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stowed in his ruck. Checking out the device on the table, which had been there since they first loaded up, he saw that it looked like a hardened laptop, but also had wings sticking out to either side, one of with a joystick on it, as well as a thick rubberized antenna sticking forward off the lid. “That’s a Universal mini-GCS – Ground Control Station.”
    Reyes’s eyes widened. “So you can fly drones from inside this thing?”
    “Every UAV in the U.S. fleet, in theory. It’s portable, too.”
    Reyes was about to remark on the coolness of this, but then Handon clambered in from the front, taking his usual spot in the center of the wedged-in warriors – and did his usual routine of grabbing Zorn by the collar. “Why the hell didn’t you warn us about these – dangerous infected animals?”
    Though inside the MRAP, Zorn had seen the hyrax fight out the windows. He’d certainly heard the shouting. “Never seen ’em before. Swear to God.”
    Handon didn’t know whether to believe him or not. Maybe it didn’t matter. He turned to the team. “Doc Park says we may see more of this.”
    “More of what?” Pred asked. “Zombie critters?”
    “Yeah.”
    “What kind?” Ali asked.
    “He doesn’t know. Could be anything. He said the more complex brain the more likely it would be a host for the virus. Primates for example.”
    “Aw, shit,” Ali said.
    “What?”
    She arched her eyebrows and took a breath. “East Africa is overrun with baboons. In particular the cities, ever since they figured out that’s where the food is, plus totally lost their fear of man.”
    Handon grimaced. “That going to be a problem for us?”
    Ali snorted. “Only if you think a hundred-pound primate with four-inch fangs coming at you at thirty-five miles an hour is a problem.”
    Juice chimed in. “Seriously. Back when I was stationed here, we were more afraid of the baboon troops than the Islamist militias. Their bite can break bones, and even kill. And they’re vicious bastards, with highly coordinated behavior – go into a rage and literally tear a leopard to pieces. I mean, like, little pieces. I’ve seen them scare off lions .”
    “And with about fifty in a troop,” Ali added, “that’s five thousand pounds of baboon coming at you.”
    Handon shook his head. “Okay. We’ll keep our heads up and deal with that as it comes.” He sent Predator up front, sat down beside Zorn, got out his notepad and pen, and got in the prisoner’s face.
    “Talk.”
    “Sure. What about?”
    “About what’s waiting for us in Hargeisa. I want a full intel dump from you.”
    Zorn grunted, hesitated, then looked down at the bite wound in his arm that Predator had wrapped up for him. “Okay. I honestly don’t know anything about any zombie animals. But I do have one hot tip for you. There was an Agency safe house in Hargeisa. I think you ought to check it out.”
    “Why?”
    “They were tracking the epidemic in the early days. I know they had their eye on it, and being Agency, they’d have written reports. Those might still be there.”
    Handon suppressed his annoyance at what seemed like another distraction – or another trick, knowing Zorn. Then he remembered what Park had said: Anything you can find out about the origin of the virus is potentially helpful. Handon bookmarked it. When they got to Hargeisa, they’d get their prize – the victim and virus sample from the very beginning – and then maybe they’d see about that.
    Right now, he focused on picking Zorn’s brain. His knowledge and experience of the region could still save their lives. And maybe in the end it would even be worth all the shit they put up with from him.
    As Zorn talked, Handon checked his watch. They should be there in less than two hours. Assuming no more blocked bridges, beaver attacks – or catastrophes they weren’t even able to imagine yet.

Empty, Silent, and Dead
    Outskirts of Hargeisa
    But the rest of the drive south through central Somalia