“Tamara,” he said again, more gravelly than before; she extended one hand to catch the club he tossed back at her, and flipped the knife over her shoulder towards him. He caught it but didn’t try to stand. The manikins were drawing back a little, regrouping, watching Tamara and her swinging club with calculating eyes. A moment’s reprieve. But when I crawled to Indigo’s side I saw more open emotion on his face than I had ever seen before—sadness. An apology.

He expected to die. And when I looked back at Tamara I saw her expression hard, determined, utterly devoid of hope. They both expected to die here.

No. No, not again.

And then I remembered something else I’d found on this ship. “Tamara, you said that you survived here last time because your crew set up defenses before they died,” I said. “Are there any left? Any at all? Or are there any of those gas traps around here? I found one in the labs on the other side of the ship; it was a gas trap that knocked out the manikins who went inside.”

Tamara’s shoulders stiffened. Indigo said, “What?”

“There’s another gas trap not far from here,” Tamara said. “Get him up.”

“What trap?” Indigo asked sharply as I hauled him up, putting one arm over my shoulders. It was awkward, him being shorter than me, but he wasn’t going to stay upright on his own.

“If I lead, can you get him running?” Tamara asked me.

I’d just pick him up and carry him. “Yeah.”

“Ready,” Tamara said, “go!”

I didn’t warn Indigo before I hauled him up into my arms. He let out a sharp breath between his teeth, from annoyance or pain or both, but there was no time to protest and he didn’t. I ran after Tamara with warm dampness spreading down my shirt where Indigo’s torso pressed against mine. The manikins chased after us; I heard their scratching claws, the soft huffs of their breath. I wished they made more noise than that; it would’ve been less frightening if they shouted or howled or something, less frightening than this awful whispering and scratching. Indigo’s free arm slung around my neck, the hilt of Tamara’s knife in his fist bumping against my spine. I wondered if he planned to fight off the manikins by hanging off my neck.

He was bleeding a lot. It had already soaked my shirt.

There was no time for caution. I ran flat-out after Tamara, my only light the pale glow of Indigo’s collar-light shining out from near my own neck, praying I didn’t stumble or fall. Hopefully the gas trap was close by. I wasn’t sure how long I could keep the pace going, carrying both Indigo and the pack.

Running flat-out, Tamara and I were faster than the manikins. The sound of their nails receded into the distance, not far enough to escape them, but enough to get some breathing room.

I nearly ran past Tamara when she stopped short in front of an open doorway, winding down to a slow stop and nearly dropping Indigo when I did. It was only when his arms slipped around my neck that I thought to brace him, letting his legs down so that he could try to stand up on his own. His blood was all down my front.