Читать книгу: «Afterglow. The Justification of Chaos», страница 3

“No more than a minute, Steph.”

“Felt like a hundred lifetimes…”

“We need to stay here,” Dort said, his words slow and deliberate as he studied my face. He tried to sound as calm as possible, but the deafening chaos outside chilled my blood. “Wait until it quiets down. Katherine called for help. They’ll come for us.” I nodded without fully absorbing his words. The hellish cacophony outside drowned out everything else. “We need to hide now,” Dort continued, his voice low and steady. “Stay very, very quiet. No sound at all, okay?” I pulled my knees to my chest, wrapped my arms around them, and buried my face. Sam sat next to me, putting an arm around my shoulders and holding me close. “We’re safe here for now. Everything will make sense later,” he reassured me softly. “We just need to wait, stay quiet, and not draw attention…”

I don’t know how long I stayed like that. The bookstore grew quieter; the noise was coming mostly from above, from the streets. A strange, drowsy sensation pulled me downward. My body begged me to sleep, to shut out the sounds and the thoughts. But on the edge of consciousness, I still reacted to the screams, recognized the gunfire, and heard the wailing of sirens. Explosions rocked the street above us. The bookshelves trembled, the floor shook, and I trembled too, helplessly engulfed by the vibrations.

I kept drifting into sleep, overwhelmed by exhaustion and strain. A semi-conscious state. My head drooped, my body felt unresponsive, heavy as lead… Everything around me blurred into an ethereal haze.

When I opened my eyes again, the world was shrouded in a dark greenish-blue twilight. Across from me, by a bookshelf, sat the girl who worked in the bookstore and had locked the doors. She rocked side to side, hugging her shoulders. Her mascara had run, her face was swollen, and her neat bun had unraveled into a disheveled mess. Katherine? Feeling my gaze, she lifted her eyes to meet mine.

“How much time has passed?” I whispered.

“Over five hours,” she replied softly.

I heard Sam exhale heavily and turned to look at him.

“What’s happening?”

For a moment, he was silent, carefully choosing his words.

“I… I don’t know how to describe it,” he said hoarsely. “It’s like hell itself broke loose.” His voice was rough. “We can’t let them see us. I tried to approach the exit to get a look outside. Those things noticed me – they started moving toward the doors, piling on them. I retreated to a blind spot, and luckily, something outside distracted them. I could hear the sirens from the street, then a repeated announcement over the loudspeakers.” Sam swallowed hard, his wide, glassy eyes staring at me, almost unblinking. “Don’t you remember? Didn’t you hear it?”

I shook my head.

“They were urging people not to panic, not to go outside, and to avoid contact with the infected. The infection broke loose in the city. They escaped the hospital…” Sam licked his dry lips. “About two hours ago, everything in the center suddenly went silent. But I didn’t risk going out again. There’s still noise from the street, but it feels farther away now, not directly above us. Then, about forty minutes later, there was a massive explosion, and after that… we lost all communication.”

“They’re outside,” Katherine said suddenly, her voice trembling. “The infected. They’re searching for something. We decided to wait here for help and not do anything rash for now…”

“You need water,” Sam said gently, coming over and touching my shoulder.

I shook my head, even though I was thirsty. My mind was a whirlwind of chaos, my thoughts tangled and confused. Every attempt to orient myself or analyze the situation felt futile. I was utterly terrified, and the fear was blinding, paralyzing – a viscous, relentless dread that wouldn’t let go.

Dort didn’t say a word. He simply hugged me, pulling me close. I hadn’t even noticed the tears streaming down my face. My thoughts turned to Andrew – he was still out there, near the hospital – and I worried for his life, for mine and Sam’s. The walls and ceiling seemed to press down on us, suffocating, yet beyond this confined space lay even greater uncertainty and danger.

What if we couldn’t get out? What if this was a trap? Or what if we ended up sealed in here forever?

Ironically, almost mockingly, a shelf of religious books stood directly across from us. In the center was a crimson Book of Scriptures, its cover adorned with intricate golden lettering that read: “We Are Under the Protection of the Mother Goddess.”

“Steph,” Dort whispered softly, stroking my hair, “Calm down… It’s going to be okay, do you hear me?

