The Invasion of the Tearling

Perhaps twenty minutes later, she followed Jonathan up a ladder and emerged through an open manhole into a dark alley, where she found herself surrounded by dumpsters that clearly hadn’t been emptied in years.

“Help Dori up when she comes,” Tear told Jonathan. “She won’t want help, but do it anyway. That bullet hasn’t quite finished with her yet.”

Lily tucked her arms around herself. The air was warm in late August, but she was wet through with perspiration, and wind seemed to sneak up beneath her jacket.

What happens on September first?

“Get your fucking hand off me!” a voice hissed from the manhole.

“Shut up, Dori.” Jonathan hauled her up from the hole, rifle and all. “Everyone knows how tough you are.”

“I could put you down, South Carolina.”

“Sure you could.”

“We need to move.” Tear was staring at the mouth of the alley. Lily could see nothing, but she believed him; he reminded her of a dog on point, scenting danger that was invisible to the eye. After ten people had emerged from the manhole, Jonathan replaced the cover, and Lily remembered something Arnie had said once: that the Blue Horizon liked to split its forces to prevent losses. The rest must have moved on in the tunnel.

“Come on, Mrs. M.”

They went one at a time from the mouth of the alley, vanishing in all directions. Dorian touched Lily’s shoulder in passing, but when Lily turned, she was already gone. Tear tugged at her arm and they both followed Jonathan up a street that Lily didn’t recognize. Office buildings, long derelict, reared above both sidewalks. Each window seemed to tell its own story of breakage, and Lily heard the telltale sounds of people inside, shuffling and muttering, but she couldn’t see anyone. The glow of smog above their heads was beginning to dim with approaching dawn.

“Get the car,” Tear said, and Jonathan moved off into the mist. Lily swayed on her feet and Tear grabbed her elbow, steadying her.

“You’re in a lot of trouble, Mrs. Mayhew. Tell as good a story as you can about the car, but Security will eventually think to look up your tag. They’ll want to know what you were doing here.”

“Have you ever been in custody?”

“Yes.”

“What happens?”

“You try to live through it.”

“And what happens on September first?”

Tear’s jaw tightened. “I can’t tell you.”

“In case they torture me?”

“Yes.”

Lily considered this for a moment, feeling her stomach knot up. She closed her eyes, tried to think of the better world. But all she saw was the school doorway, Maddy’s tousled head disappearing forever. A car pulled up in front of them, and it took Lily a moment to recognize her Lexus, Jonathan at the wheel. The car’s sleek, black frame seemed alien, grotesque on this broken street.

“Get in. Jonathan will take you home.”

“Can’t I …” Lily took a deep breath. “Can’t I stay here, with all of you?”

Tear looked at her for a long moment. “No, Mrs. Mayhew. I’m sorry. There are already too many. A lot of good people will be left behind.”

Lily nodded, trying to force a smile, but Dorian’s voice rang in her head: The better world’s not for people like you. She got into the car, barely registering the plush leather seats. Tear began to close the door, and she grabbed his wrist, almost in desperation. “I don’t know how I get through this.”

Tear put a hand on her cheek. Warmth seemed to sink into her skin, bringing her back from the cold place in her head. “I promise you, you will get through it.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“Yes, I can. Believe me, you’re tougher than you imagine.”

“How do you know?”

He withdrew his hand, straightening up. The silver eyes glimmered. “I know, Lily. I’ve known you all my life.”

The door slammed in her face and a fist thumped twice on the roof. Jonathan floored it, and Lily was thrown back in her seat. She twisted around, wriggling until she could look out the back windshield and see William Tear staring after them, his tall frame standing military-straight under the lights of Boston.

THEY WERE HALFWAY back to New Canaan before Jonathan said a word. Lily had spent the journey looking out the window, trying to think of a more plausible story for Security. She had nothing. With each mile, her stomach tightened, then tightened further, knots seemed to coil in on themselves until she thought she might be sick.

“Don’t worry, Mrs. M.”

Lily jumped. She had forgotten that someone else was in the car. She looked up and found Jonathan’s eyes on her in the rearview mirror.

“I think I killed him, Jonathan.”

“You had cause.”

Lily blushed. This was the closest they’d ever come to talking about that night … about any of the nights. “Security won’t care about that.”

“We look out for each other, Mrs. M. We take care of each other. Without that there’s nothing.”

“Won’t you be in trouble too? If they track this car?”