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Spider reached over and clasped Gutsy’s wrist. “Please… don’t even think about it.”
Gutsy managed a smile. It was totally fake, but Spider seemed reassured by it. “Whatever, guys,” she said to the group.
Benny relaxed a bit. “Though, to be fair,” he said, “it is kind of a crazy time right now.”
“Don’t tell me you’re agreeing with her about going out there,” said Chong, alarmed. “I mean, sure, this sounds like one of your classic idiot ideas, but—”
“Nope,” said Benny emphatically. “Even I wouldn’t do this, and I’ve had some moderately wacky ideas.”
“?‘Moderately’?” Chong echoed faintly.
They stared at Gutsy. She shrugged. “I still think it’s a good idea.”
“Despite those wild men, regular los muertos, ravagers, and every disease known to man?” Alethea wondered. “You need help.”
“I’m open to practical suggestions,” said Gutsy. “We need to do something besides sit here and sulk.”
“Sure,” said Benny, “we need to keep fortifying the town and wait for Joe and Sam. Going to that base is suicide.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Actually,” said Benny, “I kind of do. I went to one with Joe, Nix, and Lilah. It was at Zabriskie Point in California. That’s where we rescued Dr. McReady. Oh, and Chong was actually in one in Nevada.”
“Isn’t this a moot point?” Chong said. “The air around that place is basically disease soup. You’d be dead pretty quickly, and probably turn into a wild man.”
“Wild girl,” corrected Alethea.
“Wild girl,” agreed Chong. “Or… wild woman.”
“I could take a hazmat suit from the hospital and…” Everyone glared at Gutsy, and the rest of her sentence trailed off. She raised her eyebrows. “Okay, so tell me a better plan.”
No one spoke, but Gutsy sat there, arms folded across her chest, steadfast in her opinion.
“Please,” begged Alethea, “do not do something stupid here.”
Gutsy endured their stares for almost fifteen seconds before she exhaled and nodded. “Okay, okay.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“On Mama’s grave,” said Spider, which jolted Gutsy. “Swear it.”
After a long moment, she said, “I swear on Mama’s grave that I won’t do something stupid.”
Only then did Spider and Alethea relax, and after a moment, so did Benny and Chong. The conversation resumed, but it was empty chitchat, and soon they all left. Gutsy sat alone in the kitchen, Sombra’s head on her thigh, staring at the wall as if the future was painted there for her to see.
49
GUTSY SNUCK OUT AN HOUR after sunset.
The first thing she did was go over to the hospital to steal a hazmat suit. She’d visited Morton before leaving to ask him to make a map of the base. He’d done it reluctantly, though he apparently bought the lie that it was something she was preparing for when Captain Ledger returned. She’d even flattered him, telling the doctor that this kind of assistance would make him a hero in the eyes of the town.
She remembered the look on Morton’s face. He was his usual haughty self, and then arrogance gave way to doubt, then fear, and finally a fragile hope.
“And what about you, Gabriella?” he asked. “I know I’ll never be a hero to you.”
“Yes, you will,” she lied. “If you help save New Alamo, then you and I are square.”
