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“No,” he said. “You’ll have to kill me first.”

Feely slid off the bed, his hands out in front of him, palms up.

“Everyone just take it easy,” he said. “Klimas, I told you, we need her.”

Klimas didn’t look away from his stare-down. “Why?”

“Because she’s infected,” Tim said. “She’ll contract Cooper’s hydras, the thing that kills the Converted.”

Margaret stopped squirming.

Clarence forgot about the gun. He looked at Tim.

“You want to use my wife as a weapon?”

Tim started to talk, but coughed instead. Clarence felt a sting in his eyes. He smelled burning wood, melting carpet, odors filtering up from the fire below. Wisps of smoke curled near the ceiling.

Tim thumped a fist against his chest, coughed again, then continued. “Otto, if you’re right and she’s not infected, then she’s got nothing to worry about.” He looked at her, spoke sweetly: “Isn’t that right, Margopolis?”

Clarence felt her shaking her head. “Our baby,” she said, her words choked with deep sobs. “We don’t know how it will affect the baby. Keep Cooper away from me, honey, keep him away.”

Roth walked over, spoke to Klimas. “Commander, it’s ready.”

Klimas’s eyes narrowed. He lowered his weapon.

“Otto, I’m getting Cooper and Tim out of here,” he said. “If Margaret moves funny, I’m wasting her, and if you do anything to stop me, I’ll waste you. Got it?”

Clarence nodded. “Fair enough.”

Klimas tilted his head toward the man-size hole Roth had cut into the drywall. Through it, Clarence saw concrete.

“That’s the exterior wall of the hotel,” Klimas said. “It abuts another building that’s only a foot away. We’re blowing through both and entering that building. Then we’re descending to a tea shop that’s on the ground floor, at the corner of Pearson and Rush. I’m hoping the building is empty, and we can make it down without much of a fight. From there, we’re going to figure out a way through the enemy lines.”

“Enemy lines?” Clarence said. “They’re just a mob.”

“You’ll see soon enough,” Klimas said. “Everyone, into the hall.”

Bosh and Ramierez were still at their posts, guarding the hallway in both directions. Smoke curled thickly at the ceiling; the place was going up fast.

Roth pulled the door shut. He held a small detonator in his hand.

“Fire in the hole,” he said, then pushed the b.u.t.ton.