CHAPTER 5
I disentangled myself from my chair, rubbing my elbow. "He called someone. We need to go."
Down the hall, the elevator dinged. I cursed. "There." I pointed to another elevator at the end of the hall. We ran to it, and I punched the button over and over.
Shouts came up from where we had just been. Our elevator doors dinged open. Empty, thank God.
We jumped inside just as a voice yelled something behind us. The doors slid shut. I started to press the Lobby button, but Stellan stopped me. "Too many people. We'll find a back stairwell from another floor."
He ran a finger over the listings of the floors, and pressed the button for 3. "The ICU," he said. "No one will be looking for us there."
We got off the elevator without anyone else getting on. The floor was quiet besides a nurses' station, staffed by one woman with her back to us. We walked quickly in the other direction and ducked inside the first empty room we saw. "We won't be able to get out of here wearing this," I whispered.
The rooms here were just glass boxes, some of which had dingy white curtains drawn across their fronts. Across the hall from the one we were in, something caught my eye. A pile of clothing sat perfectly folded on the chair by the window. It was the same uniform all the soldiers wore: a greenish khaki top and pants, with a wide brown belt. There were even boots. And farther across the room, I could see the room's occupant. A woman. She was asleep, her long dark hair spilling over her pillow, her entire upper body bandaged.
"Stay here," I whispered.
I glanced down the hall, then inched across and into the room. On the patient's TV, a phone rang. I held my breath. She stirred, but didn't wake up. I grabbed the pile of clothes and the boots.
Down the hall, the click-clack of heels announced a group of doctors talking seriously and passing a clipboard back and forth. Across the hall, Stellan's eyes got wide, and he pulled his curtains shut. I yanked the one in front of me closed, too, trapping myself in the woman's room.
The doctors' steps went past at an efficient clip. I peeked out, then tiptoed back across the hall.
When our curtain was shut again, I closed my eyes, adrenaline buzzing through me. "I'll change; then I'll find you clothes," I whispered, and glanced at Stellan. "Turn around."
I wasted no time pulling the clothes on, then hurried back down the hall, slightly less nervous now that I was dressed like someone who was supposed to be here. I found a man sleeping a few rooms away, his uniform folded neatly on a cart in the back of the room.
I looked Stellan over after he'd changed, too. His uniform was too baggy on him, but it would work. "Tuck in the back of your shirt." I hesitated awkwardly but then said, "Come here." While he got himself tucked and refastened his belt, I grabbed some tissues from a rolling cart to get streaks of dirt off his face and rubbed at a smear of blood at his hairline, careful not to get his blood on me, just in case. "How do I look?"
The woman I'd taken my clothes from was definitely bigger than me, but the attached belt helped me cinch the pants tight. Stellan tipped my chin up and scrubbed at my face. "Your hair," he whispered.
I pulled the cap low over my eyes and tucked the pink ends of my hair inside.
We made it to the bottom of the fire exit stairs without seeing another person. The second we got outside, though, we weren't so lucky. I opened the door just as a trio of stern soldiers trooped by, their guns slung across their backs.
My first thought was that I wished I'd thought to grab the guns that went with these uniforms. That was stupid of me. My second was that although it would feel safer to stand here quietly until they were gone, it would be smarter to blend in with a group who might be headed toward an exit. I signaled to Stellan, and we waited until the group was a few feet away before following them.
It was working-no one gave us a second glance. The soldiers were headed for the exit and- I stopped still.
They were headed for a group of a couple dozen soldiers just outside the exit, all carrying riot shields and wearing full face masks. The officer who looked to be in charge saw us and the group ahead of us, and barked something impatiently. The soldiers in front of us sped up. They were about to head out into a city that had just had a major terrorist attack.
I glanced around frantically for an out. "We have to," Stellan said under his breath.
I swallowed and nodded. A mask and a shield were thrust into my hands, and the whole regiment turned and walked out the gate, Stellan and me right in the center.