Yuli's question had been the first of many. By the time Alex finished explaining for the third time that Vela, Roka, and Suri weren't machines or animals he'd found in a store, the girl had already moved on to interrogating him about the drones. Snow was still falling in front of the police station, and the six of them breathed out little white clouds. Every now and then, one of the three creatures came closer to make sure Alex was still there, causing Bran to tense up again and Yuli to break off a question halfway through.
"So you built them yourself?" she pressed, pointing at the drone patrolling above an abandoned police car.
"I helped design and maintain them. Most of the components already existed before all this started," Alex replied. It wasn't a lie, though it left out a considerable amount of information.
"And how do they know where to go?"
"They have navigation and recognition systems. They follow instructions."
"And you give them instructions with that thing?" Yuli pointed at his glove.
"Not exactly."
"Aha! So there's another device."
Lina let out a laugh that vanished into the wind and the drones' humming. Eira and Nara seemed to be enjoying Yuli's enthusiasm. She had barely been reunited with her friend and was already grilling Alex. Bran watched from one side, his backpack slung over his shoulder. His eyes never strayed far from the machines; whenever Alex gave a half-answer, his expression grew a little more guarded.
"Yuli, you said you had a hundred questions," Lina cut in. "Not that you were going to ask all of them out here while we freeze."
"I've only asked seven," she protested. "Or nine. Depends whether we count the ones he didn't answer."
"Then definitely don't count those," Alex said.
Nara chuckled under her breath. Eira moved closer to her companions and brushed Yuli's arm, as if reassuring herself that they really were together again. Alex gave them a moment. Exhaustion still showed on the three girls' faces, and whenever a gust of wind picked up, they tucked their hands inside their sleeves.
"We should find somewhere to talk without freezing stiff," he suggested. "The lobby is clear, and we can keep the door in sight."
"You want to go back inside?" Bran raised his head. "There were rats everywhere just a few minutes ago."
"There's no more movement on the ground floor," Alex replied. "My drones are watching the entrances. If you'd rather stay out on the street, I won't stop you."
Lina looked toward the dark entrance. The memory of the rats was still far too fresh for the idea to appeal to her, but a gust slipped down the collar of her coat and settled the matter. They entered the lobby without straying far from the exit. Alex positioned one drone above the reception counter and another in the corridor. Vela, Roka, and Suri remained on guard outside, visible through the open door. Bran checked the creatures' positions before following the others.
"By the way," Alex said once everyone found somewhere to lean, "there's something I still don't understand. Why were you in this police station? Eira told me how you got separated, but not what you came here to find."
Nara exchanged a quick glance with Lina. Yuli's smile disappeared, and Eira, who already knew part of the story, fell silent. Lina took a moment before answering.
"Weapons."
Alex wasn't as surprised as he'd expected. The pistols two of them carried and the barricades on the third floor had already made him suspect they'd come here with a specific objective. Still, he wanted to hear the rest.
"You planned to come in, grab some weapons, and head back?"
"That was the plan," Lina answered, running her thumb along her backpack strap. "We'd obtained the key to the armory. No one had managed to reach it since the rats took over this sector. We thought that if we waited until most of the horde left, we could get inside, load up the weapons, and return. What we didn't account for was how long they'd stay away."
"But they came back early," Nara added.
"Very early," Bran specified. "Guess who said it was a terrible idea."
"You said it, and you came anyway," Lina shot back. She didn't raise her voice, but it was enough to silence Bran. "We all knew the risks. Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here with something useful."
Yuli raised both hands before the argument could continue. Eira took the opportunity to explain how they'd made their way deeper into the station and how the rats had cut off their retreat. Lina had found a room where they could hold out. Once they realized they couldn't fight their way back to the street, they helped Eira reach the ventilation ducts so she could look for help. Alex listened without interrupting. The account matched the condition of the barricades he'd found during the rescue.
"So you have the key, but you never opened the armory?" he asked.
"Exactly." Lina pulled a metal key attached to a worn identification card from inside her coat. "And I still have it."