I nodded, clutching at his sweatshirt, silently repeating a single word – impossible – trying to comprehend why no help was coming, why people had turned savage, becoming bloodthirsty monsters, and why we were trapped in this surreal parody of horrific legends from the past. I tried to understand what would happen next – or if anything would happen at all.

Breathe in. Breathe out. The most important thing was to stop the panic. Panic was the enemy, the dagger in your back, the most dangerous thing in moments of chaos. It was a miracle we’d stayed in the bookstore, avoiding being trampled in the confusion of the crowd.

Everything felt like a fog… Like a lousy production, a bad show.

I didn’t know what was happening outside the shopping center. I didn’t want to know and couldn’t even bring myself to think about trying to break out – though I told myself that sooner or later, I’d have to take that risk – because the world had frozen, shrunk, and I too was paralyzed, bound by fear. Could this night ever end? Could the darkness ever pass? Or were we doomed to stay in this cage of the suffocating store, forever losing the chance to step outside? It felt as though we were trapped in an endless cycle of a small hell, woven from primal fear, confusion, and long, blue shadows stretching their claws toward our hearts. As if we were doomed to remain forever among the bookshelves, under the watchful gaze of the figurine of the Mother with outstretched arms.

The lamps, emitting a dim light, hummed and flickered incessantly. In those moments when the bookstore was swallowed by darkness, it felt like they were about to emerge from behind the shelves, and it would be the end for us. I had no idea what they actually were. I just feared them. I feared the unknown and the danger that I couldn’t explain or comprehend. Each time, my heart would freeze, and I would gasp for air, pressing tighter against Dort. Katherine took off her shoes and paced back and forth near us, apparently trying to calm herself; Sam breathed heavily and closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath.

I was horrified by the grim realization that we were trapped in a cage. And even more so by the fact that we had no idea what was happening upstairs. What if it was just as bad outside as it was here? What if it was worse?

The isolated North now seemed truly different. As did the attempts to hide the spreading epidemic. So, the contagion was already here? How soon would it reach the Central Lands? How soon would it be in the capital, engulfing Mukro? Would it reach The Cold Calm? How soon would it consume the entire State? From the Ice Sea to the Great Ocean? And why was nothing truly being done to stop it?

The shop lacked a ceiling, so when I looked up, my gaze caught on the pipes and wires. The lamps reminded me of those in a hospital, which only drove me deeper into a mad, agonizing fear. The absolute silence, broken only by the constant hum of the lamps, induced unbearable anxiety.

This couldn’t be happening for real. This couldn’t exist in reality.

Katherine suddenly stopped, listening intently. I tensed up and froze, barely breathing, but there were no sounds; I looked at the girl in confusion, but she just tried to smile. She took off her jacket and sat down on the floor next to me.

“Do you mind?” She asked, resting her head on my shoulder. “It’s getting chilly, don’t you think?”

“No, it hasn’t gotten colder,” I cautiously felt her forehead. “You have a fever.”

“It’s okay,” the girl smiled again, “Before the connection was lost, I managed to call my husband. He’s coming back from his business trip tomorrow and will take me out of here. Around eight in the morning. And everything will be fine.”

I looked at her with sympathy or condescension; did she really believe that everything would be fine? Or was it that I couldn’t believe those words? Katherine’s words, “everything will be fine,” didn’t comfort me. No, they sounded somehow doomed and eerie, as if they were harbingers of things turning out completely differently.

But I had to convince myself that it was just fear of the unknown that was fueling unbearable anxiety. I needed to calm down… And the only way to pull myself together was the simple act of self-suggestion, convincing myself that tomorrow everything would be better.

Because everything will be fine, right? Tomorrow Katherine will be taken away, tomorrow help will arrive. Tomorrow everything will go back to normal. Tomorrow we’ll get out of here. Tomorrow we’ll remember today with a smile, because tomorrow everything will be fine…

Heavens, give us the strength to survive this day and this night.

***

The feeling of emptiness and apathy. A state where emotionally you still can’t believe what has happened, while the mind coldly and cynically comprehends and weighs the outcome. As if neither alive nor dead, a piece of meat equipped with a brain that has lost the ability to think… In such moments, more than anything, you want to either lose yourself or scream, to howl, releasing what you can’t say out loud.

But we couldn’t scream. We couldn’t call for help, couldn’t help ourselves. I lost track of the time we spent in silence, sitting on the floor, glancing around nervously and afraid to breathe. Trying to escape by ourselves seemed impossible and insane, and passive waiting for the promised help, the mercy of the Heavens, or any resolution to this nightmare was the only option.

