Panic rises in me, but I push it down. I’m stronger than this. Right now, nothing is happening to indicate that we’re in any kind of immediate danger. Just because something horrific could happen, doesn’t mean it will happen. I refuse to think about the cave-in we’ve already passed, refuse to think about how that happened, when it happened, if anyone was trapped after it happened. Arryn doesn’t seem suicidal, so I have to believe she wouldn’t have led us here if she thought it would end in our untimely deaths.

With that as a steadying thought, I give Cami an encouraging nudge, jolting her from her own terror, and the two of us jog to catch up with our guide.

“So … Cannae Point?” I force myself to ask, straining my mind for the limited geographical knowledge I recall of the city. “That’s somewhere near North Head, right?”

“Pretty much perpendicular to both it and Manly,” she answers.

“And smack bang in the middle of the old quarantine zone,” Cami mutters unhappily.

Arryn, surprisingly, seems amused as she says, “Yeah, about that … As we get closer, it’s a good idea not to touch anything.”

Another shiver overtakes me and I say, “I’m afraid to ask, but now I have to know.”

“I read this article recently about how some of the disease victims might not be buried where they were supposed to have been, with many of the bodies still unaccounted for,” Arryn shares, sounding as if the topic intrigues her. “They could be anywhere, including along the lines of this tunnel. Then there were others that weren’t buried deep enough in the quarantine zones, so with changes to the land—erosion and whatnot— they’re moving closer to the surface.”

While both are unpleasant notions, I’m still unsure about her warning. Owing to my growing fear, I somewhat flippantly say, “So, you’re saying if I see a hundred-year-old corpse, I shouldn’t touch it? Because that’s the first thing I’d want to do.”

She ignores my sarcasm and calmly says, “No, I’m saying that once we start moving upward in a few minutes, you shouldn’t even touch the walls. The diseases carried by the dead weren’t just minor ailments that can be treated with modern medicine. We’re talking about things like smallpox and the bubonic plague and the Spanish flu—some of which can live on in the body long after death.” She lets that sink in for a moment before finishing, “I don’t know about you, but I’m not eager to put Cami’s healing skills to that kind of test. So let’s avoid the risk by not touching anything, yeah?”