Alex studied it with interest. He'd traveled halfway across the city and found far too few weapons, most of them in poor condition. Acquiring a stockpile of arms and ammunition could improve his defensive capabilities, especially if he eventually had to face people instead of just mutated animals.
"I need weapons too," he admitted.
Bran raised his head. Until then, he'd been stealing glances at the key. Now he fixed his attention on Alex.
"Of course. There it is."
Lina answered before Bran could add anything. She clearly wasn't about to let her companion's resentment dictate the negotiations.
"We risked our lives getting here. Those weapons are meant for the people waiting for us to come back."
"I'm not saying I'll take them from you," Alex clarified. "I'm proposing a deal. You have access to the armory; I have the means to clear it, move the crates, and protect the cargo. We can divide whatever we find."
"Divide it?" Bran stepped forward. "After we got the key?"
"After he got us out of there," Eira interjected, with a firmness that made Yuli look at her in surprise.
"I'm not denying that," Bran said. "But we don't know who he is or who he works for."
"I don't work for any group in the city," Alex replied. "And I'm not asking you to trust me blindly. We'll make an inventory together, agree on a division before opening the crates, and each side takes its share. If you're not interested, we can leave it at that."
Lina stared at the key still in her hand. Without Alex, they probably wouldn't have made it out alive. Without the weapons, they wouldn't be able to justify the risk to those waiting for arms to defend the shelters. She looked at the drone by the entrance, then back at Alex. He waited without rushing her.
"The weapons aren't just for the five of us," she finally said. "There are families counting on us to protect the entrances to our shelter."
"Then you should take enough to do that." Alex held her gaze. "I'm not planning to empty the armory out from under you. I propose you keep sixty percent of the usable weapons and compatible ammunition. I'll take forty percent and handle transporting both shares. If we find damaged supplies, we'll set them aside and count them separately."
Yuli stopped swinging her legs. Nara watched Lina's hands, waiting for her decision. Bran tried to interject, but Lina raised her palm slightly without looking at him.
"And how do we know you'll keep your word?" she asked.
"Because we'll all count everything. And because if I wanted to take it by force, I wouldn't be negotiating with you."
Alex realized his words had sounded more threatening than he'd intended. He didn't withdraw the offer, though he gave Lina room to consider it. She met his eyes and, after a few seconds, extended her hand.
"Sixty for us, forty for you. Nobody touches the other side's crates after the split. And if there's less than we expect, we talk again."
Alex shook her hand.
"Sounds fair."
"Not to me," Bran muttered.
"We heard you," Lina replied, releasing Alex's hand.
"The negotiation was unnecessarily generous," Ariel commented in Alex's mind as soon as the handshake ended. "You had sufficient resources to recover the arsenal without any further cooperation from them."
"And they had the key. Besides, they need to defend themselves. I'm not going to take away their weapons when I can help them without leaving us defenseless."
"I do not consider the needs of these strangers a priority. We could keep the entire arsenal and withdraw without taking additional risks. Their survival is not our responsibility."
"You're scolding me again."
"I am pointing out a pattern."
Alex suppressed a smile. Nara watched him for an instant, puzzled by a gesture that seemed to come out of nowhere, but quickly returned her attention to the arsenal. He asked Lina to lead them to the armory. Before summoning transport, he needed to check the access conditions.
The armory lay at the end of a service corridor connected to the ground floor. They hadn't reached it during their earlier exploration because a closed fire door separated that section from the rest of the building. Lina remembered the entrance, and Bran claimed to have studied a floor plan of the station before going in. All six walked together, though Alex made it clear that nobody was to move ahead of the drones.
"Can you use those machines to check what's on the other side?" Nara asked, studying the door.
"If we find an opening. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until we can open it."
Yuli pressed an ear to the metal, then immediately pulled away.
"I don't hear anything. Well, except your things buzzing."
"That's good," Alex replied. "I'd prefer it if you kept hearing nothing."
