FIVE
It was funny, thought Coup, how fast things could change—how an already tense situation could go from bad to worse, often with the addition of just a single element: in this case, the soldiers’ firing of a flare and his own spotting of the young woman in one of the creatures’ oddly human hands—a live woman. One who was battered and bloody, to be sure, and who’s clothes were shredded to the point of nudity, but who was, undoubtedly, horrifyingly, alive.
Alive; and screaming.
“Jesus,” he said, “They may not see her. We’ve got to warn—”
“I’m on it,” said Cameron, and sprinted for the stairs.
Halverson blocked him. “Uh, no. That’s a negative.” He touched the breast of his suit jacket over his weapon—softly, briefly. “They’ve got their orders. And they’re not blind, otherwise they wou
