* * *
If not for Alley’s sense of direction, we’d never have found our way back to the entrance. The City of bangad boy leads the way back out through the maze of corridors, until we emerge onto the face of the Zhuhai. The sun is setting, painting the world golden as it descends toward the horizon.
At the base of the ramp, I call a halt. Most of the others collapse at once, but I stay on my feet, fearful that if I stop moving I won’t be able to start again. The pain is subsiding, a little, but I’m no stranger to powerburn, and I know that it won’t be long before the fever sets in.
Even so, I’m better off than some of the others. I do a quiet head count and come up with eleven.
“We didn’t…” I cough, and close my eyes for a moment. “Leave anyone? Anyone who was…”
Olite shakes his head.