Lina inserted the key into the outer security lock. She had to jiggle it twice before the mechanism gave way with a click. Beyond it lay a narrow corridor, overturned shelves, and a second, heavier door labeled WEAPONS STORAGE. One of the spotlights illuminated scratches on the floor, but no rats appeared. Ariel confirmed that the immediate thermal readings showed no movement.
"We made it as far as the first door when we came in," Lina explained. "Then we heard noises on the stairs and had to fall back. We never saw what was behind it."
"Now we will," Alex said.
The second door's lock was frozen. Alex checked the seal and asked Lina to step aside. Rather than force the metal, he used a small tool from his equipment to remove the ice around the edges and free the latch. The work took several minutes. Bran watched every movement with his arms crossed, while Yuli took the opportunity to ask why his glove had articulated parts. Alex explained enough to satisfy her immediate curiosity, but said nothing about the mycelia or their connection to his own electrical ability.
When Lina finally turned the key, a heavy clunk echoed from inside the door. Alex helped her pull it open, and their lights swept across rows of metal cabinets, shelves stacked with boxes, and racks for long guns. Some containers had been emptied long ago; others still bore intact seals. The air smelled of oil, cold metal, and stagnant damp.
"No way," Nara whispered.
"There's still quite a lot here," Lina said, unable to hide her relief.
Bran advanced toward one of the locked cabinets, drawn by the contents he could make out through its bars. Alex stopped him before he could try the lock.
"Inventory first. Touch things afterward."
"Now you're giving us orders on our own operation?"
"Right now, I'm trying to make sure nobody takes the wrong crate or fires a gun that's been abandoned for months," Alex replied patiently. "If you'd rather inspect everything yourself, go ahead, but we need to know what works before we load it."
Lina approached Bran, grabbed his arm, and yanked him away from the cabinet so sharply that his back struck the wall. She said nothing in front of Alex. The look she gave him was enough to keep him still while Nara laid the old supply ledger on the table. Yuli read the labels aloud as Alex photographed the shelves. Ariel cross-checked the images against the inventory, but nothing in the young man's responses betrayed that assistance.
The ledger proved less reliable than expected. Several boxes showed moisture damage at the corners, and others didn't match the quantities recorded. Alex set aside ammunition that needed inspection before it could be included in the division. Lina accepted the precaution, though she asked how much longer it would take. They still had to cross a dangerous city to return. Nara reorganized the figures and promptly caught two of Yuli's mistakes.
"That box has twelve packs, not ten," Nara pointed out. "And you wrote down the same item number twice here."
"I wrote it twice because I was so happy to see it," Yuli retorted.
"That's not how inventories work."
"You people really don't appreciate my enthusiasm."
Alex smiled as he helped move a container onto the floor. Then a metallic crash rang out overhead: a heavy box had slipped from a tilted shelf. Yuli had her back turned, absorbed in the inventory, and didn't see the container begin to fall toward her.
"Yuli, look out!" Nara shouted.
Lina moved before the warning had fully left Nara's mouth. In an instant, she reached Yuli, shoved her clear of the falling box, and used both arms to deflect it just enough to keep it from striking her. The container slammed into the floor with a crash that made the cabinets shudder.
"Are you okay?" Lina asked, still holding on to her friend.
"Yeah…" Yuli looked at the box, then at her. "I think so."
Alex had followed the movement, but he could hardly believe how quickly Lina had reacted. She didn't seem to have gained extraordinary strength; she'd simply reached the right place while everyone else was barely beginning to move.
"That was way too fast," he remarked. "How did you know it was going to fall?"
"I saw it moving," Lina answered, brushing off her hands.
"I saw it too. I wouldn't have made it in time."
"It's her ability," Eira said calmly. "Her reflexes are accelerated. She senses danger and reacts before an ordinary person can. That's why she's such a good fighter."
Lina turned toward Eira. The surprise on her face was brief, but Alex caught it.
"Eira…"
"Don't worry," her friend replied, holding her gaze. "We can trust Alex."
Nara and Yuli exchanged a glance. The way Eira had defended the newcomer was almost as unexpected as the explanation itself. Bran, who had come over after hearing the crash, kept his distance. Eira neither sought his approval nor spoke to him.
