As we keep moving toward Manchester, Jason and I stay busy by going through the city patrol woman's backpack. He doesn't really speak, other than pointing out the supply of dried fruit she was carrying, or counting the four bottles of water tucked away inside. I know his brain is probably working overtime, trying to process what he's done.

I can't believe he killed that woman, and I'm sure it must have been a bigger shock to Jason.

He was afraid, and people do things like that when they're scared. You don't have time to think, so you just act.

I want to explain this to Jason, to make him feel better about this somehow, but I can't. I just don't know how. There aren't any words to make what Jason did seem okay, How do you convince someone that murder is acceptable if you're saving someone else's life by doing it?

After we finish with the pack, we sit quietly in the backseat, listening to the static that has taken over whatever radio station was turned on. Brynn hasn't said a word since we ran across the Inhumanes in the road nearly an hour and a half ago, and it feels like we're all afraid to speak. It's nothing new for me, but for Brynn and Jason to stay this quiet is a little unusual.

After her episode earlier, I wonder what Shemik is thinking. Is she as scared as I'm feeling right now? Does she think we're going to die?

I've been thinking about that lately, and the closer we get to these soldiers the more likely it seems.

~*~

We're on the edges of Manchester when Brynn points out the building. Everything about it looks evil, from the three men standing at the tall gate, to the fence surrounding the place, to the grimy-looking building itself.

It creeps me out, making me feel even more afraid with every passing second.

I try to focus on Brynn and Shemik, who are carrying out a whispered conversation up front. Somehow, even though they have to be, I can't imagine either of them being scared. Shemik sounds incredibly calm, and Brynn's voice holds no indication of fear.

They're probably just as scared as I am, though. I know poor Brynn must be at least.

We start moving again, continuing down the roadway for about five more minutes. We take a series of turns, ending up in an alley in what has to be the most rundown part of the city.

We're hiding the car, I realize. If, when, we find the others, our vehicle will be out of the soldiers' sight for a while.

Shemik turns the key, and suddenly everything is quiet. Too quiet.

She opens her door, scrambling out of the vehicle in a way that says she's in a terrible hurry. Brynn gets out too, then Jason is moving to open his door.

It only makes sense for me to be last, I guess. I'm the youngest, the smallest, and being so I'm always last to do things.

I hope that doesn't mean I'll be last to die. I'd rather go sooner than later, to not be stuck waiting around to watch everybody I bothered to care about die.

No.

I shake my head, taking a deep breath as I follow the others out of the car. I slip the city patrol woman's pack onto my shoulders, surprised at how heavy it feels.

No one is going to die, Rose. Just because things look bad now, that doesn't mean they can't turn around in a hurry.

Six throwing knives for each of us.

I'm so nervous that even though I'm trying to pay attention, I only catch a few words of what Shemik is saying.

This has to work, it has to.

All of a sudden we're walking, and my feet are moving almost before I realize it. I'm a few steps behind Shemik, Brynn and Jason following me as we head back the way we came. It takes twice as long this time as it did when we were in the car, but somehow I don't mind.

Walking gives me a chance to try calming myself down. I have to pretend this is just some sort of training, one of the exercises we used to do back at our living space in London.

This is real life, though, and I never used to get scared during training. This feels too real for me to pretend it isn't.

The walk ends up going by in a blur, and we're standing in the road in front of that awful gate again before I know it. This place looks a lot like the Russian camp I was in years ago, the dull building and tall fence making me shiver. I force myself to forget, to push everything from three years ago back into the past where it belongs.

I can't think about that, and I don't want to.

A loud popping sound cuts through the air. I jump, fighting the instincts telling me to run, to get out now. One of the soldiers on the other side of the gate is looking directly at us, his gun raised in the air. Shemik takes another step, leaving the road and getting a little closer to the three officers.

I don't know what comes over me, but all of a sudden I'm standing in front of her, and that same soldier is shooting into the air again.

I'm the youngest; the other three could make it without me if this doesn't work.

"One step closer, and I will shoot you."

I smile at the soldier who has spoken, hoping that I startle him at least a little. Does he somehow know what I can do? If not, hopefully I can give him a surprise he won't forget.

I'm shaking, but I force myself to focus. The air is my friend. It will protect me, it will protect all of us if I ask it too.

I hold both hands in front of me, concentrating on the different currents in the afternoon air. I focus on the three soldiers, willing the air to push them as far from us as possible.

The men hit the ground, thrown in the opposite direction as we move toward the gate again. I can't stop looking around, wondering if more of them are waiting to finish us off before we even get inside.

These three are the only ones I see, but one of them is trying to get up.

Stay down. I think it as forcefully as I can, keeping my hands in front of me and pushing at the air. Stay down. You aren't supposed to get up.

He goes back down, the air taking hold of him and slamming him to the ground again.

I put my hands down, noticing that I'm starting to shake again. My palms are sweaty, and distractedly I wonder if I'm really strong enough to keep doing this if I have to.

We're a few steps from the gate when another one tries to get up. I go through my motion again, raising my hands and getting myself ready to call on the air one more time.

