An excited sound welled through the tent. Pvt. Tatum and a few of his friends walked in, and people immediately flocked to them. Lazlo’s fame became insignificant. The real rock stars here were the soldiers, as it should be.

“I’ll be right back.” I got up and pushed my tray away.

“What?” Lazlo gave me a confused look but didn’t follow when I walked over to Tatum.

I shoved gently through the people gathering around them. Tatum saw me coming, and his expression varied between bemused and annoyed. On the positive side, he parted a few people so it’d be easier for me to get to him.

“You seem to be adjusting well,” he smiled.

“Yeah, I’m adjusting great, thanks,” I said, brushing it off as politely as I could. “Did you hear anything about my brother?”

“You know, I’m actually off duty right now.” Tatum continued with his smile and gestured to his apparel. He had dressed down to a green tee shirt and tan pants. With his helmet gone, his eyes weren’t hidden in the shadows, and I could see something mischievous in them. “Well, as off duty as a soldier a can get.”

“I know, and I appreciate that, but I’m not asking you track him down this second,” I said. “I’m just asking if you know if he’s here or where he might be.”

“I was gonna come find you later.” He ran a hand through his crew-cut blond hair. “Come here.”

“What?” My heart dropped.

“Just c’mere.” Tatum grabbed my arm, not gently but not enough to really hurt, and pulled me away.

My mouth felt dry, and my heart pounded so fast, it hurt. My feet didn’t really seem to want to cooperate either, and I welcomed him dragging me along. I looked over my shoulder just before he led me out of the tent. Lazlo had gotten up from the table in some gesture to protect me, but I just shook my head.

I didn’t want him barging out here and preventing Tatum from telling me something. Whatever he wanted to say, he wanted to do it in private, because even his army buddies weren’t following us.

“What?” I demanded, pulling my arm back when I felt like we’d gone far enough. “What’s going on?”

“I have confirmation,” Tatum said hesitantly. “Your brother’s here. But you can’t see him.”

– 18 –

Intense relief flooded over me, and I wrapped my arms around myself to keep from visibly shaking. Up until the second he said my brother was here, I had been convinced he would tell me Max had died.

“What? Why the hell can’t I see Max?” I asked, relieved that I kept the tremble out of my voice.

“Keep your voice down,” Tatum looked back over his shoulder, but nobody was around us. “I brought you out here so you wouldn’t make a scene.”

“Why would I make a scene?”

“I’m not supposed to tell you anything.” He lowered his voice and leaned in closer to me.

“Why not? What’s going on?” I demanded.

“I don’t know.” Tatum shook his head. “Whatever’s going on with your brother, it’s very classified. He came in the middle of the night on a truck with officers and doctors, but no other civilians. Nobody I know has seen him, and they got very uptight when I started asking about him.”

“But he’s alive?” I rubbed the back of my neck and looked away from his intense stare. The wound on my hip tingled, like some kind of Tell Tale Heart reminder.

“As far as I know.” Tatum narrowed his eyes at me. My lack of bravado about hearing the word classified triggered something. “Do you know what’s going on with your brother?”

“How could I know?” I tried to return his scrutiny evenly. “He’s locked up, like a prisoner even though he’s an eight-year-old little boy! I have no idea what’s happening to him!”

Tatum straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest, the sleeves of his shirt tightening on his biceps. By his stern expression, I knew he didn’t believe me, but I didn’t know what he made of it. He stared at me for a moment, and I swallowed hard. I knew that if I wanted to see my brother, I had to have Tatum on my side.

“Is he infected?” Tatum asked finally.

“No,” I shook my head but didn’t say more.

“You better not lie to me about this,” he warned me. Even though he was probably only a year or so older than me, he was tall, broad, and rather imposing. “I don’t want any of these people in here getting sick because of some kid.”

“No, he’s not… he can’t get anybody sick,” I said as carefully as I could. “I’m just trying to protect him, and I can’t do that if I can’t even see him.”

“I can look into it more.”

“Look into it more?” I scoffed. “I made it all the way here, and you’re gonna try to look into it? I’ve gone all the way across the country, rescued a lion, escaped a cult, killed marauders, and fought dozens of zombies with my bare fricking hands! And you’re gonna look into it?”

Immediately after saying it, I felt guilty for sounding so ungrateful. It wasn’t that I didn’t value all Tatum’s help, both as a solider and searching for Max. It just was so frustrating to know that I was so close, and still so far away.

Tatum smiled at my outburst, and maybe that was a good thing.

“I like a girl who’s not afraid to punch a zombie,” he smirked. I cocked my head at him, unsure of what he was getting at, and that just made him smile more. “Calm down.” He leaned in closer to me, his voice barely above a whisper. “I will get you to see your brother. Just give me time.”

“Okay,” I said, a little taken back by his assurance.

“Now, if it’s okay with you, I’m gonna go eat my lunch.” Tatum raised an eyebrow at me, as if really checking for my approval about eating, so I smiled sheepishly and nodded at him.

He backed away, going into the tent, but I stood outside, my mind racing. I looked up at the concrete building looming behind the mess hall.

Knowing that Max was in there was the most maddening thing in the world. He was so close, but he was locked up too tightly for me to see him. I wasn’t even supposed to know he was alive.

Lazlo and Harlow hurried out a minute later to find out what happened with Tatum, but I was vague on the details since I didn’t want to get him in trouble. Max was alive, and really, that was all that mattered. I felt a small weight lift off my shoulders, but not completely. I still had to figure out how to see him and what to do if I didn’t like what I saw.