For the rest of the inventory, the three girls kept finding reasons to pass close to Alex. Yuli brought him the lighter boxes so she could ask what the drones were made of. Nara asked him to confirm details she could easily have checked herself. Eira didn't bother inventing excuses; she simply stayed beside him. Bran noticed. Every time Alex looked up, the man was already staring at him, jaw tight, clutching a cartridge so hard that his knuckles turned white.
Alex chose not to ask too many questions. Lina's advantage seemed to lie in the speed of her perception and responses, not in an ability to move without limits. Even so, he could imagine how dangerous she'd be in a fight if she knew how to use that power well.
"Does it tire you out?" he finally asked.
"When I push the ability too hard, yes," Lina admitted. "And reacting in time doesn't help if I don't have room to move."
"Even so, it's an impressive advantage."
"If you know how to use it," she replied. She looked toward Yuli. "And you, try not to stand under any more boxes."
Yuli raised both hands in surrender. Alex smiled, and Lina returned to the inventory without offering more details. He'd learned something important, but still didn't know how far those reflexes could go.
"Nara, can you check that corridor before we move the rest?" Lina asked.
Nara closed her eyes for a few seconds. She didn't appear to be listening for any particular sound; rather, she seemed attuned to tiny vibrations and changes in her surroundings. Then she pointed toward the side door.
"I don't sense any movement on the other side. But there are irregular knocks in a pipe farther down. I can't tell whether it's water or a loose part."
"That's enough for now," Lina replied.
Alex watched them coordinate without exchanging explanations. Lina had asked for the check, and Nara had immediately focused; the others waited for the result without surprise. That kind of familiarity couldn't be improvised. The five of them had come together precisely because their abilities could complement one another on a dangerous mission, even if they were still learning their limits.
Yuli carried a box to the table. As she set it down, a corner of the container struck her forearm. The impact produced a sharp thud, but she barely grimaced. For an instant, the skin on her arm seemed to tighten and take on an unnatural rigidity, then returned to normal.
"Be more careful," Nara told her.
"I'm practicing," Yuli retorted. "And it didn't hurt that much."
"You don't need to test it on every box," Eira added.
Yuli laughed. Alex realized that her ability was related to the durability of her tissues, though he couldn't yet judge its limits. Nor did he think it wise to question her as though she were a specimen under examination.
Bran approached the cabinet he'd tried to open earlier. He pressed his palm against one side and asked Yuli to give it a gentle push. The cabinet didn't budge, even though one leg was bent and it had shifted easily only moments before. When Bran removed his hand, the cabinet rocked against the floor.
"There," he said, masking his exhaustion with a curt gesture. "Don't push it anymore."
"It lasts a little longer every time," Nara observed, recording another item number in the inventory.
Bran didn't answer. Alex couldn't determine whether the phenomenon altered friction, inertia, or some property that didn't yet have a name. Whatever the mechanism, that brief anchoring effect could prove useful in a dangerous situation.
Eira approached Yuli without a word and rubbed her hands, which had gone numb from working near the entrance. The warmth radiating from Eira's palms was gentle and steady, with no glow or sign of combustion. Yuli sighed in relief.
"Thanks. I couldn't feel my fingers anymore."
"I can't do this for everyone for very long," Eira replied. "And I need to save my energy for when we go back outside."
Alex understood without having to ask. Eira could regulate the temperature around her, protecting herself from the cold and sharing warmth with whoever she touched. When he looked up, he found her watching him. She didn't look away when he caught her; she held his gaze for another second, like someone finishing a line before moving on to the next, then turned back to Yuli. Her ability had nothing to do with Lina's accelerated reflexes.
"Five distinct manifestations," Ariel observed privately. "We lack sufficient measurements to establish their limits. Avoid exposing yourself to them unnecessarily."
"I'm not going to ask them to put on demonstrations for you," Alex replied.
"I did not request that. I am only concerned that you will put yourself in danger by trusting strangers."
