And All the Stars

"No, I'm glad you said no to that. Here." Noi picked up the tablet computer and passed it to Madeleine, then beganpushing their trolley toward the next door.

The tablet was displaying a very recent post on the BlueGreen site titled "Bluesdangerous?" It was a summary ofstories of Blues hurting people, with repeats of the surge, or jolts of'invisible lightning'. And twoincidents, one in Singapore, the other in Norway, of Green survivors, thought tobe recovering, who had been found dead after coming into contact with a Blue.

"I'd rather give it a few days," Noi said, as sherapped on the new door. "See whathappens."

Madeleine read through the article in silence, then fumbledfor the keys, painfully conscious of the patch of midnight and stars below herleft eye, of the whole of her body feeling like velvet beneath the concealingdress. There was a lot still to learnabout being Blue.

ooOoo

The apartments at Finger Wharf were grouped into two longparallel buildings, joined by a co

Most of the world – or at least this portion of Sydney – haddied curled up on the couch, watching television. These were much easier to deal with than thehandful who, like Madeleine, had ended up in their showers, finding somecomfort from the pelting water. Theywere usually at least partially naked, the marbling of flesh and the begi

In one apartment the windows and door were so effectivelysealed with tape and plastic that Madeleine swore she could hear the roominhale when they broke through. She hadto wonder whether it was the stain or suffocation which had killed the smallfamily inside. In a different apartmentthere were nearly a dozen people, with empty bottles – champagne, beer –everywhere, and a partially-eaten sheet cake where someone had roughly scrubbedoff 'Birthday', and spelled out 'Apocalypse' with shining silver cachous.

Death had not come all at once. Most Blues had died quickly, but many of theGreens had obviously lingered over the past three days, so the sick-sweet aromaof rot was not always present, though there were often other smells. Bowels relaxed in death. A couple of times pungent incense made theireyes sting. In one bedroom scentedcandles still burned, set all around three little beds and three tiny occupantstucked up with toys, and favourite books. Noi and Madeleine blew out the candles, and found the mother in abathtub of blood.

Out in the hall, Noi marked off the apartment, then slumpedto the ground, and Madeleine joined her, shuddering.

"How long ago do you think she did that?" she askedthe shorter girl. "An hour? Two? If we'd started at the other end of the building we could have savedher."

"Or just delayed her."

Madeleine hunched her shoulders, then pulled off her sandalsand massaged her arches. Velvet againstvelvet. Over two hours, and so much moreleft.

"I thought we'd find more people. How can they have had one in five comethrough at that boarding school, while in forty apartments we were too late forthe sole survivor?"

"One in five healthy teenagers with Science Boy playinghead nurse," Noi pointed out. "We're trying to Nightingale the wrong demographic."

"Do you want to go on?"

With a sigh, Noi nodded. "Yeah. I'd obsess about itif we stopped now. About things likethat family, except with one of the kids still alive instead. But eat something – don't let the hungercatch up."

They snacked on some of the nuts and dried fruit they'dbrought along to offer to survivors, and Madeleine browsed BlueGreenwhile Noi sent some texts. There was anentire section devoted to Rushcutters Bay Grammar, one of a half-dozen 'majorstudies' cobbled together by whoever happened to have access to a large numberof infected people.

"Looks like we're not being very original," Noisaid, and held up her phone to show a Twitter feed for #checkyourneighbors.

Madeleine could wish for fewer neighbours, but nodded andstood up. "My cousin's apartment'sthe last on this row. We can put me downas a survivor."

"One less door to thump on, anyway."

There was a merciful run of empty apartments, and they movedon to the next level up.

"Who is it?"

The words had a horror movie quality, the barely audiblesound sending Madeleine flinching backward, the keys she'd been lifting to thelock jangling.

"Hello!" Noi called out, with only a suggestion ofa gulp. "We're checking for sur – for anyone who needs help. We have some food and bottled water, or wecan bring milk if you want it."

"I don't need anything."

It was a woman, her voice hoarse, frantic. Madeleine and Noi exchanged worried glances.

"We can leave some things out here for you, if you'dlike," Madeleine offered. "Youdon't have to open the door while we're here."

"Go away."

"All right. Sorryfor – uh, we'll be in apartment 222 later, if you, um..." Madeleine trailed off as a thump made thedoor shake, as if the woman had hit it. "We're going now."

Noi hurriedly pushed the trolley down the walkway to the nextdoor, then clutched Madeleine's arm.

"I don't know whether to laugh or scream," shewhispered. "What the hell?"

"Maybe she somehow managed to avoid the stain. Of course she wouldn't want to open thedoor."

"She could have just said that." But Noi shrugged off her a

"We still don't know everything that the dust does topeople. She could be something new,changed in other ways."

"Don't say that after you told her your apartmentnumber. Let's get on – I'm wanting somedistance."

Madeleine rapped at the new door, far less casually, andcalled for longer than had become habit, before making a quick, nervous sortieand heading for the next apartment.

"Wait."

The strained voice was worse for being louder, sharper, andit was impossible not to jump, Noi even letting out a tiny, cut-off shriek asthey spun in unison to see the previous door had opened, though there was nosign of a person.

"Take him away."

The faintest suggestion of movement followed, then nothing.

"I am freaking the shit out right now," Noi said,under her voice. "Are you freakingthe shit out?"

"I'm...really looking for an excuse not to go inthere," Madeleine said.

They approached the door like nervous horses, ready to shy ata moment's notice. Madeleine moved topeer around the corner, changed her mind and backed to the limit of thewalkway, against the railing, so she wouldn't be in reach of anything whichmight be just inside the door.

"Can't see anyone," Noi murmured, craning for alook down an airy, white hall. Shehefted the bolt cutters, adding: "It's going to turn out to be some scaredlittle old lady and I'm going to look like the bad guy waving these around, andyet..."