Jen didn’t nod or confirm this and Dune realized that some part of her had hoped Jen would interrupt and say, “Actually they found a miraculous cure just this morning that’s being bottled and distributed right over this table.”

Dune continued, “I am just wondering if there are any tips on getting folks to drink water or ... just anything to help make it easier.”

Jen shook her head. “No. Not that we know of. Life support doesn’t even seem to be a particularly helpful thing at this point. Just my opinion. These folks are dead as soon as they get sick. I think maybe it’s kinder to let it be quicker. So just keep calling the crisis line, 611.”

Dune was the quiet one now. She felt a pressure in her chest, tight in a way she couldn’t place.

“You from here?” she asked Jen.

“No. Virginia. Came up to volunteer. But—”

“Have you lost anyone to H-8?”

Dune could sense Jen’s lips tighten behind the face mask as the volunteer realized she was under attack. “I’ve been here for a month, working nonstop. And thousands of patients have come through these crisis centers. Thousands. Prolonging those deaths didn’t help.”

Dune felt her face burn, trying to contain something inap­propriate.

“Y’all don’t know what it is. Good, ‘kind’ deaths isn’t the point. Staying alive so that maybe someone finds a cure and we can save our lives, that is the point.” Dune’s voice felt quiet, like it was shrinking in on itself to get through her throat.

Jen shrugged now, her head twisting away dismissively. “Well. I hope that works, I hope for a cure too.”

Dune realized that she needed to get out of this woman’s presence. She wanted to reach across the table and grab Jen’s neck, just under the blonde hairline, and start shaking her head and body in different directions.

It wasn’t Jen’s fault, what she was saying. She was expressing something Dune had heard before.

Let the dying die, let the dead go.

“I am sorry,” Jen said, leaning forward, rearranging her stapler, her tone final—an invitation to leave. It was hard to rely on only a stranger’s eyes for information. “About your family. And I am not trying to be insensitive. But you need to leave these sick people alone and stay in your house. They’re going to evacuate y’all soon. The best thing you can do right now is live.”