Page 41 of After the Burn

He left as we stepped inside.

I was going to cooperate for now. Because fighting before I understood the rules here would be stupid.

And I wasn’t stupid.

The blonde nurse from earlier stood by the counter, preparing syringes next to several labeled blood vials. Up close, she looked younger than I had first thought. Maybe her early twenties. Faint exhaustion lined the corners of her eyes, but she still seemed composed.

It was obvious that she’d learned to function under any circumstances, even as the world burned down around her. It was clear she’d gotten good at coping, even when everything was falling apart.

The little girl from earlier was now in here, curled on a cot, playing with two Barbies that had seen better days.

She noticed me looking.

“That’s my daughter, Aurora,” she explained quietly.

“Rory!” the little girl shouted. “I’m four years old.”

“Rory,” the lady agreed with her daughter. “Now play quietly while I tend to these ladies.”

I couldn’t contain my smile even though our situation was looking grimmer by the second.

The little girl nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” She continued to play with her dolls.

“You bring your kid to work?” I asked lightly, fishing for any information I could get.

A faint smile touched her mouth as she tied off a piece of medical tubing. “Everyone brings their kids to work now.”

Fair enough.

She motioned toward the chairs near the wall. “Sit.”

Lila obeyed immediately.

I moved a little more cautiously.

She smiled reassuringly, her earlier anger forgotten. “I’m Harper.”

“Taryn.”

"Lila," she said, fiddling with her hair nervously.

Harper nodded once before swabbing Lila’s arm first. “I promise I’m not going to steal your organs, just draw a tiny bit of blood.”

Lila blinked, and I snorted.

Maybe she wasn’t a bitch after all. A sense of humor was hard to find these days.

“What exactly are you testing for?” I asked as Harper filled the first vial.

“Blood type, among other things.”

Not the answer I expected.

My eyes narrowed slightly. “Why?”

Harper glanced briefly toward the hallway before lowering her voice slightly.

“The fever changed people differently. Some survived it. Some turned, and some never got sick at all.” Her eyes flicked briefly toward Lila. “Those are usually the lucky ones.”