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“We’ll find them,” Paulius said. If there was a time to lie, it was now. “How you holding up?”

“I’m just …” Ramierez leaned his head forward as a wave of pain washed over him. He stayed that way for a few seconds, then looked up. “I’m solid, Commander. But maybe I’ll just take a little nap.”

“Negative,” Paulius said. “You stay awake, that’s an order. Keep trying Roth and Harrison, got it?”

Ramierez managed a slow nod.

Paulius had done all he could for the wounded: st.i.tches for Cooper and Feely, bandages for Otto, sure, but abdominal surgery for Ramierez? Out of Paulius’ league.

He pulled off his headset and stuffed it into a pocket of his fatigues. He pulled the fur coat tighter, then walked toward Feely.

Paulius pa.s.sed by Otto and Margaret. She was sitting on a chair, still bound, still gagged. Otto had covered her in coats, leaving only her head exposed. He had ditched his CBRN suit — the thing had been just as shredded as Feely’s — but hadn’t put on any extra clothing. The man preferred to s.h.i.+ver, apparently. Maybe it added to his self-indulgent misery.

Otto tilted his head toward Ramierez. “How is he?”

“Dying,” Paulius said quietly. “Did you call Longworth?”

“Yeah,” Otto said. “He knows we made it out.”

“You ask him how many Stingers were in the reserve bases around here?”

Otto nodded. “The bra.s.s thinks the Converted could have over fifty of them in Chicago.”

Fifty. Dammit. Sending in any helicopters for pickup would be suicide. Paulius would have to find a way to take everyone to a safer area and hope the Converted had concentrated their Stingers downtown. He’d look for a spot to the north, on the sh.o.r.e, make it easier for the Seahawks to approach. That was the best hope, and it still meant a hike of several miles for Feely and Cooper, both of whom had significant leg wounds, and for Ramierez, who couldn’t move at all.

“That’s just fantastic,” Paulius said. “I don’t suppose Murray can convince Admiral Porter to send a nice little armor division or two our way?”

Otto shook his head. “There aren’t any armor divisions. At least not in the Midwest. What’s left of our military is engaged in active combat, including all of our reserves. Testing kits are running low. The Converted are popping up in almost every unit, special forces included. Murray is even afraid to drop in reinforcements for us, because he can’t be sure members of those units won’t be compromised and try to kill Cooper themselves. It’s real bad out there.”

Paulius tried to control his temper. They had the package, they’d done it.

“It’s real bad here, too,” he said. “Doesn’t he have anything for us?”