"Then we agree we should be cautious."
"Our definitions of caution remain different."
Alex held back a smile and resumed checking the boxes. His immediate priority was to finish the inventory without turning their cooperation into an interrogation. For now, the five had shown they could work together and that, for some reason, they in particular had been sent on such a risky mission.
Once the initial sorting was complete, Alex asked everyone to remain inside the building while he arranged transportation. They left the armory and returned to the lobby. There, he opened a small compartment in his equipment and checked the communication signal with his external units. He didn't need to issue orders aloud; Ariel had already received his authorization to dispatch a cargo vehicle from the position where they'd left the rest of their equipment.
"What now?" Lina asked.
"Now we wait for the truck. If the approach is clear, we can load the crates without having to carry them through the snow by hand."
"What truck?" Bran looked toward the street.
"One I brought to collect supplies. I didn't park it near the police station because I didn't want it anywhere near the horde."
"And who's driving it?"
Alex paused before answering.
"It has driving assistance. I supervise it."
Bran didn't look satisfied, but Yuli had already hurried to the entrance and was searching among the motionless vehicles. Eira took up a position beside her, watching the drones resume their patrol of the street. Meanwhile, Alex reviewed the available routes with Ariel. Abandoned cars blocked the avenue, so the truck would have to approach along a side road. A couple of units could remove smaller obstacles before it arrived.
A few minutes later, lights came on at the far end of the street. The rumble of an engine reached the lobby and grew louder until a cargo truck equipped with snow chains emerged between the buildings. It moved slowly, adjusting its course as it maneuvered around an abandoned car. Two small utility robots went ahead of it, pushing aside pieces of metal and using flashing lights to mark the firmest ground.
"I can't see the driver," Nara said, moving closer to the door.
"Because there isn't one," Alex replied, aware that pretending otherwise would be pointless once the vehicle stopped in front of them. "It's remotely operated. It's designed to transport cargo without putting someone at risk on the road."
Yuli stood at the threshold, her eyes following the truck's wheels. Only when the vehicle had finished maneuvering did she seem to remember how to speak.
"You can make a truck come here all by itself? That's so much better than answering my question about the drone!"
"To be honest, I'd rather drive it myself," Alex said. "The streets are a complete mess."
Lina stepped into the doorway. The truck made a precise turn, reversed several yards, and stopped with its cargo bed facing the entrance. One of the robots approached the building and extended a mechanical arm fitted with a gripper. Bran instinctively moved aside when the machine passed close to him.
"How many of those things do you have?" he asked.
"Enough for today's job."
He said nothing more. Through their mental link, Ariel informed him that the vehicle had room for the planned cargo and that the auxiliary units could transport the heaviest containers. Alex instructed them to distribute the weight and arrange the crates without blocking the building's exit. It was important that the process not look like a succession of miracles: even with machines, doors had to be opened, obstacles removed, cargo secured, and the mechanisms protected from the cold.
Moving everything took more work than Yuli had expected when she first saw the robots. Lina and Alex oversaw the loads leaving the armory. Nara checked each number before allowing a crate to be moved, and Yuli marked the lots assigned to their group. The robots carried the heaviest containers to the truck bed, but suitcases and smaller items still required human hands. When they found cartridges showing signs of moisture, Alex set them aside for later inspection. Lina looked at the compartment where he placed them and nodded. She had no intention of risking her people's lives by counting ammunition that might be unusable.
Bran remained close to Lina and scrutinized the distribution labels. When Nara called Alex over to compare two item numbers, Bran approached before the conversation was finished.
"I can do that," he said, taking the sheet.
"We were just checking the item numbers," Nara replied.
"Then I'll check them."
Alex handed him the sheet without arguing and went to secure another load. Lina watched Bran for a moment but didn't interrupt the work. Later, Yuli wanted to know how the truck could maneuver without a driver. She walked up to Alex and began pointing at the vehicle's cameras. Bran slammed the toolbox in front of him shut a little harder than necessary.
The division was completed without any further serious arguments.
