“They broke the wall. If they did it on purpose, they don’t give a damn about who gets sick, or how sick they get. They’re poisoning the woods, everything in ’em, and anybody who passes through ’em. And they don’t give a damn.”

“And they let the rotters out,” Zeke noted.

“Did that on purpose, too, I expect.” Angeline rose out of her crouch and urged them to do the same, then led a careful march toward the jagged hole. As the boys followed, she added under her breath, “Probably thought it’d be easier if they only had to fight Yaozu—and not every dead thing in the city, while they’re at it.”

Rector cleared his throat. “Yaozu said we need the rotters.”

As if this was precisely the prompt he’d been waiting for, Houjin immediately blurted out, “He needs them so bad, he’s making them!”

Everyone stopped and turned to stare at him. Angeline asked, “What did you just say?”

“He’s making them,” he repeated, and it sounded like a plea for something. Understanding? Reassurance? “When we first went to the Station,” he said, thrusting a thumb at Rector, “Yaozu’s men locked some other men outside without masks. They were brand-new rotters. You saw it, didn’t you?”

“We didn’t see anybody lock anybody outside,” Rector said carefully.

“You weren’t paying attention, or you weren’t thinking about it. Those men were unarmed, unmasked, and just barely dead. They hadn’t been exposed for more than a few minutes before we got there. They’d been put out—as some kind of punishment, or Yaozu didn’t like them, or whatever reason. It was obvious.”

If Angeline was surprised, she could’ve fooled Rector. “I wouldn’t put it past him. He wants the rotters to keep him company for exactly this reason.” She flapped a hand toward the hole in the wall, and whoever had made it. “They’re guard dogs, is what they are. And when they disappear, that leaves nobody but his hired hands watching the place. A man who’s been bought and paid for can change his mind. Yaozu trusts the rotters more than his own people.”

Zeke had been silent, soaking it all in. But then he said, “I know you don’t like him, Miss Angeline, but the devil you know wouldn’t put a hole in the wall.”

Grudgingly, she replied, “You’re not wrong, but let’s not call him the cavalry yet. Let’s go get ourselves a gander at the breach. It might tell us something.”