People are too close to the edge of the broken bridge, where the rebar hang like dead arms reaching toward the dark water. They have children sitting on their shoulders. Teenagers and gang members are hanging off the suspension cables that rise to the sky and disappear into the wispy fog gathering above.

The thickening mist has me worried. Very worried. If we can’t see them, how are we going to fight them?

Chapter 57

57

There must be a thousand people here. I can tell from the twins’ expressions that they didn’t expect such a large showing either.

‘I don’t understand,’ I say when I reach the twins onstage. They’re dressed in matching patched-up hobo outfits complete with clown faces and exaggerated bed-head hair. They each hold microphones that remind me of huge ice cream cones.

‘Why are there so many people here?’ I give them a baffled look. ‘I thought we made the danger clear to them. Don’t they have an ounce of common sense?’

Dee checks to make sure his mic is turned off. ‘It’s not about common sense.’ Dee surveys the crowd with some pride.

Dum also checks to make sure his mic is off. ‘It’s not about logic or practicality or anything that makes a remote amount of sense.’ He sports a wide grin.

‘That’s the whole point of a talent show,’ says Dee, doing a spin onstage. ‘It’s illogical, chaotic, stupid, and a whole hell of a lot of fun.’ Dee nods to Dum. ‘It’s what sets us apart from monkeys. What other species puts on talent shows?’

‘Yeah, okay, but what about the danger?’ I ask.

‘That I don’t quite have an answer for,’ says Dum.

‘They know it’s dangerous.’ Dee waves to the crowd. ‘They know they’ll only have twenty-five seconds to evacuate. Everybody knows what they’re getting into.’

‘Maybe they’re sick of being nothing more than rats rummaging through the trash and running for their lives.’ Dee sticks his tongue out at the kids sitting on shoulders. ‘Maybe they’re ready to be human again, if only for an hour.’

I think about that. We’ve been scratching by since the angels got here. Everyone, even the gangs, has been afraid. Constantly worried about food and shelter and basic human necessities. Worried about whether friends and family will survive the day, worried about monsters jumping out in the middle of the night and eating us alive.

And now there’s this. A talent show. Silly and nonsensical. Stupid and fun. Together. Laughing. Being part of the human race. Knowing about the horrors that have happened and will happen but choosing to live anyway. Maybe there’s an art to being human.

Sometimes I feel like a Martian in the middle of all this humanity.