I gave Benny a nod, and he ran out into the sunshine. I tossed his soda can into the trash and followed.
Greer managed to get the kids into some semblance of order, then did a final head count. His face was scrubbed, and he’d changed into a cleanish pair of jeans and a button-down shirt that was only a little too big for him. He looked good, despite the fact that on closer inspection he was clearly more than a little jumpy. Whether it was because he was about to lead his charges into the largest gathering of infected since the outbreak or because of his impending date with a Ferris wheel and a green-haired girl was hard to say.
“Maybe you should dip into some of Makela’s happy pills before you go,” I said. “Might take the edge off.”
He chuckled nervously. The door to the girls’ cabin slammed open behind us, and then came Hannah’s voice.
“I’m coming! Sorry I’m late!”
“No problem,” Greer said. “We were just—”
He shut up the second he saw her. I didn’t blame him. She’d changed into a white dress that was speckled all over with small blue flowers. Her arms and shoulders were bare, and she’d put her hair up with a few clips Astrid had made out of twigs and sparkling bits of stone. She stopped dead a few feet from us, likely because our slack-jawed staring was freaking her out.
“What? Do I look stupid? I look stupid, don’t I?”
“No!”
“It’s the boots, isn’t it?” She looked down at her feet, which were still clad in her old black combat boots. “Can you believe that? We find this dress, but no shoes that fit me. Forget it, this was a dumb idea. I’m going to change.”
Greer almost jumped out of his skin to stop her. “No! Don’t. You look great. Seriously. Awesome. You look like a completely different person.”
Hannah gave him a look. Good lord, Tennant, he really didn’t have any moves whatsoever.
“You guys should probably get going,” I said, hoping to save him from any further embarrassment.
“Yes!” Greer said. “Let’s go! Good times ahead!”
He trotted off, but Hannah didn’t move. She stood there fiddling with the hem of her dress, looking nervous and worried.
“It’s going to be fun,” I said.
“Yeah. I know.”
“Dude!” Greer called out. “Come on!”
Hannah rolled her eyes, smiling at the same time. “Better go.”
She started toward the others, green hair bouncing, dress swishing at her knees. In no time at all she’d be around the corner, down the mountain, and gone.
“I feel it too.”
She stopped and turned around, suspended halfway between me and the kids. My mouth felt as if it were coated in sand.
“That heartbeat,” I heard myself say. “I feel it too. All the time.”
Greer called out again, but Hannah made a motion for him to wait. She came back up the trail.
“What do we do?” she asked.
There were all sorts of things I could say, some of them even sounded pretty good in my head, but in the end I told her the truth.
“I don’t know.”
For a moment it was like we were back on that trail under the moonlight. Hannah reached out and took my gloved hand. She started to come closer but stopped herself mid-stride.
“I wish we could—”
“I know,” I said. “Me too.”
Greer called again.
“Go on,” I said, barely able to speak around the catch in my throat. “I’ll see you later. We’ve got a date with some fireflies, right?”
Hannah smiled, then hurried toward Greer and Benny and Margo. She took Benny’s hand, Greer scooped up Margo in his arms, and they all continued down the trail. There was a bark behind me as Snow Cone and Hershey Bar raced out of a cabin to see them off. I stood there listening to their fading voices. Once they were gone, the dogs came trotting back. They followed me as I returned to the garden.
21
I WAS IN MY tent reading when I heard the helicopter.
It was a distant buzz at first, but it grew steadily louder until it shot by, right overhead. The dogs jumped up and ran down the trail. I’d moved back to my old camp by then, so I made it to the cabins in no time. Just as I did, helicopters screamed by, skimming the treetops on their way to town. I picked out Marvin logos on their bellies as they slipped past. The Guard had flown helicopters over the QZ plenty of times when they were in charge, but never so many at once and never so low. Did it have something to do with the carnival? Some kind of air show? The dogs stayed close as I headed farther down the trail for a better view.
The Marvins’ carnival had transformed Monument Park into a pool of light in the middle of the dark valley. The helicopters swept across town and took up positions high above it. I grabbed my knife’s hilt as Hershey Bar and Snow Cone whined. Something was wrong. They could feel it too.