We scavenged snacks from the apartment, saving the canned food for if we got desperate. I, personally, enjoyed my breakfast of Fritos, apple rings, and beef jerky, but not everyone was so excited. At least it was better than an MRE or a Hooah! bar, both of which I’d eaten too many times to count or enjoy.

I said nothing to the rest of the team, my admittedly bad mood souring any interactions with the others. Even Mason, usually so cheerful, was subdued when he offered me the chip bag then tossed it to me.

The reality was there was only one way forward. I’d agreed to let Andy make the call on whether I would continue collecting these cores. I hadn’t expected him to actually do it, or at least not so soon. This meant the only play I had was to regain his trust.

“Hey.” Someone interrupted my black mood, and I looked up to see Carter. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, shrugging noncommittally. “Just some bad news from Andy. I’ll deal.”

“You two still sticking with us?” She looked worried, as if we would leave them behind and without our experienced protection.

“Nothing to worry about,” I reassured her. She nodded, then walked back into the living room where the rest of the group was finishing their eclectic breakfast.

“Moving out in five,” Carter said, and a chorus of “yes, ma’am” wandered through the door into the bedroom where I had slept.

I finished prepping for the day, lacing my boots tight and settling in with my weapons. Standing up, I fought a dizzy sensation as the room swayed around me. I rested my hand on the bedroom wall until it cleared.

“Anybody got water?” I asked.

“All out,” T-Bag said, shaking his bottle. There were murmurs of agreement from a couple of others, but Andy tossed me his canteen.

“Thanks,” I said. There wasn’t much in there, from the weight, so I took a few light sips I thought about how dirty the water in the ponds would be around here, and dreaded when people would resort to drinking that water to live. Then I was reminded of all the meat kept in freezers that would undoubtedly go bad within the next day if it wasn’t spoiled already. I groaned inwardly at the thought of the steaks that would go uneaten. Man, I could have really gone for a steak. I tossed the canteen back to Andy. “We need to find some water soon.”

“We can look through some other apartments on the way down,” Carter answered for the group.

“Uh, isn’t that stealing?” Heidi asked.

“Acquisition of essential supplies in the field,” Andy said.

Heidi just stared blankly at him for a long moment.

“Yes, it’s stealing,” Andy continued, “but it’s allowed in a military situation to survive.”

“Oh, why didn’t you just say that?” Heidi asked.

“It sounds legal the other way,” Andy shrugged.

“We pick up supplies on the way out,” Carter said with finality. As she said it, her mouth twisted with distaste as if she were eating a lemon. “I don’t like it, but no one is using these supplies now. We also keep enough water for two days, if possible.” She thought for a moment. “Also, toilet paper.”

“I wouldn’t mind a hot shower,” Heidi said. “I smell worse than after my freshman hazing.”

“That sounds like an interesting story I’d like to hear,” T-Bag said.

“Maybe tonight,” Carter cut in. “Let’s get moving.”

Without objections, we quickly ransacked the rest of the apartments on the top floor. They didn’t have water, at least not how I defined it. Instead, we found some San Pellegrino. We poured the sparkling water into our empty canteens and other bottles, opting not to keep the heavy glass bottles.

“I never knew anyone actually drank the stuff for anything except parties,” T-Bag said after emptying most of a bottle into his large water bottle before draining the rest. He grimaced. “Tastes like someone mixed tap water and club soda.”

“Like, it’s not flat,” Mason added, “but it’s not trying to be carbonated either.”

“Barbarians,” Heidi said, taking Mason’s unfinished bottle and taking a sip of her own. She gave a satisfied smile. “I think it tastes lovely.”

“Clearly you’ve never tasted tap water,” Andy said.

“Less talking, more drinking,” Carter said. So saying, she tipped back most of a full bottle like a college pro at a party.

“Speaking of drinking,” T-Bag said, “I found the good stuff.” He held up two six-packs of Corona Light, a ridiculous grin on his face. “If we can find some limes, this might not be half bad.”

“Boo-yah,” Chavez said, doing a quick fist pump in the air. “We can have a few when we stop tonight.”

“No more than one each,” Carter said. “No drunkenness while I’m in command.”

“Yes, ma’am,” T-Bag said enthusiastically. “Even if I drank all o’ this myself, it wouldn’t even make me tipsy.”

“I bet Mason’s a lightweight, though,” I said loudly in his direction. “What do you want to bet he’s never even been drunk?”

“Low blow, man,” Mason muttered as we began forming up to exit the room, but I caught the grin on his face.

We made our way downstairs, the collective mood of the group lighter. I was in front again until we left the building. Then, Chavez took point and I covered his right.

We resumed our trek on the road. At the intersection, it expanded into a four-lane road on either side of a median. We chose to walk on the grass in the middle of the highway where we could have a full 360° view around us. We would also have moderate cover from the sporadic palm trees that dotted the landscaped divider, if we needed it.

“Weren’t these trees smaller yesterday?” T-Bag asked.

“Yeah, now that you mention it…” Chavez said. “That one was about my height. Lowest branches almost poked my eye out.” He pointed to a nearby tree that stood closer to my height now. If what he said was true, then the tree had managed almost two feet of growth in one night.

“Stop looking at the damn trees,” Andy said. “Keep your eyes peeled for something that might actually hurt us.”

