dark trees. An icy wind cut through the cracks in the walls, but in the center of the room, the air was free from ash. Someone had made a barricade of rusty shopping carts, stacking the tall metal shelves into a twisted corridor leading to a central nook, but it looked like it hadn’t been used in decades.
Jazmine took off her jacket, and Camina frowned at the purple bruises on her neck and arms. Camina was relatively unscathed, but then she had gotten a large dose of elixir during the fight. April was more shaken than anything, but she bore her fear bravely.
We started a small fire for warmth and light, keeping the flames low. Luke created a flaming torch from old fabric and went to explore the building for supplies.
“Oh, hello there,” Luke said, his silhouette dark in the doorframe across the room.
“What’d you find?” I asked, climbing over the furniture to join him. He forced the door open with his shoulder until the wood splintered.
Inside was a body, leaning against the wall, mostly bones with only straps of clothes. Luke reached for something round and metal, stuck in the man’s rib cage.
“What is it?” I asked.
Check it out,” he said, showing it to me. A metal pin, the writing faded but still legible.
Vampire Killer.
“Some kind of metal or award?” I guessed.
“Must be left over from the race wars. Some kind of honor I guess.”
“What is this, a burial?” I asked, looking around the room. The wall had been painted with symbols, and melted wax had formed patterns on the floor. Luke pried a few of the mounds off the cement with his knife.
“Candles,” he said. “Either they killed him when he was in the middle of some kind of satanic ritual, summoning a demon, or...”
“Or it’s a shrine. A mark of honor. They were thanking him.”
“Fat lot of good it did him. He died alone, and in pain probably.”
“But someone was left behind. Someone who cared about him.”
Luke pinned the button on his jacket.
“You really think you deserve that?” I asked.
“Man’s gotta have goals,” he smirked. Then his eyes flicked to Penelope and his expression darkened.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warned.
He held his hands up, “hey now, I get it. She’s an ally. It’s just, I swore all my life I’d kill every elite I could find, as soon as I got the chance. Here I am, traveling with one.”
“Inside or outside the citadel, maybe life isn’t as simple as the stories we’re told.”
“Maybe,” Luke said. “It just makes things confusing is all, I mean... ‘death to elites’ is a lot easier than ‘get to know them and figure out if they’re one of the good ones, ask them to tea first.’ That hesitation, that’ll get us killed if there is another race war. I guarantee they won’t take the time to get to know us before tearing us apart.”
“Let’s try to avoid a war then, shall we? No killing unless absolutely necessary.”
“I always thought, when it happened, I’d at least take one down with me. But I shot one today, and it didn’t even phase him. My first real encounter with an elite, and he hit me with my own gun.”
He reached up and touched the angry wound on his forehead. The jagged cut was already beginning to heal, but it left a nasty bump.
“There was nothing you could have done,” I said.
“I know,” he sighed. “That’s the problem. They’re so fast, so strong. We never stood a chance, did we?”
“I’ve been trying to tell you,” I said quietly.
Laughter pulled us back towards the main room. Camina was helping Jazmine drag large mattresses into a pile. Once there was a stack of half a dozen, she climbed on top and jumped up and down on it like a trampoline, before tumbling onto her back, and sinking so deeply she disappeared under the surface with a contented moan.
Some of the mattresses were still half wrapped in plastic and relatively clean. I had to admit it was a nice change from the thin pads of Havoc. We spread them into a circle around our gear and slept. I closed my eyes, resisting the urge to lean out window every five minutes, peering into the darkness to see if Trevor was okay down below. I hated leaving him outside.
I got up early, as soon as it was light enough to see, and crept outside in my bare feet. Birds were chirping from the dark branches, and I heard the