The mission was simple. Go in, rescue anyone who was still alive. Taylor's bugs could swarm through the buildings, even though they weren't always able to verify if someone was alive or dead. Gallant used his emotion sense, Aegis and Jim using their strength, while Chris swung through with some drones he'd built, scanning buildings for structural issues.

Sophia was tasked with entering buildings too dangerous to force an entry, to go into the stinking, closed rooms with a flashlight.

And then there was the can of red paint. An X on every building that had been checked so nobody else would waste their time, along with a number. The dead.

Special PRT designed paint—there had been times when looters had tried to mimic the X to give them time to dig through the dead.

Jim knew that he'd take the memories to his grave. A street, full of floating, bloated bodies, humans and animals nearly indistinguishable. The boats pushed through them, as everyone else looked around, listening. The dead were beyond help, and there might be people in the buildings. So the dead would continue to float, and decay, and roil with maggots, until the living were recovered.

Feral cats and dogs growled and hissed at the passing boats, standing on roofs. Rats were everywhere, not even bothering to hide, their bodies sleek and well fed, along with alligators that didn't even bother to hunt, lying in the sun, bellies swollen.

On the first day, they found nearly three hundred people. Taylor's bugs, Gallant's emotion sense, Chris' sensors… They worked well. Jim found himself wading through the rank, corpse littered waters time and again, bringing people to the boats, or climbing on to houses to hack through the roofs with Eclipse.

Many people had hidden in their attics.

In all too many cases, the attics had become their graves, but some managed to hack holes to escape, or the attic was high enough to save them.

Midway through the day, everyone was looking green, even Sophia.

They passed a clearing, there were people in good clothes there…

Why… Then Jim realized what it was. A graveyard and New Orleans built them on the surface. The crypts had shattered and the dead, still in their funeral clothes, were scattered around the fresher remains of their children.

Jim started to look away, then saw a man sitting on the remains of a crypt, in a top-hat and suit. He raised a class of wine in a mocking gesture.

He opened his mouth to shout at him to show some respect…

And the man was gone.

Jim shook his head. Nope, wasn't going to mention that to anyone else.

The easy rescues started to go down, and Taylor had to leave, being sent off to help other sectors.

"Someone's in there," Gallant said. "Barely."

Jim looked at the home. It was tilted, off-kilter, but… "I'll go, Phase, with me."

"Yeah, yeah," Sophia muttered. "Let's go."

They both jumped into the stinking water and started moving. Jim held Sophia back as a water moccasin swam by. Crows were cawing to each other from the roofs, in between flying down and fighting with the seagulls over the abundant food.

Inside the house, Sophia went first. They came to the wrecked stairwell, books, and photos floating on the water.

"Don't think I can get up there." Jim shook his head.

"Stay down here," Sophia said, and turned to shadow, rising up through the ceiling.

There wasn't any power to worry about now, after all.

"I—oh, fuck."

"What?" Jim asked.

"Kid. Looks bad. Infection. Maggots in it, I think I'm going to puke…"

"Can you move her?"

"Yeah. Hang on." A few moments later, a shadow fell from the ceiling and reformed, Sophia gasping in pain.

"What's—"

"Big for my power. Didn't want to come down the stairs."

Jim stared at the girl in her arms. She was maybe five, and one leg was swollen to nearly twice its size, the skin blackening. There were maggots in the cut, dozens, hundreds.

Jim didn't hesitate. He flipped his communicator to the priority channel. "Shadowdancer, this is Trollhunter."

"Shadowdancer here."

"Shadowdancer I need a priority evac, female child, severe infection and injury. Have medics standing by."

"Stand by." Moments later, a portal opened and two PRT medics appeared.

"Jesus," one said. "Called this one." He put the child into the folding stretcher they had. Neither one said anything else before they left, the portal closing. Jim didn't mind. From what he'd been hearing, Claire and any teleporters they had were working full time.

Now for… "Phase?" Jim looked around. "Phase, where did you go?"

"I thought I saw someone else moving up there," Sophia's voice. "Didn't want to waste time."

"Phase, this is Gallant, I'm reading no other emotions."

"Jesus, Gallant, you know you don't always read people if they're out…" Sophia said nothing else. "They're up against the wall, look puffy, but their skin is—" Jim heard a wet popping sound and Sophia screamed.

He'd never heard her scream like that.

"Phase! Phase!" Jim shouted. He started moving up to the stairs and they'd just have to carry his weight when Sophia came flying down through the roof and reformed, screaming and frantically slapping at herself.

What—Jim saw. Maggots. Fat, writhing maggots, hundreds of them, coating her body, on the part of her face the mask didn't cover, in her hair, all over her. She phased again, but she was carrying them with her as she went out into the street, Jim charging after her.

Sophia was frantically splashing, trying to get them off, as Jim reached down and grabbed her, brushing them off himself.

"Get them off, get them off!"

"Get her on the boat!" Jackson called. Jim pulled her up, the girl not phasing. The older man grabbed some of the distilled water they had and used it to wash her down, getting the worst of the maggots off of her. Fortunately, like everyone, Sophia was wearing water-proof clothing. Chris helped turn out her collar, getting more of the wriggling insects off while Jim and Jackson pulled her helmet off, getting a few that had managed to ensconce themselves among her tight corn rows.

Sophia tore her mask from her face and leaned over, vomiting into the water.

Jackson waited until she was finished puking and handed her a bottle of water. "Phase, I think you're don—"

"I'm fine, I'm fucking fine!" Sophia said.

You don't sound fine, Jim thought.

"Nonetheless—"

"I'm not quitting. Besides, that just sends me back to juvie—"

"An involuntary mental health break is not considered violating your agreement," Jackson said. "You'll get full credit. Whether you're here, or back at base."

"N-no, I'm fine. I just need a few minutes to… rest. I thought they were breathing. Jesus, their skin was moving, but…"

"It was the gases inside," Jackson said. "They died, but with no puncture injuries. I've seen it before. Sorry you had to."

"I—We'll, they don't fucking care anymore." Sophia paused. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I just need a few minutes."

Jackson looked at Jim and Jim nodded, minutely.

"Fine," Jackson said. "You keep watch with me in the boat."

After that, they kept working, and Sophia rejoined them.

But she didn't say much.