This snapped us all back into focus, paying no attention to the trees except to ensure there were no killer squirrels lurking in the branches. We moved down the street toward the tan walls of a building that was just visible over the tops of the palms.

Nothing attacked us, but I swore I could feel eyes following me from the tree line on our left. We passed some invisible line that separated the wild thicket from human civilization, and the sensation disappeared. After a hundred more feet, we’d drawn level with the sand-colored building, which only said, “REK CENTER”.

“T-Bag, did you design this building?” Karl asked.

“No, why?” T-Bag answered.

“Because it looks like someone illiterate stuck those letters up there.” We all laughed, a nervous round of chuckles that didn’t pause our constant lookout for danger.

“My bad,” T-Bag answered. “I could only use two fingers when I put up the sign.” So saying, he lifted one finger on either hand at the younger agent.

“That wasn’t even a good comeback,” Karl said.

“If you want my comeback, you’ll have to talk to your mom,” T-Bag laughed.

“Gross,” Heidi said.

“Yeah, real mature,” Chavez said.

“If one of you cracks another joke before we get to the station,” Carter broke in. “I swear to God you’re going to spend the night in holding. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I will figure it out.”

It looked like we had traded in captain sarcastic for general hard-ass.

“Yes, ma’am,” Karl said. “Won’t happen again, ma’am.”

“Keep moving,” she said. “We stop when we get to the station unless there are obvious signs of trouble.”

We passed the recreation facility and kept going. I made a mental note that the facility probably had a good stash of power bars that would last a while if we made our way back. We crossed the intersection and began to see the first signs of life. Or rather, what had been life.

Bodies lay scattered on the ground. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it, except that half were torn open, while the other half lay still, the pattern eerily resembling the husband and wife we’d found in the parking lot the day before. A man’s body lay on the ground next to a dumpster, a white trash bag in his hand. We found a woman’s body beneath a staircase leading into an apartment building. A third body, the skin of this one a bright white in the sun, lay on the ground, its chest gaping, but I noticed bullet holes in its legs as well.

Unlike the others, I saw the sign before the bodies. In large block letters above the three arches, it read, “CENTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES”. My gaze inadvertently flicked to the playground, dreading what I would see. The play structure was mostly blue, though the metal supports were all white. It had small steps to get to climb onto the platform leading to a short slide and monkey bars. I also took in the blue park benches and the teeter-totter. When my eyes landed on the small forms, I couldn’t look away.

I’ve been in war. I’ve seen bodies before, and until that instant, I could look at everything that had happened the last couple of days with utter detachment. I’d seen men bleeding from shrapnel and bullet wounds. I’d seen women blow themselves up in Afghanistan for what they believed to be right. I’d even seen children used as human shields. I had to reach for that part of my mind, the deepest part that let me put away the half of my mind that was screaming and allow me to analyze the moment with clarity. I looked away from the bloody bodies and turned back to my group.

T-Bag and Chavez must have already seen what I had because Chavez was bent double, hurling onto the pavement. T-Bag had not managed to pull his eyes away from the scene.

“About face!” I yelled, and most of them immediately turned around the other way. Heidi was slow to react, looking at the others. “Turn around!” I roared at her, and she immediately turned her back to me and stood close to Mason, who put his hand around her.

Andy had not turned around, and he stood looking at me. I imagined that the expression on his face mirrored my own. He looked cold and empty as if nothing in the world could bother him. I also noticed that he kept his eyes firmly away from the playground, even while he looked almost everywhere else.

I walked over to T-Bag and waved my hand in front of his face. His eyes flickered to my hand, but then back to the gruesome sight. I grabbed the man’s arm and began turning him away. His eyes snapped to me, and I took a step back from the unexpected anger flashing in his face.

“Justin!” He took off running toward the playground.

“Stop!” I bellowed, and I prided myself on a solid imitation of my old drill sergeant. My words did not have the same effect, however, as T-Bag continued yelling and running.

“Justin! God, you’re not supposed to be here today.”

I went after him, but with his head start, he had already made it to the fence. It must have been five feet in height, but the lanky man pulled himself up and over the iron bars to land on the other side.

“Keep it down!” I said as I made it to the bars as well.

“Justin!” This time it was even louder as T-Bag began stumbling toward the back of the park. He stopped over a woman, her motionless body curled up on the ground. T-Bag sank to his knees next to her and leaned in to touch her face. Slowly, carefully he lifted her arm. His hand came to his face with a strangled cry when he saw what was underneath. He pulled the small figure to him, cradling it in his arms. His next scream broke the surrounding air, and it thundered against the walls I’d put up to protect my mind from what was happening. When he ran out of breath, he stopped moving.

I knew that one of two things would happen at that moment. Even if I could get to him in time, it wouldn’t have mattered. T-Bag continued holding the small form with his left arm, while his right dropped to his side and pulled the firearm from its holster. I turned away from the fence.

A single shot rang out before I’d made it three steps back to the group. Chavez was back on his feet with Andy’s help, and the group had been scanning in all directions. When the shot came, everyone seemed to freeze, even more than they had before. But only Andy turned around to look at me. I couldn’t quite meet his eye.

“Let’s go,” I said. We moved off, not daring to look back at the fallen.

“Titus,” Carter finally said, breaking the silent memorial. “His name was Titus.”