“We have to get out of here now. The soldiers gave up on the decoy room and fell back to guard the maternity ward, so the mob’s searching the whole building for this thing.” She motioned to Samm with her chin. “It’s only a matter of time before they make it up here.”

“Give me one of their guns,” said Samm.

“Do we trust him with a gun?” asked Jayden.

“We’re a long way past that,” said Xochi, handing over Haru’s rifle. Kira unconsciously tensed as Samm took the weapon, but if Samm noticed he didn’t show it. He checked the gun expertly, then squatted down and quickly gathered the remaining ammo from the discarded packs on the floor.

He stood calmly. “How do we get out?”

“There’s a back service stairwell in the north wing,” said Marcus. “It’s locked on all floors, so no one will be in it, but we could shoot the lock.”

“And so could the mob,” said Samm and Jayden, almost in unison. They looked at each other, and Jayden raised an eyebrow.

“The elevator shaft, then,” said Kira. “There’s a ladder that runs down to the ground level—we used to play around in there when Marcus and I worked custodial during school. We can take that to the basement and look for the service door out the back.”

Samm frowned. “That could be dangerous with a mob searching the building. The elevators will likely be running.”

Marcus whistled. “Now I really want to visit Partialville. You guys have enough juice to run elevators?”

“Ah,” said Samm, nodding. “Unused elevator shaft it is, then.”

They ran quickly down the corridor, searching for the elevators, and found a maintenance door in a side hall. The elevator shaft was a long drop—they were on the fourth floor, plus the hospital had two basements and a sublevel filled with elevator machinery. Kira leaned over the edge, peering deep into the pit. It disappeared into blackness just a few floors below. She summoned her courage and started the climb down. Marcus followed quickly after, then the others one by one; Jayden came last, locking the door behind him. Kira’s backpack seemed heavier than before, dangling over the seven-story drop, and her medkit swung wildly with each new rung of the ladder. She heard voices through the wall on the third floor, and someone on the first floor was banging loudly on the elevator doors. The entire shaft echoed with fierce, metallic clangs.

“Where do we get out?” whispered Xochi.

“At the bottom,” said Kira, trying to speak softly. “If we go all the way to the basement, there’s a loading dock they used to use to bring in supplies—it’s all back corridors and rear exits, so we’re not likely to see anybody.”

“And if we do?” asked Samm.

Kira didn’t have an answer for that.