She’s being conservative and overcautious, I can tell, and I’ve got too much to do here. Then common sense weighed in, reminding her that neither Conover nor this woman had any control over the amount of radiation that was floating around the chambers and hallways of the municipal complex.
“Okay, Captain, I understand.”
“There’s a helicopter in the courtyard, waiting to take you to the refugee station we’ve set up outside the exclusion zone.”
Sarah’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “A helicopter?”
“Yes, ma’am. The general wants to get you there as soon as possible to help coordinate the post-evacuation activities.”
How is that going to look to the rest of the town? Sarah wondered. Regardless of her VIP status — thanks to the power she was currently wielding and her accurate perspective on the overall situation — she worried if there was something cowardly about flying off to safety while so many residents were still waiting for the evac trucks to show up.
“Does it have to be a helicopter? Can’t I just go in one of the trucks like everyone else?”
Price shrugged. “I’m sorry, ma’am, those are the general’s orders. I cannot modify them.”
Sarah nodded reluctantly. “All right, fine.”
Another young officer entered the room, smaller than Price and wearing a round military cap that matched the camo uniform. His wire-rimmed glasses made him look more like a bank clerk than a solider. After a curt salute, he reported that all other municipal employees had been evacuated from the building.
“Except for these two,” he said, gesturing to Magnus and Harris, who were standing by the doorway peering in.
“You both really need to go now,” Sarah told them.
“Don’t you need anything else from us?” Harris asked.
“I can handle it from here. Your families are waiting for you.” Sarah smiled. “You’ve earned your pay for the week, I’d say.”
“Ma’am,” the captain urged, tapping her chronograph.
“Right.” Sarah gestured with her chin to her coworkers. “Go on, you two. I’ll catch up with you later.”
The bank-clerk officer shuffled them away and Sarah began gathering what she needed to take with her while Price looked on impatiently. Her iPad, the resident list, four maps, laptop, her personal notebook, and two emergency-response manuals went into her messenger bag. Her phone, which she took a moment to check again — still nothing from her husband — went into her pocket. In spite of the fact that all of this took no more than two minutes, Price looked like she was ready to spit fire.
“Okay,” Sarah said, “lead the way.”
“This is how it works,” Price said as they reached the bottom floor. “You’ll see two men at the back exit, both wearing radiation suits. One will hand you an oxygen mask, which you’ll need to hold tight over your nose and mouth. Try to breathe normally.”
“All right.”
“Once you’ve got the mask in place, the other soldier will throw a large, clear plastic sheet over you, open the door, and guide you to the helicopter, which will be about forty feet straight ahead.” They were halfway down an echoey corridor, which ended with a right turn. Caged emergency lights glowed from high along the walls. Sarah had been in this part of the building only a few times over the years and never really became familiar with it. Now, like everything else today, it’s part of a litany of new experiences. Lucky me…
She pointed to her ear. “How come I can’t hear the ’copter yet? I know the door down here is shut, but aren’t they noisy as all hell?”
“The downwash caused by the rotor would blow the radiation around even more,” Price said, “and it’s bad enough already. So the ’copter’s off. The pilot will get it going after you’re inside.”
They turned the corner, and at the end of the second hallway she saw two figures in vivid yellow. Their suits were more advanced than those stocked by the town and had the form-fitting characteristics of light armor. The head covering wasn’t a loose, cylindrical enclosure with a clear viewing pane but an actual helmet. The faceplate was opaque when viewed from the outside, concealing all sense of who was behind it. Gloves and boots were dark in contrast to the rest of the outfit, making Sarah wonder if the designer’s decision to match these accessories had been a fashion concern.
The anonymous figure on the left came forward with the oxygen mask just as Sarah’s cellphone rang. She held up one hand to stop the soldier while she fished the device out of her pocket at light speed. Kate Soames’s name on the screen was, frankly, a disappointment.
“Hello?”
“S-Sarah…” The wobble in Kate’s voice, which was choked with tears, made her difficult to understand.
“Kate, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Pete and Mark — they’re out there! Sharon Blake, too!”
“What? Out where?”
“In the storm!”
“What?!”
“Mark went with Sharon to Prince Field to take a walk!” The words came out in a wild flow, all but racing over one another. “They didn’t know about the radiation!”
“Okay, slow down, I can’t—”
“—went to find them. Then he got caught in the flooding on Juniper and we got cut off!”
“All right, where are they now? Do you know?”
“Somewhere over by the field.”
“Prince?”
“Yes. Sarah, please — please send someone over there. Just… please do something!”
“Okay, stay by the phone. I’m going to go up in a helicopter to look for them!”
“Okay, all right…”
“I’ll call you back ASAP.”
She ended the call and turned to Price, who looked tremendously unhappy. The figure in the radiation suit with the oxygen mask was frozen in place, waiting to see where this went.
“You shouldn’t have said that,” Price told her.
“I have three residents out there in the storm and a helicopter standing by outside. Now, are we here to rescue people or not?”
“My duties are very clear, ma’am.”
“So are mine, ma’am.”
A staring match ensued, during which neither side flinched for what seemed like an eternity.
Price put her hands on her hips. “If I countermand the general’s orders, I—”