Damage & Decay

Chapter 30

Part Three: Lost Girls

"Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope."

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A short, slim figure stood in their path, and as the brothers jogged past, he turned and fell into step with them. They ran down the length of Main Street and then cut over toward the Red Zone, the wide, flat area that lay between the town proper and the fence line.

"I heard," said Levi as he ran, and the shared awareness of what those two words meant carried them for a dozen yards. "I just came from the hospital. Marco's in bad shape, but Doc Gurijala says he'll make it."

"Thank God," said Eren as he exhaled a knot of hot tension that had hung burning in his chest. "When you see him again, tell him we're going to get Nix back."

"I will. He's going to need to know that."

Despite the early hour--or perhaps because of everything that had happened--the streets were filled with people. The closer the brothers got to the Red Zone, the thicker the crowds. Eventually they had to slow to a walk. A lot of people stepped forward to offer condolences to Armin, and some school friends of Eren's asked about Marco. Armin said very little and kept moving, his face set and grim. Those people with common sense stepped back and gave him room when they saw the look in his eyes.

The crowd thinned abruptly once they crossed over into the Red Zone, for the first time in his life, Eren realized this: On some level he'd always known that the people avoided the Red Zone, but he'd always assumed that it was because they were afraid of zoms. Now he realized that they stayed on the far side of the line because in town, and away from the fence, it was easier to pretend that there was no wasteland of zombies outside. This realization made him feel both sad and disgusted.

When they were out of earshot of the other townsfolk, Levi said, "Armin, my dad was talking to Captain Strunk and Deputy Gorman. I heard them arguing about the coin they found at Nix's house. The one Vin is always tossing and catching."

Vin Trang was one of the two men known as the Mekong brothers. The other man, who was not even related to Vin, was Joey Duk. Despite their clear Vietnamese heritage, both of them had grown up in Lost Angeles. The closet they'd ever been to Vietnam was selling pho  and banh cuon out of their food cart on the campus of UCLA before First Night.

"The captain said that Vin and Joey are the ones who attacked Nix and her mom. And probably that artist guy." Levi looked at Eren. "Did Marco say anything?"

"No," Eren said. "All he said was that they took Nix. He didn't give any names."

Levi looked back at Armin. "Did . . . did Mrs. Riley say anything?"

Armin kept his eyes fixed on the fence as they walked through the Red Zone. "She only had the breath to say one thing." He paused for so long, the boys thought he wasn't going to finish, but then he said, "'Save my little girl. Save Nix."

"I can't believe this is happening." Levi wiped tears from his eyes. "My dad said that the Mekong brothers sometimes work with Charlie Matthias."

"I know," said Armin.

"Dad told Captain Strunk to have Leroy Williams look at the footprints you found. I think he was going to."

Armin nodded.

"What can he do?" Eren asked. He knew Williams as a farmer who had lost an arm in a car wreck while driving an SUV filled with refugees through the Ruins.