Shadow Unit 15 by Emma Bull & Elizabeth Bear

Author:Emma Bull & Elizabeth Bear [Bull, Emma & Bear, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: a.!.Loaded
Published: 2014-08-01T05:00:00+00:00

*

Renee should have stayed in her room. She wishes like hell she'd had the sense to stay in her room. But she didn't, and when she went to look for somebody she could ask about the power outage, she found the old white man wandering alone down a corridor in the dark. She knows by his clothes—scrubs and a bathrobe—that he's one of the patients, and one who should be on a locked ward. He's also wearing two cardigans, a knitted cap, and a scarf that looks like Hafidha knitted it for him.

She knows who this is. Not that they tell the other patients all about one another, but she spent enough time in the bullpen. And she knows she ought to be afraid of him.

But he looks harmless. He looks confused. And scared. And he shouldn't be left to wander around.

So she exerts herself to stay present for him, and she walks up and takes his hand. She's discovered that touching people makes her stay real for longer. It's the next best thing to having a door between them.

"I'm Renee," she says. His hand is cool and papery. He smiles. "Are you Henry?"

"I got lost. Something happened, and—" He looks down.

Her gaze follows his. His paper slippers are soaked in something dark.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he says. "I'm not cold at all."

That's when the screaming starts, down the corridor to the left. The minimum security wing. Closest to the offices, and Renee's room.

Henry flinches. She holds his hand. "Stay with me, Henry."

He smiles at her mildly. "Hello, sweetheart. Who are you?"

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