Chapter Sixteen

"It's okay," White said gently to the boy who couldn't have been more then eleven or twelve years old. "We're military. We're here to evacuate you to a safe place. You can relax. We're capable of talking. That should tell you we're not like the creatures downstairs."

The boy slowly stood up, coming out of hiding with a piece of rebar in his hands. I felt Grady tense next to me, but he didn't raise his rifle since the kid kept his weapon lowered. No one else came out, but we knew there were others hiding behind the couch. We could hear them shuffling around.

When the boy didn't move toward us, I knelt down to seem more harmless. "It's really okay," I said. "We know you got hurt by one of them. I bet you're scared what happened to them is going to happen to you, but it's not." I pointed to my eyes. "Do you see my eyes are silver? It means I got hurt, too, but I can still talk and think—just like you can."

A little girl poked her head out to look at us, her silver eyes shining in the dim light coming from the curtained windows against the wall. Her gaze met mine and she smiled at me. I smiled back and said, "Hi."

"Hi," she said in a tiny voice. It was enough for the rest to gain confidence and slowly come out of hiding. There were four of them in all, ranging in ages from eight to the eldest boy's twelve. Over the next few minutes, they slowly warmed up to us and the story came out. They'd been hiding at a nearby hotel with their parents after the bridges were taken out. They got really sick and their parents tucked them in to bed and told them to rest. When they woke up, they woke up alone with their parents nowhere in sight.

"A man came and said we couldn't stay there anymore," the boy said. "He made us leave."

"Was it scary finding this place?" I asked since, apparently, I was the kid whisperer. I assumed it was because I was closer to the same age. The group wasn't talking much to White or Grady, but I knew the other two adults were listening closely to every word they said to me.

"Super scary!" the smallest girl exclaimed. "Jerry said they were filming a movie. I thought we were going to get into so much trouble. We're supposed to be really quiet until they're done so we don't mess up any of the scenes."

I licked my lips as I glanced over the group of minors once more to see their reactions to the statement. None of them said a word to disabuse the girl of the notion but, from the fear in their eyes, I knew none of them actually believed the lie—not even the girl who spoke it.

Deciding not to tear away the meager coping mechanism, I replied, "You did good, but now we need your help. We need to film a scene where the good guys save some brave kids by flying them out the city in a helicopter. How is your acting?"

The girl tapped a finger against her chin. "I dunno. I can try." The other kids nodded, eager to get the hell out of there. None of them said a word about finding their parents, which made me wonder if they already knew they were dead.

"D-Nav to White. Chopper inbound. ETA ten minutes. Head to the roof. Over."

"Okay, guys," I said when White gave me a nod to proceed. "Our ride is on the way, but we need to get to the roof. Do any of you know the way?"

They didn't, but it only took a few minutes of dedicated searching to find the access hatch. Once we were topside, White set up smoke flares on a corner of the roof, making the kids grin at how movie-like it was. I corralled them into the opposite corner, keeping an eye out for any signs of movement.

It was actually a little fun watching the kids get excited when they saw the helicopter coming. They danced around and waved their hands like the pilot needed more than just smoke to see them. I was glad they didn't think to ask where we were sending them as it landed.

I waited until the kids were loaded and the chopper lifted off again to confirm my suspicions.

"Medical ship?" I asked, watching as they flew away to safety.

"Yes," White replied solemnly. "They'll keep them together and try to keep them as comfortable as possible, but these are the first lich children we've come across. Its also the first sign whatever turned us into lich might be hereditary. They'll need to study them."

"I should call my dad," I commented. I don't know where the desire came from, whether it was interacting with the kids or the mention of heredity, but I really wanted to talk to him. My prior reticence no longer mattered since I was relatively safe and I'd enlisted.

"Is he still alive?" Carver asked, his voice coming solely through the comms since he was still down on the first floor. "We figured you and Happy were orphans."

"I don't know about Happy, but my dad is in Santa Fe. He should be okay."

"You had good reason not to contact him," White replied. "White to Overwatch. Primary objective cleared. The packages are away. Over."

"Overwatch to White, good work. Advance secondary objective. Over."

White glanced at me and said, "That means it's time to scavenge."

"What about the man the boy told us about?" I asked. "Shouldn't we check out the closest hotels for survivors?"

"D-Nav to Grumpy. I'm on it. Thermal drones are scanning a six block radius. Focus on your immediate objective. Over."