When she reviewed the count, Lina confirmed that her group was receiving the agreed proportion of the usable supplies. Alex kept his share in the truck's inner compartment, separated by a cargo barrier. Lina asked where he intended to leave the crates meant for her people.
"Wherever you tell me, as long as the truck can get through," he answered. "I don't want to broadcast to the entire city that we're transporting an arsenal."
Lina surveyed the secured containers. Obtaining the weapons was only part of the problem; getting them to the shelter without another group finding out would be just as difficult.
"We'll have to be careful about our routes. There are people who'd attack a supply truck without asking where it came from."
Alex thought of the men he'd captured before finding Eira. The way Lina spoke about possible ambushes gave him an opening to ask about them without revealing everything he already knew.
"Speaking of that, I captured three armed men before I found Eira. One of them is named Víctor. They were moving around this area and didn't seem particularly interested in helping anyone. Do you know them? Are they with your group?"
Lina stopped checking the figures. Nara held her pencil motionless over the inventory. Bran, who had been about to lift a crate, set it back down. The name had changed the group's mood.
"Víctor?" Lina asked. "Where are they now?"
"At the camp where I left my equipment, under guard. They're not going anywhere."
"They aren't with us," she replied. "And if they belong to the group I think they do, you'd better not let them escape."
"Where did you pick them up?" Bran asked, suddenly much more attentive.
"I ran into them while scouting the city. They tried to attack me, and I ended up subduing them."
Lina took a while to answer. First she looked at Nara, then at Eira; neither seemed willing to make the decision for her. Alex let the silence stand. He'd already interrogated the three captives and knew about the city's factions, but he needed to hear how the people who claimed to protect civilians described the situation. Above all, he didn't want to reveal that he'd seen things no one had told him about.
"From what you're saying, the beasts aren't the only things you have to worry about here," Alex remarked conversationally. "What's going on in the city?"
"Let's just say things are pretty complicated," Lina answered. She adjusted her coat, though it was no colder than before. "And the rats aren't our only problem."
"Trouble between the survivors too?" Alex asked, giving her time.
"The city's divided," she finally admitted. "There are three groups with enough people and resources to control different sectors. We're still with the government. The others are Marek's people and a group of businessmen who took control of a good portion of the warehouses when everything fell apart." She paused. "What the government can still protect is far less than we'd like."
"And who's in charge of the government's group?" Alex asked. "Who do you answer to?"
"The mayor. He's still running what's left of the city's administration. Everything goes through his office."
"Then I'd like to speak with him. I need information about the region and, if possible, to obtain certain materials. Someone who makes decisions can help me more than five people who just made it out of a police station."
"That's not my decision to make," Lina replied without taking offense. "Let me think about it."
"That matches the prisoners' statements," Ariel observed in his mind. "She has not mentioned the disagreements within the government faction."
"She only just met me. She doesn't have to tell me everything," Alex replied.
"A reasonable precaution. I recommend you exercise the same restraint."
"I'm trying."
Alex kept his attention on Lina. Neither his expression nor his posture betrayed the private conversation. If she was testing him, he had no intention of making her task easier.
"And what about the people who don't belong to any of those groups?" he asked. "Who protects them?"
Lina slowly exhaled. "We do what we can. There are families at the shelter, people guarding the entrances, and teams distributing food and fuel. But we don't have enough for everyone." She gestured toward the crates in the truck. "That's why we came for the weapons. This wasn't some adventure."
"And because some people aren't satisfied with keeping whatever they find," Bran added. His voice had lost the argumentative edge he used with Alex. "Marek takes people from the neighborhoods and then forces their families to hand over supplies."
Nara put her pencil down on the ledger. Yuli glanced at Eira, but neither asked the question that seemed to have occurred to them.
"Have they taken relatives of people in your group too?" Alex asked.
Lina nodded without answering right away. "Yes. Some have been missing for weeks. Sometimes demands arrive. Other times we don't even know where they are. There are families still waiting for news."
"The existence of the captives is consistent with the information obtained from the prisoners," Ariel reported. "We cannot determine how many are still alive."
