Sasha stopped him. That wasn’t hard because he was only a little more stable than Tule. She pushed him back, put a hand on the door, and then drew the pistol Roland had given her. She fixed Manny with what she hoped was a firm, fearless look.

“You’re in no state to be heroic.”

He looked as if he wanted to fight her. But then he looked down to the shaking hand he had pressed onto the sopping wound in his side.

“Yeah, alright. You’re down to do the hero stuff, then?”

She nodded.

“Well then, be my guest.”

Sasha didn’t know how to use a gun. The AmFed banned almost all private firearm ownership. Her grandfather had owned a couple of bolt-action hunting rifles and he’d let Sasha hold them a few times. That was as close as she’d gotten to firearms training. She’d never actually shot the darn things. Once he’d died, her father had sold the guns rather than deal with the hassle (and expense) of a license.

So she burst out onto the street with the pistol held out high in front of her, like she’d seen in movies. It took her a few seconds to realize, sheepishly, that this behavior was more likely to get her gunned down than aid in her defense. Thankfully there’d been no Martyrs watching the rear exit. Sasha waved for the others to follow her out and stashed the pistol under her shirt.

For a few minutes they ran or, rather, hobbled in what seemed like the right direction. The city still rang with the sound of sirens, gunfire, and the occasional concussive blast, but it seemed to be moving away from them. Plano wasn’t exactly crowded but there were enough people out on the street to notice the fresh wounds on Tule, Rick, and Manny. No one approached them though. Sasha wasn’t sure if they passed unnoticed, but they were able to pass through the city without incident.

Fear and the flight reflex were enough to carry them a few blocks in relative haste. Once they were out of sight of the jail, Rick put up a hand as he slumped back against the wall. Tule continued to hold him up. She was pale, sweaty, and pained-looking. Rick shook and shuddered. His eyes were unfocused and he was clearly in shock.

“He needs to rest,” Tule said.

Manny stopped next to them and leaned against the wall as well. He nodded at Tule and then looked back to Sasha.

“Yeah, ditto. I might prefer to lay down and die at this point.”

“We need to find a car anyway,” Tule said, as she helped lower Rick down to sit against the wall. “If I carry him for much longer I’m going to drop.”

Sasha realized everyone was looking at her.

“Is that…my job?”