The areas where the portals had opened up were in worse shape than the others. People had reacted, and the violent reaction was only a small part of things. Some had realized their close call and moved away from the portals that could potentially expand again. Abandoned property, harsher weather, and the fact that a lot of the constructions had been rushed meant that there was a kind of decrepitude setting in. Debris, trash, broken windows, and the occasional door left open.

I imagined there were people out there who would have happily claimed the empty houses, even with the proximity to the portal, but it was the same kind of dynamic as in Hollow Point. In a lot of places, the people that had abandoned properties hadn’t gone through official channels or put up listings to let others know the properties were available.

One street, a bus parked to block off the road, with another two vehicles parked further down that same road. It was there, it seemed, to break the wind that would have blown straight into the main road through Norwalk Station.

I did one loop, seeing only crowds and countermeasures. There were signs warning that the main road was blocked by the portal, with instructions for detours and flow. The signs had been hastily put together.

A flash in the distance got my attention.

That would be her.

Four people were blinded and sitting on their asses, backs to the wall. Kenzie was there, uncostumed, her face blurred.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

The blur faded away and Kenzie smiled. “I’m good! Except I’ve been waiting way too long.”

“We’ll talk about that in a second. Who are these guys?”

“I’m blind!” one shouted. “New person, help!”

“They wanted what I was carrying, and I said no. They insisted, I shot ’em. I set it to a two.”

“There are settings?”

“They’ll be blind for two hours. Where were you all? I was lonely, geez.”

“We were waiting at the stairs of the financial building, where the mall closed up.”

Kenzie smiled. “What? No. I sent a new location.”

“Check again.”

She did, fishing out her phone. “Don’t try running just because I’m not looking or aiming at you.”

She fiddled with her phone. She wore a blue polo top with heart-shaped buttons down the collar and a pink stripe across the chest. She had a pink skirt, blue leggings, and an hourglass hairpin. Her eyehook extended out from her belt, and she had her flash gun dangling from her pinky.

The box she’d brought for the day was sitting beside her. It was just large enough that I imagined it had to be inconvenient. Larger than a backpack, just broad and tall enough that holding it by the handles on either side had to be a pain. Kenzie wasn’t fully grown, either.