"I know." Alex recalled the scenes he'd witnessed in Víctor's memories. He forced himself not to look away. If he did so suddenly, they might read more into his reaction than simple outrage.
"Have you tried to get them back?" he asked.
"More than once," Bran answered. "But every attempt has cost us equipment or people. We can't just walk into their territory as if it isn't guarded."
Alex remembered the rooms that had appeared in Víctor's memories. Lina was describing a terrible problem, but her account still omitted some of the worst things Alex had discovered. He had to choose between telling her and protecting the secrecy of his sources. For now, he listened.
"A rescue operation would increase the risk to you," Ariel pointed out. "It is not part of our objectives."
"They're people, Ariel. If we can help them, I want to find out how."
"Wanting to help is not the same as having a plan."
"That's why I'm listening. I haven't promised anything."
Alex turned back to Lina.
"I don't know whether I can help with that problem," he said. "But the three men I captured might have useful information."
"That's already more than many people would've managed," Nara replied quietly.
Lina looked as though she wanted to ask him more about the captives, but first she turned toward him.
"If they really are Marek's men, the mayor will want to question them before anyone else," she said. "And so will I. They're holding our people. Can you bring them?"
"Handing them over weakens your negotiating position," Ariel observed. "At present, you are the only one who knows what they said."
"I already have what they told me. And I can't keep them in a cargo compartment forever."
"Then record it as a debt owed to you."
"I'll bring them," Alex replied. "But they'll stay locked up and under guard until they're in a cell."
"That's all I'm asking."
They'd been working together for a few hours, and there were still far too many things neither side was willing to entrust to the other. Even so, the questions about the prisoners were no longer abstract. For Lina and her companions, there were families waiting for answers.
Yuli broke the silence, looking at the crates marked for their group.
"At least we'll bring something good back. I thought we'd leave here empty-handed. Or that we wouldn't leave at all."
Eira gently squeezed Yuli's arm and stood beside her while the girl studied the crates. Then she glanced toward Alex, who was making one last check of the containers' straps. She watched him for a few seconds before speaking to Lina.
"Lina, do you think we could take him with us?"
Lina turned toward her, unable—or unwilling—to conceal her surprise.
"You want Alex to come?"
"Yes," Eira answered simply. "He helped us. I think we can trust him."
Nara looked up from the inventory. Yuli glanced back and forth between her two friends and nearly made a comment, but Eira's composed expression made her hold her tongue. Eira rarely took the initiative with people she'd just met. Usually, she didn't even say more to them than was strictly necessary. Alex noticed the looks too, though he didn't know what to make of them.
"We can't just bring anyone with us," Bran objected. "We still don't know anything about him."
Eira gave him a brief, cold look, very different from the patience she'd shown Yuli a few minutes earlier.
"Alex isn't just anyone."
She said nothing else. Bran opened his mouth, but Lina intervened before the argument could continue.
"He helped us get out of the station, and he's honored his end of the deal," Lina acknowledged. "That counts for something. Though thanking him for his help is one thing, and telling him all our business is another."
"I understand," Alex replied. "I don't expect you to trust me overnight, either."
Eira looked at him for a moment. Her face retained the distant serenity that seemed so natural to her. Even so, Alex recognized that she had been the one to take the first step.
"You asked to see the mayor, and that's not something I can decide alone," Lina said after considering it. "But we'll take you there. His office is at the university, where most of the people have gathered. That's where we're trying to organize the shelter. After what happened today, he'll see you."
Yuli opened her mouth. Without looking at her, Lina stepped on her foot, and Yuli closed it again with a yelp she disguised as a cough. Alex saw it and didn't know what to think.
"Thank you," Alex said. "I'll only be staying in the city for as long as I need to gather some resources."
Bran frowned but didn't argue. Nara resumed her notes, and Yuli recovered her good humor.
"And now I'll get to finish the questions I haven't asked yet," she announced.
"How many were there?" Alex asked.
"Depends how many you answer along the way."