Resigned acceptance of our fate burned from within. The fear of unknown danger gave way to a monstrous anticipation of the end. The lights continued to flicker, and the lamps seemed to buzz louder.

The shelf with religious literature across from us. The Mother with outstretched arms.

Silence began to drive us all mad, and I spoke first in a halting whisper. About unrelated things. Anything to say something. Sam picked up the conversation. Katherine followed. We talked about books, about work, but not a word about what had happened, to avoid driving each other into even greater panic.

The girl soon dozed off.

The silence gave way to fear: what if salvation never comes? What if we have trapped ourselves in an even worse snare? What if we buried ourselves with our own hands? Closed the lid of the coffin with our own strength?

I jerked my head, pinched my wrist. Inside, everything tightened, and a chill wrapped around me.

Sam was fiddling with his dead phone – the battery had died – but that gadget was pointless anyway. The connection was gone. My legs had gone numb; I carefully stood up. Dort, flinching, looked at me in confusion.

“Where are you going?” he asked, but I didn’t answer, lost in my own thoughts. Sam’s handsome face had acquired a pained, tortured look, his golden hair seemed duller, and his favorite warm, bright hoodie with the little monster on it mocked all this madness.

The past was erased. The future had vanished. Political games, journalistic adventures, civic protests, ambitious plans – everything crumbled to dust in my hands, ash in my teeth. In the moment when death was breathing down my neck, even the State’s hell seemed like heaven, a place I wished to return to.

I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans, took off my shoes, and tiptoed to the edge of the shelf, peering out from behind it.

The glass was smeared with dirty red streaks. In the grocery store – shadows of a few moving figures. Were they human? Their movements were slow, broken. There were no bodies of those attacked, those torn apart. Only blood. Its streaks. Shreds of flesh. Pieces of clothing.

I flinched. Where are they? Where are they?! It can’t be possible to get up and leave after that, can it? Could they have been eaten completely? With bones?! And, heavens forbid, eaten?! The rescuers hadn’t come, the medics hadn’t shown up; had the bodies been taken somewhere? But where? By whom?

I staggered, horrified by my own thoughts. Eaten. Impossible! … Bullshit, it's all bullshit – just gossip, fabrications, rumors woven from clouded minds and slander, schemes by customs barons and audacious mayors… This was a performance, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it? So people would look for salvation in the government?

A wave of nausea hit me again, and I quickly turned away. Closed my eyes, holding my head. The ground seemed to slip away beneath my feet. I took a step back, stumbled.

Would salvation come? When would we be rescued? Would they rescue us? What if everything turns out differently?

I pressed my hand to my chest, feeling the strength of my heartbeat.

Sam watched every move I made, his face a mask of feigned calm, as if trying to reassure me, but it only made me shiver. Instead of thinking of others or saying words, my mind was consumed by a torrent of thoughts in search of an exit, an explanation; trying to connect the past and present, trying to distinguish a future in the thickening darkness. Everything had blurred. All that existed now was the store. Silence. And primal fear, fueled by the unknown.

What if we had come a day earlier? What if our conversation with Givori had gone as originally planned? Would everything have been different? Would I have understood what was happening, even a little?

On the wall was an evacuation plan for a fire. I knew that sitting here was not an option. But it seemed there was no other way. Neither Sam nor Katherine could say anything useful to me, only confusing me further and fueling panic.

My stomach growled loudly. I turned around in fear…

“Are you hungry?” Sam asked with an expressionless face, though he was tense.

I shook my head, even though the only thing that had been in my stomach since the morning was a cup of second-rate coffee. At the mere mention of food, a sour taste filled my mouth, and my stomach turned. In front of me was the image beyond the glass. But the weakness in my body was undeniable. On the edge of consciousness, I knew I had to force myself to swallow something.

“Sam,” I said with some pleading in my voice, approaching him and sitting down beside him. “Sam, we will be saved, right? Did you hear Katherine’s conversation? Did you hear that help is coming?”

He cast a glance at me and clenched his teeth so tightly that the muscles in his face tensed; he remained silent for a few seconds. Then he let out a heavy breath and tried to force a semblance of a smile onto his face.

