“What happened? Where’d he go?” Lyia leans over Slim’s shoulder; panic creeps its way up her back. She knows what this is. Knows what’s coming. The crows are here. She’s been through this before. It can’t be happening again, though. Not here.

“I—I don’t know. Can’t see him on anyone’s playback. The nanobots can’t see him, either. Dude’s just … gone. All those birds are still around, but he’s not anywhere.” Slim shifts in his seat and looks up at her. There’s a bit of a spark in his eye, a playfulness despite his stern squint. “You think maybe he just gave up and went away?”

She scowls. Sure, Slim knows that they’re not out of danger, but he’s got no idea what’s coming. He hasn’t been through this like she and Jack have. Hasn’t seen the piles of bodies from the decimation of a whole town. Hasn’t felt the burn of Death’s Mark.

It’s not a time for jokes.

Lyia grabs the sides of Slim’s face and turns him back to the array of monitors. “Don’t look at me. Look at those screens. Find out where he went. How can he even do that?”

“Shit, Lee, I dunno. He’s fuckin’ Death. He’s got a scythe made of his own blood and up until a few minutes ago, he was flying. I’m pretty sure he can do a lot of things we can’t.”

“Well, then tell me where the crows are going.”

“Where they’re going? They’re not moving like a flock, Lee. I don’t think these are normal birds. They’re spreading out. They’re going everywhere.”

Her heart sinks. “They’re not normal birds. They’re emissaries of Death. Where they go, he follows. They mark. He reaps.”

Slim cocks his head like he wants to look at her, but he can’t tear his gaze from the images on his monitors. “So this is it? Bule is doomed?”

She lets the question roll in her mind. The day had started so normal. Even the alert of a coming raid wasn’t all that out of the ordinary. Since then, though, the day has been an unending series of emotional ups and downs. It’s like her spirit has been dragged on the footpaths that weave along the canyon walls.

On the screens, she sees Jack. Deflated, but not defeated. There’s still hope there. After all that kid has been through, all he’s seen, somehow he still manages to hope. To think there’s a way out. But not this time. Not by himself, at least. An idea hits her.

“He needs help.”

Slim finally peels his gaze off his screens and looks at Lyia. “Who needs help? Death? This isn’t a good time for you to have a whole conversation in your head and then talk to me like I heard it.”

“Jack, asshole. Jack needs help.”

“We are helping. We’re his eyes and ears. Tiny, explosive eyes and ears.”

“That’s not enough. We need to be his voice.”

“What are you talking about?”

Lyia grabs a stool and pulls next to Slim. “We’ve got to work fast. Once the crows start finding people, it won’t be long before Death shows up to collect them.”

“Dammit, Lee! I can’t help you if I don’t know what you’re trying to do.”

She grits her teeth as memories of past arguments flood her mind. This is exactly why they were no good together. Slim could never just be along for the ride. He had to know every little detail; he still does. It isn’t enough to share physical space for him, he’s got to be all up in her headspace too. But …

She stares at the terminal and array of monitors in front of her. He doesn’t know what she’s trying to do. She closes her eyes and lets out a breath. It’s more infuriating when he’s right.

Opening her eyes, she turns to face Slim. “I’m going to say a bunch of things right now. There’s no time, so you’re going to let me say these things and you’re not going to interrupt. Ah—”

Slim opens his mouth to say something, but Lyia stops him with a glare before he gets going. “No questions.”

She pauses for half a beat to ensure he’s compliant before continuing. “Good. Here’s what’s going to happen. We need to get word to Harris. Hiding isn’t going to work this time. Those birds go everywhere. There’s no getting away from them. And they’re like portals or beacons that tell Death where to go. But the birds can be killed. I killed one with Jack when Death came to us.”

Slim nods. “Killing the crows shuts the doors. I get it.”

“I thought I said no interruptions.” Lyia scowls.

But Slim has already turned back to his terminal. “Do you want to argue about that or do you want to get this done?” After a few quick jabs at the keys, he continues. “After Jack asked, I checked. Harris’s gear is off. I’ve got no comms to him and as far as I can tell, he’s out of range of my ‘eyes and ears’ hack with the playback kneaks. How do you want to get in touch with him?”

“What about your little nano-whatevers?”

“The nanobots? Yeah, I guess they’re not doing Jack much good now. I could get them over to Harris’s siege cave. But then what? They’re too small to see and I designed them to be no louder than a mosquito buzzing.”

“They blow up, though.”

“You want me to set off an explosion inside a cave full of people?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Now it’s Slim’s turn to scowl. “No. Not yet, at least. Lemme get the bots over there. I might have an idea, but I’ll have to work on it while the bots make their way.” He points to one of his monitors. “I’ll leave this bot with Jack so we can see him. Tell me if Jack turns his comms back on so we can tell him what we’re doing.”

Lyia focuses on the image of Jack on the screen. She’s never seen him this dispirited. That isn’t right. That needs to be fixed.

“I need two bots.” Lyia looks over to Slim, who is already focused on his task of reaching out to Harris. He’s so absorbed, he doesn’t seem to hear her. She smacks the back of his head. “Hey!”

“Ow! What did you—”

“Save it. I need another bot.”

“What for?”

“For Jack.”

“Why? We already have the one looking at him. If you need a different angle—”

“I need to blow it up next to his head.”

“You what?”

“Look at him! That’s not Jack. Not the one we know. No matter how many times life has handed him a raw deal, he always has another angle, another plan, another idea on how to turn a mess in his favor.”

Slim can’t help but grin. “Most of those schemes never pan out.”

“But that never stops him, does it? It’s one of the truly admirable things about the kid.”

“Youthful naivety. He’ll grow out of it. Get jaded and bitter like the rest of us.”

“I thought the same thing. But now? Seeing him in this moment where that spark of his is missing? No. It’s a critical part of him. A core of who he is. I can’t let him lose that. Especially now.”

Slim raises an eyebrow. “And your solution is to detonate an explosion in his face.”

Lyia shrugs with a weak smile. “Pinny has never been good with subtlety. We just need to get his attention. Snap him out of this, this—”

“Funk. I get it. A slap to the head is sometimes exactly what’s necessary to get the brain going.” Slim rubs the back of his own head where Lyia had smacked him.

She winces. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Nope. It kinda proved your point.” Slim eyes are alight with the old mischief that drew her toward him years ago. “Let’s get Jack’s attention with a little boom.”