A quiet laugh escaped Nara. Eira's lips curved ever so slightly before she turned back toward the crates. It wasn't a declaration of friendship or unconditional trust. It was simply an invitation from someone who, judging by her companions' reactions, hardly ever invited anyone anywhere.
Outside, Vela let out a long snort. The sound immediately made Bran turn his head and drew Yuli toward the door to see what the creature was doing. Vela stood still beside the truck, watching the robots secure the last containers. Roka and Suri remained on the other side of the street, alert to any movement among the snow-buried cars.
Lina slipped the armory key into her pocket and adjusted her coat.
"First we'll take the weapons somewhere safe," she said. "Then we can take you to the mayor."
Alex looked at the loaded vehicle and the patrolling drones. A meeting with the mayor could help him understand the city better, but it would also expose his resources to people he still knew little about. Lina waited for his answer without pressing him.
"The invitation represents an opportunity to gather information," Ariel observed. "It also increases the risk of exposing our resources. I recommend limiting the details you share."
"I know. And yes, I'm going to accept."
"All right," Alex replied to Lina. "But before we move, I want to know which route is clearest. I'm not losing these weapons to an ambush after all the trouble it took to get them."
"On that, we agree," she said.
Bran picked up his backpack without another word. Yuli and Nara began debating where they could sit during the journey. Near the door, Eira watched the falling snow with a calm she hadn't possessed while trapped inside the building.
It was Lina who looked back toward the street. Vela had approached the entrance again and was resting her muzzle against the doorframe, three steps from Bran, who backed away without trying to hide it.
"There's one more thing before we leave." She gestured toward the three creatures with her chin. "Our guards know about mutated animals. Rats, dogs, the occasional bear. They've never seen anything like these three. If they show up at the perimeter, the guards will shoot first."
"I say leave them here," Bran said, so quickly that he seemed to have been waiting for his turn to speak. "If they really obey him, they won't go anywhere."
"I'm not leaving them alone in the middle of the city," Alex replied.
"They're strong enough to defend themselves. That's what you've been telling us since we met."
"Bran," Eira said without turning around, "they saved us from the rats."
"And nobody asked them to enter a compound full of families."
This time, Lina didn't interrupt him. She watched Vela, whose neck feathers were ruffled by the wind, and turned back to Alex.
"He's right about one thing. If they lose control inside, we won't have any way to stop them."
"They're calm when they're with me, and I can get them to listen. Without me, I don't know how they'd react to a stranger trying to approach or take them away."
"Then they'll have to be kept in enclosed compartments. Away from where people sleep, and nobody opens them unless we've agreed to it."
"Ariel," Alex thought, "I need enclosed transport for all three."
"I have already prepared everything," she replied. "Two armored trucks departed the camp ten minutes ago, when Vela approached the door for the third time. They are carrying three specially outfitted trailers, with thermal insulation, heating set to eighteen degrees, and an emitter in each compartment. The three prisoners are in the cargo compartment of the first truck, guarded by two drones. They will arrive in twelve minutes."
"You got ahead of me again."
"With a sixty-one percent confidence margin. I am pleased I landed on the correct side."
Alex coughed into his fist to conceal a smile.
"The transport is already on its way," he said aloud. "Enclosed trailers for the three of them, and a separate compartment for the prisoners. They'll arrive in about twelve minutes."
"Already on its way?" Nara repeated. "When did you call it?"
"A few minutes ago, using my equipment. I left several vehicles at camp in case we needed them."
Bran exhaled through his nose.
"First a truck with no driver, and now two more," Bran said. "I just want to know who's operating them, because I don't see anyone."
"I am, using the gear I'm wearing," Alex replied. "It's just a remote control with cameras. If you want, I can show you the screen on the way."
Bran looked at him for a moment. He hadn't expected the offer.
"We'll see."
"If it works and saves us from having to escort a convoy through this city, that's good enough for me for now," Lina said.
Alex checked the inventory one last time. They'd secured the weapons. Now they had to transport them, and after that would come the conversation with the mayor.