“Of course!” Sam nodded. “They’ll rescue us! I heard it myself. I heard it, Steph.”

“What exactly did they say?”

“Stephanie,” the guy shook his head. “Everything will be okay. Soon everything will become clear, and we’ll go back to living like we did before,” but before I could respond, Dort interrupted, more to himself, “But… live like before? How? With memories like these? I can’t imagine ever being able to sleep peacefully again. Or perceiving the world like I did before,” he faltered and looked at me, long and seriously. Katherine shifted and froze again; she was tossing and turning in her sleep, coughing, and moaning. Sam and I exchanged worried glances.

“Yes,” I said hoarsely and dully, as if it wasn’t my own voice. “What happened will change everything.”

My stomach growled unpleasantly, and we barely managed to eat a couple of crackers. Then, to distract myself, I grabbed the first book I could find from the shelf and began to read, stopping every minute to listen to the silence; however, I had grown accustomed to the hum of the lamps and the endless flickering of the lights. After a while, Sam started reading too, to kill the dragging minutes.

I scanned the sentences with my eyes, not understanding what was written. I looked at the letters but couldn’t read the words. My head hurt. A feeling of anxiety buzzed in my chest. Unnoticed by myself, I tapped my foot on the floor, tense. Time stretched on, and my emotions gradually dulled.

I spent the night in a state similar to oblivion. I remember how Katherine woke up a few times, how she had hysterics, and Sam and I tried to calm her down; how the light went out completely, and fear surged again. How I was afraid to open my eyes when those monsters started pounding on the door of the bookstore; how I sat, hugging my knees and trying not to cry. How distant sirens wailed above us. How the echoes of explosions resonated. How I wanted to run from this place. How Sam first slept while I kept watch, thinking I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. How Dort then took over my watch, and I lay on the floor, curled up, staring at one spot.

And I became that spot. A tiny grain of sand among billions of stars in the endless, cold sky.

And I didn’t know how long it had been before the anxious and painful sleep overcame me. I don’t remember when exhaustion overtook me so completely that it swallowed me into oblivion. I dreamed that I was running somewhere, and someone was chasing me, but I couldn’t see his face. I ran, not feeling the ground beneath my feet, stumbling, falling, getting back up. A mountain loomed in front of me, but I didn’t have the strength to reach it – I kept running and running, unable to move forward. I dreamed of the dead attacking the living… In the dream, I was sure those creatures were the dead. I dreamed of blood. Lots of blood. My hands were covered in someone else's blood. And I cried in my sleep. I cried uncontrollably, gasping, choking on my own tears. I pleaded for help, screamed into the sky, and got no answer. And I felt the pain tearing me apart from the inside… And I dreamed of snow. I lay on the ground, looking up at the gray sky, and large snowflakes fell on me. It was so cold that I couldn’t feel my body. But I felt something cold and slippery constricting my throat, like snakes. The snow fell. And the terrible fear…

I woke up suddenly, breathing heavily and quickly turning from my back to my side. My heart was pounding wildly. There was a dull thud at the door. Darkness. A monotonous echo. Helplessness.

“Sam?” I whispered, shivering uncontrollably and looking around. “Sam?!”

The guy appeared from behind the shelf, armed with a long mop. His hair was disheveled, his reddened eyes were inflamed.

“Shh,” he hissed. “They’re there. Four of them. And…” Sam swallowed the rest of the sentence. He couldn’t finish. There's no escaping reality.

I wanted to scream to drown out the external sounds, but I only nodded to Sam, sinking back down to the floor and staring up at the ceiling.

The realization of my own helplessness in the face of the circumstances was suffocating. There was a way out. The only way. And it led up, through the doors.

But outside, behind the glass, the infected were waiting for us. Were they even alive? It was impossible to survive with such wounds. Could it be that monsters from ancient legends and forgotten tales had emerged into our world? Could those terrifying creatures spoken of in the ominous prophecies of religious texts become reality? Ghosts from nightmares. Phantoms from the worn myths of distant icy lands. What else could those dreadful entities be? Madmen? Cannibals? Was it all just a harbinger of the impending end, as the Goddess Mother sang about in the scriptures?

All we could do was wait. And we didn’t even know what or who we were waiting for. Inaction clouded our minds, painting horrific images of the imminent future that awaited us. If it even existed for us. Who knew what was happening above right now?

