The 13 Secret Cities (Omnibus) Read Free Page B

teeth and inside my guts.  
    Night was descending, and the orange glow of the streetlights swirled with the sky.
    The person carrying me set me down on the ground on my back.
    "Listen up!" He shouted into the distance. "No one gets moved until all EMTs move in. Bring the rest and put them here, next to this one. Careful with backs and necks!"
    The person got down on his haunches next to me. He kept shouting orders as his gloved hands straightened out my legs beneath me. A hard black helmet and visor kept his face hidden.
    Then a strong smell of chemicals and pats on my cheek.
    "Stay awake; stay with me," the man in the helmet said. "I'll be right back."
    He stood up and ran off into the distance, the letters SWAT glowing on his back as the noise of sirens, shouts and motor vehicles drowned my world out.
    The pain in my head had become so intense, I forgot to cry. My pain threshold had always been low, and back then, small bruises and sprains could drive me to tears. But this pain muted me.  
    The edges of my vision were going fuzzy, and I hoped I could black out, to forget this all, to unfeel it all.
    Something loosened beneath me, and warmth dampened my jeans. I had wet myself, or I was bleeding, not sure which. I was now on my right side, in a fetal position, wet, and my head and neck on fire in pain.
    In the distance, I could see the turtle-shell shape of Pritzker Pavilion, lit by ambulance lights, and I took a moment to glance at the grass around me.
    The sight in front of me made me scream.
    Just two feet away from me, a tangle of flesh writhed like a living pile of garbage.  
    The shape the legs and arms made was sloppy, uneven, asymmetrical. Over the top of the heap, I spotted a portion of a torso and a chunk of parka, then one of its arms folded over on its back like a broken doll. The arm poked sharply through the sleeve of the parka, most likely from the break in the bone. The faces at the top were lifeless.
    Something moved along the bottom of the pile.  
    A portion of a face poked out from under the pile. A man’s boot pinned the face deep inside the heap, but the eye stared out in wide open fear.
    The eyes looked female. The cheeks looked swollen, the pupils frozen in terror. Beneath the chin, I saw her brown arm missing its hand, the wound jagged and ringed in black soot.
    Then, a grunt from the mound. It was wordless but filled with pain. Inside its notes, I heard deep sorrow and loss.
    "Awwwreh," the voice said.
    "AWREEH," it repeated, weeping with every syllable. "SAWWW UHM AWREEH."
    My eyes danced in circles, looking for someone to help me, someone to help this person. Her mumbles sent a chill down my neck, and I hoped the red lights washing over the metal skeleton of the park meant that ambulances would come help her soon.
    The pain in my body grew white-hot. I swept my hand in front of me to touch the mound of people. I didn't know what I could accomplish by doing this, but I could extend my left arm without triggering more pain.
    I felt under the brown boot, and I shoved it aside with the heel of my palm. It didn't move. Beneath, the voice continued.
    "AWREEEH."
    PUSH.
    I used all my shoulder strength to shove the work boot, and the leg inside it finally gave way.  
    Just twenty inches away from me, I saw her full face. Older than mine, female, and   her ebony skin slashed to shreds but somehow still recognizable as human. The eyes flat like paper, barely holding on. Her ragged breaths escaped as steam through her matted hair.
    "SAWW UHM AWREEH," the woman said.  
    There was something in her mouth obstructing her words. I put my index and middle finger between her lips and dug around. I found something firm, and I pulled. A chunk of her tongue, which she had bitten through, fell into my palm. The sorrow in the woman's eyes swelled. Now I could hear her words clearly.
    "God, I'm sorry. God, I'm SORRY," the woman said, and she stared out at me, but her eyes looked through me. There was no focus