Juan knew the disease alright and he knew there would only be a few to survive, the victims would go quickly, like the chief. He had seen it run through Samarkand leaving only two hundred or so of the original three thousand inhabitants fumbling around a vacant city. Half of the survivors were children like himself. It didn't leave anyone over the age of thirty-five.

Back at his camp, he picked up the pad again and continued to sketch the outline of the buildings and the cliffs above. If he left tomorrow he thought, and stayed away from the village, perhaps he could leave without contracting it. The pieces Bando made were heavy, another day’s stay would be worth the risk he thought, as he drew the details of two young men carrying a body to the edge of the blackened circle where the bonfire had been.

Bando worked late into the night, oblivious to the worsening condition of the stricken villagers. He slept in his shop and ventured out late the next morning to find seven bodies laid out parallel to each other near his door.

Juan sat at his camp, pad, and charcoal in hand, occasionally looking up at his subjects. Juan looked up to find a weary Bando staring with disbelief at the seven bodies. They looked as if they might have gone to sleep on the ground next to each other if it were not for the numerous white blisters visible on their exposed skin. Juan had watched Teszin and two young men carry out the five new bodies throughout the morning. The seventh was laid out about an hour before Bando emerged.

Bando looked around; the city appeared abandoned. He walked past a row of dwellings and saw a small girl peeking around the edge of the third portal. He remembered her from when he first arrived. Her hair was cropped like a boy’s, but there was no mistaking she was a girl. She looked to be about five years old. She had been one of the first to approach him. He slowly walked up to her and crouched down to match her size. She peered around the edge of the portal so that only half of her small brown face showed. Her tiny arm crept around the corner and clung to the outside of the stone wall. Bando placed his hand on the wall for support about six inches from hers. He looked at her for a few seconds and smiled. The girl smiled broadly so that a dimple appeared on her visible cheek. Bando moved his hand along the wall toward hers. Her dark eye looked at his hand and then back at his white teeth. She let go of her hold on the wall and grabbed Bando's fingers. She giggled when she touched him. He breathed a sigh of relief and clutched her tiny hand.