We had come for materials, but had ended up in a trap. Why hadn’t the news from the past few weeks stopped us? Why hadn’t the widespread city closures scared us? Why had we taken it so lightly and let the seriousness pass us by? Why had we so easily pushed aside the memory of those patients in the hospital who bit, tore, and growled? Why had the people on the street become just like those patients?..

And most importantly.

Why hadn’t the Three disclosed the information about the Northern Plague? Why hadn’t they shed light on what was happening in the North and taken preemptive action?

Sam continued to stand a little way off, peering through the gaps between the bookshelves at the door. Holding the mop. Wearing a T-shirt with a caricatured monster. The absurdity and horror of the situation were overwhelming. Could anything be so funny when blood freezes in your veins?

What was happening had engulfed us completely, like a sudden wave knocking an unsuspecting person off their feet and throwing them onto the hot sand. It was hard to gather our thoughts and think everything through logically, but that was exactly what we needed to do. But could we?..

We were too scared. Too lost.

***

Snow was falling. Large flakes drifted down. Another dream, where there was only an endless white field and a gray sky… but the ground was soaked with blood.

I don’t know when I dozed off. I just fell into unconsciousness for a couple of hours – vague, blurred dreams woven from eerie visions and equally frightening memories – and when I opened my eyes again, hoping to see my room or, at the very least, the ceiling of the trailer, a groan of disappointment escaped my chest. For the first few seconds, I lay there, curled up in a ball, unable to summon the strength to get up. I heard Katherine speaking quietly to Sam.

Alienation. As if my body didn’t belong to me, as if the hours of captivity were not mine, not experienced by me, not lived through by me.

“What time is it?” I finally managed to say.

Katherine flinched, and Sam turned to look at me with concern.

“Almost eight,” the girl replied, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear; I nodded briefly as I sat up and glanced at Sam. “And… they’re gone.”

For a brief moment, I felt an overwhelming lightness, relief, and Katherine's naive words seemed to lift a weight off my shoulders. It was the fraction of a moment when I allowed myself to believe that the infected had left and that we could leave the store and finally escape this terrible place – deciding to do so was frightening, but waiting for an illusory help was even scarier – to step outside and finally find out what had really happened. Then I could forget this entire day, wipe the nightmare from my mind forever!

But such a bright and perfect fantasy suddenly frightened me. Even disoriented me. And a vague doubt gripped my lungs with panic. No one was washing the blood-stained floors. No one was going to work. No one was trying to save us. My back was already damp with sweat, and it took extraordinary effort to breathe in and out, trying to push away the confusion and think coldly.

I desperately wanted to hope that everything would soon return to normal. It had to return. I still believed that. And faith was the only thing we had left.

“Steph?” I flinched and looked at Sam. He must have called me more than once.

“We have to leave here. Now. While we have the chance,” I stated firmly.

“Leave?” Sam looked bewildered, and his voice was full of undeniable worry.

“What if they… are still out there?” Katherine clutched at the large wooden buttons of her jacket. “Help is supposed to come for us. Maybe we should wait?” She added with hope, but I shook my head stubbornly.

The exit seemed non-existent, the existence of the world outside the bookstore unnatural; but staying here and waiting for the outcome meant only a temporary lull before the inevitable end. I had no plan, I didn't understand what was happening, I didn’t know what to do. I knew nothing, and the only conviction that was growing stronger was the dulled realization that I needed to save myself.

A quick, terrible end was better than endless horror. But I didn’t know then…

“We need to go,” I repeated insistently. “Think, what if help never comes?” My voice was soft, emotionless; I glanced sideways at Sam, whose face showed doubt and strange notes of bitterness and disappointment. “How long will we stay here? How much time do we have before it's no longer safe? We can't be sure who they are or what they’re capable of. Who will guarantee that we’re protected from the threat?” A short pause. “We are without information, without knowledge; only one thing is certain… I won't stay underground.”

“And who will guarantee that we’ll be safe above? And what will we do when we get out?” Katherine, taking a shaky breath, did not back down.

“Sam,” I ignored her question, looking into Dort’s face, “don’t forget, Andrew is still out there. He wouldn’t have left without us, I’m sure of it. We need to go back. We have to go back. While there’s still a chance to escape.”

Dort continued to stand silently, staring at me, but then hesitantly nodded, glancing briefly at Katherine.

