Free Midnight by Ellen Connor

changes. The world is born again in fire.”
    A chill rolled through Rosa. “What does that mean?”
    But, try as she might, she couldn’t pry anything more out of Bee. Amid a swarm like a dark cloud, it took the full extent of Rosa’s self-control not to panic and slap at them. With the slow motions of a sleepwalker, the old woman returned to her home. All that remained of her eerie words was the buzzing of the bees.

EIGHT
     
    The next day at the general store, Chris glanced at Rosa. She stood beside him with her arms crossed as they waited for Wicker to appear. Her nose angled sharply down, possibly indicating native blood. Such a strong profile. Nothing about her was weak. She’d set her sights on creating a petty kingship out of the old ashes. Chris admired her resolve, but she was nuts if she believed it would last.
    But Valle was an easy place to grow comfortable. He could see why people settled here: good food, a strong community, a sense of purpose, and order out of chaos. The few patients he had already treated voiced nothing but respect and gratitude for la jefa’ s strong hand.
    “How long have you been here?” he asked. Call it intellectual curiosity. He couldn’t help but wonder how she and her people had succeeded.
    “Five years. Since just after the Change hit this area.” She aimed an inquiring look at him. “You’re impressed.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Is there . . . ?” Rosa frowned and shook her head. “Never mind.”
    She seemed to pull away, although her body remained still. Chris reached out. The temptation to touch overwhelmed good sense and her distinct boundaries. Wrapped in the cotton sleeve of a faded T-shirt, her biceps tightened beneath his fingers. She flicked a lethal gaze toward that point of contact. He could have predicted as much. Touching her was like grabbing a rattlesnake. What did surprise him was the flicker of fear across her expression. She glanced around the empty store, almost reflexively checking whether anyone had seen them.
    Chris let go. While the old world slowly, inexorably fell to dust, he had studied wildcats for nearly two decades. A scarcity of females always caused trouble. Fighting followed. And death. Sure, some would survive, but that wasn’t much of an option for humans when so few remained. Rosa, as a leader and a woman, must have realized early the tenuous nature of her position.
    But touching her. Touching anyone . Some things were even more primal than good food and a safe place to sleep.
    He fisted his hands behind his back. “What were you going to ask me?”
    He could see it behind her mahogany eyes, how she worked, probing him for sincerity. But she took her duties as leader seriously. With information as valuable as supplies, he might as well be the morning edition. Too bad. She would be disappointed by how often he’d eschewed human contact, even before the worst of the Change. Other wayfarers undoubtedly knew more.
    “Is there any place out there like ours?” she asked.
    Again with the hope. How the hell did she wrangle that fickle bitch every day?
    “No. Not even close.”
    She offered her toothy smile again—the scary one. “No wonder you stare like a kid at the base of a skyscraper.”
    “I stare when I like what I see.”
    “Save it.” She pounded on the counter with her fist. “ Oye , Wicker. ¿Dónde estás, mano? ”
    The old shopkeeper finally ambled out of the back room, his face slack as if he’d just been awakened from a nap. “So, we finally get to see what you have. Eh, Doc?”
    Chris swiped the sweat from the back of his neck, surprised to find himself grinning. But he needed to get his mind off Rosa and back on negotiations that would determine his immediate future. “Medicine, mostly. Antibiotics. Some asthma inhalers. Painkillers. Electrolyte powders. Hell, even lice shampoo and athlete’s foot cream.”
    Wicker and Rosa wore matching expressions of surprise. “What’d you do,” she said, “knock over a