"Don't." this soldier's voice is firm, but he doesn't sound as scary as the first one, "I am on your side."

I stare at him, eyes wide, before looking back to Shemik.

He's lying. He probably just wants us to get closer, so he doesn't have to work as hard to kill us.

"Rosalie, he's telling the truth." Shemik sounds sure of it when she speaks, though for an instant I'm still really afraid to trust him.

He's a Russian soldier, just like the ones who tortured me.

Then he raises his gun. I take a step back.

I knew it! I knew he wanted to hurt us.

Shemik lands a hand on each of my shoulders, spinning me around to face her before I have a second to think.

The sound of a gunshot, like every time I hear it, makes me flinch. It's followed by a second shot a moment later, and then there's silence.

Shemik lets go of me, and I turn around. I hear her whisper something that sounds a lot like "don't look."

I can't help myself. I do it anyway. The soldier who said he's on our side is opening the gate, telling us to follow him. The other two are on the ground, and I see right away where those two bullets went.

The soldiers are lying on the grass, so peaceful they could just be sleeping. There's too much blood for that, though. Way too much blood in way too short a time.

They look just like my parents did, the day my five-year-old self watched a man shoot them both in the head.

These two were shot in the head too, and I wonder what they were thinking about when it happened.

I can't move, can't breathe, and suddenly Brynn is yelling at me.

"Hey! Hey Rose, can you hear me?"

My head moves up and down as I blink, taking a deep breath and bringing myself back to the here and now. The soldier is walking ahead of us, Shemik keeping pace with him as the rest of us follow. He's talking quietly, and I can only pick up a few words.

I hear him say that his name is Ivanov, the only part of the conversation I can clearly make out. Ivanov stops at the door of the building, and I hear Brynn mumbling to herself next to me.

"This is it." she whispers, "Here we go."

Now when I look at her, it's clear she's really scared. Her eyes are huge, her face is pale, and I wonder if this is what I look like right now.

Shemik and Ivanov step into the building, and I fight the impulse to stick my fingers in my ears. I am just close enough to watch Ivanov raise his gun again, to hear the shots he fires.

One, two, three, four. There are four soldiers in the hallway, and now they are all on the floor.

Dead. I know it, and I know that should make me sad or something, but it doesn't. Most of these soldiers are bad people, and they can't hurt anyone when they're dead.

Ivanov walks fast. Shemik is about the same height as he is, and the two of them manage to keep the same pace pretty easily. Brynn, Jason, and I are all but running just to keep up.

Sometimes I hate being short.

We move up a staircase, then down another hallway. Ivanov fires off two more shots along the way, taking down the only two soldiers who appear in the path.

He stands in front of a door, pounding it with a fist while Shemik looks around, shifting from one foot to the other like she's expecting someone to throw themselves at us any second.

"Orlov!" Ivanov shouts, "Orlov, open the door this instant."

My eyes widen, and I take a step back without meaning to. Dimitri? Dimitri Orlov?

Jason's hand is on my shoulder, and I hear him telling me that everything is okay. He doesn't sound like he believes it, though.

The door is thrown open, and there he is. Dimitri, the boy I'm not sure I'll ever trust again.

His face is blank at first as he looks at Ivanov, then his gaze lands on Shemik. He's really pale all of a sudden, and he stumbles back a few steps. He looks like he's seeing a ghost, and for a moment I bet it's exactly what he thought.

"Warszawski? How did you-"

"Don't just stand there, soldier." Ivanov snaps, "Bring your weapons, boy, if you have any thought of getting out of here alive."

Dimitri blinks, turns, and makes his way back into his room. He comes back with a throwing knife in each hand, and I wonder how many more he has hidden in his pockets. I stay close to Jason, afraid to get too close to the kid who used to be my friend.

The next couple of minutes are another blur, filled with the sound of Ivanov's gun as he takes out any other soldier to cross our path. We go up another set of stairs, stopping in the open doorway of an empty room.

"The girl, Lilian," Ivanov is saying, "She is on the top floor. The others are not with her right now, and I believe it is best if we split up."

Splitting up never ends well. Doesn't that mean we should avoid it? Last time we split up Lili, Emilio, and Theo were captured. Last time we split up, Dimitri tried to kill Shemik and Jason.

Shemik agrees with Ivanov.

I bite my lip.

Brynn and I end up with the soldier while Shemik, Dimitri, and Jason go off to find Lili. I want to tell Shemik and Jason to be careful, but what if I'm just being ridiculous? Shemik can watch out for the two of them, can't she? Dimitri won't try to harm her again, not here.

He wouldn't dream of it, would he?

But the truth is I don't know. For a year and a half, I thought I knew him, but in the end it turned out I didn't. I was wrong about him, and I'm not sure I'll ever forget how he betrayed us.

I turn away from him, following Ivanov and Brynn down the opposite hallway as I tell myself that there's no need to worry about Dimitri right now.

We have to get out of here, then I can spend forever worrying about what he could do.