It all felt like some kind of nonsense, a dream, hallucinations.

“Alright,” I pushed my hair back, “fine, let’s try.”

Sam reached out a hand, helping me to my feet, and handed me a bottle of water; then, without saying a word, he walked behind the shelf to check the situation outside the glass. Katherine immediately got up, holding her bag and handing me my backpack. She was swollen from crying and barely stood, looking as though she could only take a few steps before collapsing unconscious.

“Let’s go,” I whispered, taking her arm, “we’ll catch up to Sam.”

He was already waiting for us, clutching that ridiculous mop and watching the darkness of the hall outside the glass with suspicion. We paused at the door for a few moments. The dreadful darkness seemed to crawl across the floor, intermittently illuminated by flashes of light. Thick darkness. Tar-like. I looked ahead and didn’t want to cross the threshold of the bookstore. Yet, I didn’t break my desperate gaze at Sam, catching his reflection and mentally commanding myself to be brave.

Katherine took out the keys and approached the door…

“Let’s go!” I said hoarsely as soon as the girl threw it open; a sharp, nauseating stench of decay hit my nose, and a sour taste filled my mouth. I covered the lower half of my face with my hand, trying to fight the urge to vomit. Hastily, but cautiously, we made our way to the stairs, glancing around and nervously looking over our shoulders. The floor was dark with traces of blood, scraps of clothing, chunks of meat… Somewhere in the depths of the darkened grocery store, a shadow flickered. “Sam!” I whispered quickly, tugging at the back of his hoodie, “Sam!” He turned, holding the mop in front of him. “Faster! To the stairs!”

Katherine grabbed my hand, and we sprinted together. My heart pounded in my throat, and my ears filled with a whistling, droning sound. Sam followed us. The landings passed in what seemed like a few steps, although my legs felt like jelly. At the very top, I stopped abruptly, holding Katherine and Dort back, and peeked over the railing into the hall – it was empty. Only blood, shattered glass, an overturned coffee vending machine… and a lifeless, torn body in the corner.

It felt like I had been struck. I gasped for air, unable to tear my gaze away. My chest tightened, and a chill wrapped around my spine. Sam tried to pull me, but I still stood frozen.

Fear. Fear. Fear. It poisoned, bound, chained.

“Stephanie, we need to go, – Dort pulled me forward; now he was cautiously and carefully leading us to the exit. Katherine still gripped my hand tightly, trying to stay as close as possible, and we looked around nervously, feeling neither the floor beneath us nor the strength in our legs. I could clearly hear some noises.

What’s happening, Heaven? What’s happening?! There was no feeling of life, only the breath of death slipping out of every corner.

“Let’s go!” Sam opened the door to the street. “Faster, ahead, faster!”

We burst out into the street. First, the blinding light – just for a second, only because we had been in the dark for so long – then the breeze carrying the smoky scent of burning and blood. After that, a silent scream ripped from my chest and my vision cleared. Sam froze, looking around in shock. Katherine covered her mouth with her hand… And I, taking an uneven step forward, swayed.

Overturned, smoking cars, houses scorched with soot. Nearby, a crashed helicopter with a twisted body, flames flickering on its tail. Silence. Deep, dead silence. People’s bodies. Torn apart, heads shattered. In the distance, a lone car sped by, wheels screeching, knocking everything in its path.

The strong, cold wind burned my face, ruffling my hair in an instant. The sky was dark and heavy with clouds, and no light worked. Around us was destruction, chaos, mayhem. It felt as if we had been cast into a completely different world. We had lived in one world; just yesterday, we had lived in that world, and today, we had been transported into an even more terrifying, twisted reality. I couldn’t think, let alone breathe properly… And even after seeing all the bodies below, after witnessing a person being torn apart before my eyes. I couldn’t believe this was real. Especially when I saw even more bodies outside.

Katherine, collapsing to the ground, whimpered softly to avoid crying out loud. I wanted to scream, but I remained silent. I wanted to wake up, forget, go home. But this was not a dream.

“Carlos!” Katherine suddenly cried out, and I almost screamed in surprise. I quickly turned around, seeing the girl throw herself around the neck of a young man who had a huge backpack slung over his shoulders. Katherine was sobbing uncontrollably, unable to calm down, while the stranger held her close, running his hands through her hair and urgently whispering in her ear. Then he looked at Sam and me and nodded.