We turned the corner of the building, sticking to the shadows, and my heart thumped harder when I saw two more teams of cops, the ends of their navy cassocks flapping in the cold wind. They had their backs to us, and they turned left into the next section of the complex without seeing us. But there would be more of them. We could hear them all around us, knocking on doors and demanding entry.

“Finn says this way!” Maddock shout-whispered as I fell into line with them. Then he did an about-face and led us back the way we’d come. We tiptoed past the cluster of apartments we’d been staying in, then followed Maddy into the portico of the next bunch just as a man threw open his door and stepped onto a worn welcome mat.

Devi brandished the knife I hadn’t realized she was still carrying, and the man gave her a big smile. And winked one bright green eye. Then he tossed a set of keys at Maddock, who caught them.

“Parking spot C40, around the corner and to the right.” Then the man stepped back into his apartment and closed the door. And suddenly I understood how Finn could help me steal a car.

“Damn, he’s handy!” I whispered to Grayson as we jogged toward the lot as quietly as we could.

“Yeah.” Her bright white smile shone in the parking lot lights as we followed Maddock down the center aisle, past mostly empty parking spaces. “He scouted out two of them a few days ago, in case we needed a quick escape.”

The vehicle in space C40 was a massive, dented, rusted thing with three rows of seats, a hatchback, and plenty of cargo space in the rear. I couldn’t tell what color it was in the yellowish lights, but the paint was dark. Maddock unlocked and opened the cargo area, and everyone threw their bags in, while I clutched the strap of my backpack tighter. Then Maddy slid into the front seat behind the wheel and Devi climbed in next to him while Grayson and Reese piled into the middle row.

“What’s your plan for getting through the wall?” I asked.

Maddock met my gaze as he shifted into reverse. “How many guards work the gate at night?”

“Two on a normal night.” However, I’d already counted more than a dozen points of light bobbing on the grounds as cops went from door to door looking for us. “But with the town on lockdown, there could be two or three times that.”

“We’re going to have to climb the wall, aren’t we?” Grayson leaned over Reese to stare out at the massive barricade on our left, visible between the buildings.

Devi snorted. “Even if we could get that high with no footholds, the razor wire would shred us like paper.”

“No one’s ever gone over the wall, that I know of. No one human, anyway.” Though that evening’s televised massacre had proved that degenerates could get through our barrier en masse if they were motivated enough.