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quarantine.
    “There’s a bathroom back there in reception—” Carter pointed down the hall. “But we can’t flush it without water, which we don’t have set up yet. There’s another office next to the one I stayed in. We’ll set it up with a bucket. Someone will come and empty it twice a day.” He paused to rap his knuckles on a door. “Merc will get it set up, right? And we’ll be here.”
    Carter held open the next door so that Lily and McKenna could go in. A desk was pushed against the wall. A punching bag hung in the corner. It was windowless, of course, since it was underground. The walls were lined with bookshelves, most of which were empty except for a bunch of bobbleheads on the shelves right at eye level. There was a leather sofa, three chairs, a useless desktop computer. No sign, however, that Carter actually lived here— when he wasn’t out rescuing girls from Farms.
    McKenna wrapped her arms around her chest and sat on the edge of the sofa, bouncing a little, like she was excited or really had to pee.
    “Can you let us know as soon as you get the bucket set up?” Lily asked just as Merc was starting to close the door behind them.
    She wasn’t used to feeling so protective of McKenna. She’d known her in the Before, although they hadn’t been friends. Not by a long shot. But she no longer had Mel to take care of, and watching out for McKenna gave her something to focus on. Something to think about besides the fact that there were a hundred people out there who expected her to lead them to greatness.
    A few minutes later, Merc came back to tell them the bucket was ready. A few minutes after that, they were all back in the office, the next few days stretching out before them.
    McKenna flopped back on the sofa. “Quarantine? This sucks. How long do you think they’re going to keep us here like this?”
    Lily found herself looking at Carter, wondering the same question. “If it was me,” he said now, “I’d keep us in here for three days at least, watching for symptoms.”
    McKenna groaned a little. “That’s obnoxious. None of us are sick. Besides, I thought you were their leader.”
    “No. It’s smart,” Lily said quickly. She didn’t know for sure if Merc or anyone else was listening at the door. If he was, she didn’t want to rehash the whole issue of whether or not Carter was the leader—particularly the part about her not being an abductura . The longer they kept that under wraps, the better.
    “But none of us has been exposed,” McKenna groused.
    “We don’t know that,” Lily said gently. Funny, just a few days ago, she would have been annoyed by McKenna’s whining. Now, she knew this was just how McKenna acted when she was afraid. Under the circumstances—McKenna must be terrified. She was pregnant and alone. Joe was probably dead. Frankly, it was a miracle she could function at all. “We were all really close to Ticks not that long ago.”
    “It’s not airborne,” Carter said quietly. “It’s passed from one victim to the next by bodily fluids. Like the vampire virus. A Tick has to bite you or—I don’t know—swap blood somehow. We should all be safe.”
    But his voice sounded desperate rather than confident. That’s when Lily knew he’d figured out the same thing she had.
    But McKenna obviously hadn’t figured it out yet, because she said, “So, what? If one of us does show symptoms, they just leave us in here to die?” McKenna broke off mid-rant; she must have noticed both Lily and Carter staring at her. “What? Get sick and die, right? That’s how it goes.”
    “Yeah, for most people.” Lily pushed herself to her feet and moved to stand over by the shelf. Right at eye level was a bobblehead of a superhero—one of the ones she didn’t recognize. She reached out and gave his head a nudge and then watched it bob for a second before turning around, but she still couldn’t make herself look at either of her friends. “But if I show signs—I mean, any