Page 77 of Viral Justice

“Taking over?” she asked when he got close.

“Yeah, Max wants you inside.”

“Got it, thanks. Most of the militants took off after the bait. The two guys who challenged you split up to spread the word. We’re going to have trouble.”

“Shit. Well, we’ll see how far we can stretch theI’m sickcard.”

“Cough convincingly,” she urged as she left.

She was careful to look for any watchers as she got off the roof the same way she got on it, then went inside the building.

Daylight made it easier to see the dilapidated entranceway filled with leaves, dirt and other debris that must have been blown inside during the time it had been uninhabited.

Chairs were collected in an intricate knot of legs in one corner.

Chirping alerted her to a bird’s nest clinging to the wall and ceiling in another corner.

Movement deeper inside the building grabbed her focus. A man dressed like she was watched her, his rifle cradled in his arms, ready to fire.

“Stone?” he asked.

“Cold,” she said, making light of the name she was often called after a particularly hard training session.

“Colonel wants to see you.”

“You are?” All bundled up the way he was, he could have been twenty different men she knew in the Special Forces.

“Frank Jessup.”

“Demolitions,” she said, his face appearing in her mind’s eye.

“Gotta love the boom,” he replied. “You’ve got a guy on the roof?”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t have a line of sight to the front door.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said as she passed him. “Later.”

Ali walked toward the operating room Max had been trying to clean when she left, and found it full of men, duffel bags of medical and scientific equipment, and weapons. At first she couldn’t see Max at all, then he appeared from behind a group of four soldiers who’d found a way to get the big spotlight moved out of the way.

A small hand grabbed the back of her pants and she glanced down to find Berez standing behind her, peeking around her leg to see what was going on.

One of the soldiers saw the kid. “What’s he doing here?”

Everyone in the room stopped to look.

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