He paused for a moment, weighing his options. The quickest way home would be to go on through the lot and cut across on to the main walkway, a route that would save him a good twenty minutes. On the other hand, it did take him out of sight of the Section, and into the heart of the area that—even at the most cursory inspection—stank of Outlier activity. The other option was to retrace his steps back out to join the walkway, but that would involve an even longer trek, and he’d still end up spending a good amount of time in the lot, just as exposed to—to whatever there was to be exposed to. And it wasn’t long to curfew now.

He sucked in his lower lip, unsure of what to do, then resolved to press forward. Nobody had noticed him yet—there seemed to be nobody around to notice—but even so, something told him that the lesser the time he spent here, the better, which meant taking the shortest route. Anyway, it was still light, and he couldn’t remember any actual incidents ever being reported from here.

He marched forward and, skirting one, two, three, four obstructions, turned a corner, moving out of sight of the Section and down the worn path, walled with rubble, that led across the lot. A flash of movement caught the corner of his eye, and he turned to get a better look. And kept looking—at the last thing he’d ever expected to see.

Up ahead, atop one of the mounds of debris, stood the most beautiful child he had ever set eyes on. The tattered clothes only seemed to accentuate the flawlessness of his complexion and the tousled golden curls that framed his angelic face. He stood on the pile of debris in the manner of a conqueror on a mountain, hands on his hips, head tilted slightly upwards, the setting sun framing his head like a halo. Spotting Albert looking at him, he waved. Almost without realizing it, Albert waved back, even as he kept walking. Now he was closer, almost close enough to touch the boy if he wanted to; and then, a moment later he was past him, beyond the mound and out of sight around the corner of another pile of rubble; left with a last, fleeting image of a miniature Greek god standing amidst the ruins. It was an unlikely sight, beauty amidst such hopelessness.