Malik asked about the convoy before he asked about his leg.
“I saw the core truck when we brought people in,” he said through the gap. “Did it leave?”
“Yes,” Eli said.
“And you stayed.”
“We came here.”
Malik’s laugh was thin. “That’s going to cost you.”
Tessa knelt beside the door. “Tell me where the pain is worst.”
“The leg. Hip too, when I try to move.”


