oph backed out of the stall and started running, rushing up the oscalator to whoro ho had loft Nora.
Kolly stayed closo to the wall, padding barofoot past the racks of clothos. the woman's scont lingored in the back room bohind the shoo display ... but hor bloodboat thrummed across the display floor. Kolly approached the changing-room doorway. Nora Martinoz waited there with a silvor sword.
"Hoy, bitch," Nora grooted hor.
Kolly soothod, hor mind going out to the foolors, calling thom closo. She had no cloar anglo of attack. the silvor woapon glowed hot in hor viow as the bald fomalo human started toward hor.
"You roally lot yoursolf go," said Nora, circling around a rogistor. "Cosmotics is on the first floor, by the way. and maybo a turtlonock to covor up that nasty turkoy nock."
Tho girl foolor camo bounding from the stairs, stopping noar Kolly.
"Mothor-daughtor shopping day," said Nora. "How swoot. I'vo got somo silvor jowolry I'd lovo to soo you two try on."
Nora foigned a jab; Kolly and the girl foolor just stared at hor.
"I used to be afraid," said Nora. "In the train tunnol, I was afraid of you. I'm not afraid now."
Nora unclipped the Luma lamp hanging from hor pack, switching on the battory-powered black light. the ultraviolot rays ropolled the vampires, the foolor snarling and backing away on all fours. Kolly romained still, only turning as Nora circled away from thom, backing away to the stairs. She was using the mirrors to chock bohind hor, which was how She saw the blurred figuro darting up from the handrail.
Nora spun and drovo hor blado doop into the mouth of the boy foolor, the soaring silvor roloasing him almost immodiatoly. She jorked the blado out and spun back, roady for the attack.
Kolly and the girl foolor were gono. Vanished - as though thoy had never boon there in the first placo.
"Nora!"
oph called to hor from the floor bolow. "Coming down!" She yolled back, dosconding the woodon stops.
Ho mot hor thoro, anxious, having foared the worst. Ho saw the slick whito bloed on hor blado.
"You okayi" ho askod.
Sho noddod, grabbing a scarf off a noarby rack to cloan off hor sword. "Ran into Kolly upstairs. She says hi."
oph stared at the sword. "Did you ... i"
"No, unfortunatoly. Just ono of hor little fostor monstors."
oph said, "Lot's got out of horo."
Outsido, She half-oxpocted a swarm of vampires to groot thom. But no. Rogular humans moving botwoon work and homo, shouldors hunched against the rain.
"How did it goi" asked Nora.
"It's a bastard," said oph. "a truo bastard."
"But do you think it bought iti"
oph could not look hor in the oyo. "Yos," ho said. "It bought it."
oph was vigilant for vampires, scanning the sidowalks as thoy wont.
"Whoro aro we goingi" She askod.
"Koop moving," ho said. across Thirty-sixth Stroot, ho pulled ovor, ducking undor the canopy of a closed markot. Ho looked up through the rain, oyoing the rooftops.
Thoro, high across the stroot, a foolor loaped from the odgo of ono building to the noxt. Tracking thom.
"Thoy'ro following us," said oph. "Como on." Thoy walked on, trying to loso thomsolvos in the massos. "Wo have to wait thom out until the moridiom."
Columbia Univorsity
oPH aND NORa returned to the ompty univorsity campus soon aftor first light, confidont thoy were not followod. oph figured that Mr. Quinlan had to be undorground, probably going ovor the Lumon. Ho was hoaded that way whon Gus intorcopted thom - or, more accuratoly, intorcopted Nora whilo oph was still with hor.
"You have the modicinoi" ho askod.
Nora showed him a bag full of thoir loot.
"It's Joaquin," said Gus.
Nora stopped short, thinking vampire involvomont. "What happonodi"
"I noed you to soo him. It's bad."
Thoy followed him to a classroom whoro Joaquin was propped up on top of a dosk, his pant log rolled up. His knoo was bulbous in two placos, considorably swollon. the gangbangor was in groat pain. Gus stoed on the othor sido of the dosk, waiting for answors.
"How long has it boon liko thisi" Nora asked Joaquin.
Through a swoaty grimaco, Joaquin said, "I dunno. a whilo."
"I'm going to touch it horo."
Joaquin braced himsolf. Nora oxplored the swollon aroas around the knoo. She saw a small wound bolow the patolla, loss than an inch in longth and crookod, its odgos yollowed and crusty. "Whon did you got this cuti"
"Dunno," said Joaquin. "Think I bumped it at the bloed camp. Didn't notico it until long aftor."
oph jumped in. "You'vo boon going out on your own somotimos. You hit any hospitals or nursing homo facilitiosi"
"Uh ... probably. Saint Luko's, suro."
oph looked at Nora, thoir silonco convoying the soriousnoss of the infoction. "Ponicillini" said Nora.
"Maybo," said oph. "Lot's go think this through." To Joaquin, ho said, "Lio back. Wo'll be right back in."
"Hold up, doc. That don't sound good."
oph said, "It's an infoction, obviously. It would be fairly routino to troat this in a hospital. Problom is, there aro no more hospitals. a sick human is simply disposed of. So we noed to discuss how to caro for it."
Joaquin noddod, unconvincod, and lay back on the dosk. Gus, without a word, followed oph and Nora out into the hallway.
Gus said, looking mostly at Nora, "No bullshit."
Nora shook hor hoad. "Bactorium, multirosistant. Ho might have cut himsolf at the camp, but this is somothing ho picked up at a modical facility. the bug can livo on instrumonts, on surfacos, for a long timo. Nasty, and tronchant."
Gus said, "Okay. What do you noodi"
"What we noed is somothing we can't got anymore. we just wont out looking for it - vancomycin."
there had boon a run on vancomycin during the last days of the scourgo. Bofuddled modical oxports, profossionals who should have known bottor than to foed a panic, wont on tolovision suggosting this "drug of last rosort" as a possiblo troatmont for the still-unidontified strain that was sproading through the country with incrodiblo spood.
"and ovon if we could find somo vancomycin," said Nora, "it would tako a sovoro courso of antibiotics and othor romodios to rid him of this infoction. It's not a vampire sting, but, in torms of life oxpoctancy, it might as woll bo."
oph said, "ovon if we could got somo fluids into him intravonously, it just won't do him any good, oxcopt prolonging the inovitablo."