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fallen, smacking her head and lying there dazed for a few minutes. Had one of those things been nearby, she’d have been defenseless, and she vowed never to put herself into a situation that dangerous again. The rest of the journey had been made on foot, honing her body down to its essence, making her nothing but muscle over bone except for the ever-rounding bump of her baby belly.
    “Come on,” he said, leading her on again. “I’ll take you to the man in charge- he likes to greet all new arrivals personally before sending them to Dr. Robinson.” Grimly, she followed behind, her body lagging now that she was somewhere safe. And then it happened- she felt a tickle in the back of her throat and her body tensed, releasing one loud, violent sneeze. In the blink of an eye she found herself surrounded by men and women with cold eyes and cocked guns.

TEN
    “Let me out of here, damnit. I’m not infected,” Nadine attempted to shout. She’d been yelling for hours with no success, but she couldn’t just give up. She’d spent so long travelling and trying to find a place she could call home, even if just for a little while, and now this. She’d been a good person before the world had gone to Hell, and had never had so much as a speeding ticket. It galled her that now, after all she’d been through, all she’d done, she now found herself locked up in the jail cell of this town she’d stumbled into. How ridiculous it all was. What would they do with her? Did they plan to kill her? Maybe she’d get lucky and they’d just force her out. That was fine- she could handle that. She just wanted to live. She deserved to live, as did the tiny baby growing inside her.
    Exhausted, she collapsed on the cot in her barred cell. There were no sheets, and only one thin, hard pillow. Obviously comfort wasn’t what they’d had in mind when they decorated , she thought with disgust. She was too tired at this point to drum up any anger. She supposed she couldn’t blame them- they’d obviously put two and two together and figured out that this whole damned mess had started with the common cold. Self-preservation was the name of the game these days, and she thought, in their place, she might have done exactly as they had.
    It had been hours since they’d brought her here, carting her through the town quickly to make sure she hadn’t touched anyone, or even come into contact with another human being. She hadn’t been mistreated- they’d merely opened the cell door and gestured her inside. The man she’d met at the gate had even shot her a look of apology as he locked the door behind her. A doctor in full biohazard gear had come and asked her politely if he could draw a sample of her blood. He’d worked quickly and efficiently before smiling at her and leaving, and a woman with haunted eyes had locked the door and led him out without a word. Since then there had been nothing, and so she waited.
    It was the middle of the night before she heard the door at the end of the hall open. She’d been dozing lightly, leaning against the wall rather than lying down on the uncomfortable bed, and the slight squeak of the hinges brought her to full wakefulness immediately. A man she’d not seen before, his hair touched at the temples with streaks of silver, his eyes a pale blue full of an exhaustion she understood all too well, was being escorted towards her by the same woman. She had a pistol in a holster at her hip, but the strap was in place so she relaxed. If they planned to kill her, surely the woman would have her gun in hand. Holding onto that hope, she stayed seated so that she wouldn’t startle them- the woman in particular- into action.
    “Hello,” the man said, his tone pleasant if not exactly warm. “My name is Donald Thomas, and, well, I guess you’d say I’m the man in charge around here.” He laughed in a self-deprecating way. “At least, they all treat me like I am.”
    The woman turned to him, adoration evident in her