"It is with the very greatest of pleasure – and the very greatest of relief – that I can now confirm that every animal across the globe is free from infection. The Beast Rebellion is officially over."

The room filled with cheers, whoops and wild clapping, so loud that no one could hear the rest of the President's televised speech. It didn't matter. They'd heard the most important part.

Jackson's apartment in D.C. was crowded; Chloe, Jamie, Mitch, Abe and Kazuko. He glanced in Abe's direction, only to see he'd swept the diminutive Japanese-American woman off her feet and into his arms – she dangled several feet above the floor. It would have been comical if he didn't care so much for Abe's happiness. He'd seen the two grow steadily closer over the last couple of months. He was pleased for him.

"When do you think they will tell us they are dating?" Chloe said, handing him a beer. Jackson took a swig from the bottle and pulled her into a one-armed hug.

"We never did. People kinda just absorb the knowledge, like osmosis."

"That is your scientific opinion?"

"Oh, no. I leave the science to Mitch." He tipped his bottle to the veterinary pathologist who, sitting in the corner of the living room, was locked in conversation with Jamie.

"Jackson, I – I want to go to Paris," Chloe announced suddenly, awkward. "Now air travel is possible again, I want to spend Christmas with my sister."

"Of course. Have you spoken to her?"

"Oui. Finally she is speaking to me. Although mostly we have passed messages through Jean-Michel."

"Oh." There was a wealth of meaning behind that word. "You're still talking to him?"

Chloe laughed and kissed Jackson on the cheek.

"You have nothing to worry about," she said. "I am glad that my ex-fiancée is now having a relationship with my sister. Because otherwise, I would have been a married woman when I met you."

Jackson put his beer down so he could hold her against him.

"Want me to come with you?"

"Oh, would you?" She seemed relieved, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulder.

"Chloe, I think I would do anything for you."

When she wasn't looking, he patted his pants pocket – for the tenth time that day – to make sure the box was still there. The box that held the ring.

Just gotta find the right time, he thought.

"I can't believe it's finally over," Jamie said, sipping her beer. "We've been on this damned thing for months, and now it's finally over. Jackson's got his own pad," she waved her bottle at the room in general, "but the rest of us have been shacked up in For McNair."

She leaned forward and clinked her bottle against Mitch's. Fort McNair was a specially reinforced, heavily protected base in D.C. And while it was true Jackson had this apartment, he'd spent more time at the base – with Chloe and the rest of them – than he had here.

"I guess we just go back to our ordinary lives," he shrugged.

"Oh, no you don't." Jamie shook her head. "There's no chance of that. None of us are ordinary people now. We've seen too much, done too much. Besides," she jabbed a finger in his direction, "you need to go see your family for Christmas! I bet your daughter's dying to see you."

As expected, mention of Clementine brought a big, goofy grin to his face.

"See, that's the thing," he said, rolling his beer bottle between his hands. "She's not dying anymore. That was the one good thing to come out of Reiden Global, the cure for my daughter. She wants to spend some time with you, by the way."

"Me? Oh, I don't think so –"

"She wants to get to know my new girlfriend properly."

Jamie blushed. She couldn't help it. While neither could deny the attraction between them, things had become… awkward. They were sleeping together – which Jamie supposed meant they were 'dating' – but they'd carefully avoided using labels. And neither had used the 'l' word since coming back to the mainland US. It had been easy to say it, when they'd both come so close to dying, but now the danger was gone it had become increasingly difficult. Living together – even in Fort McNair – was surprisingly hard.

Maybe it'll be easier once I find a new place to live, she thought.

"Maybe we can sort something out next year," she said eventually, aware she'd left too long a gap before answering.

Mitch abruptly stood and drained the last of his beer.

"Yeah. Sure."

"Do you have any plans for Christmas?"

"I usually fly back to Japan, spend time with my parents," Kazuko told Abe. "I was born here, but my parents moved to my mother's home town when I graduated college. They live in a beautiful place nestled against the mountains."

"I can tell by the look in your eyes that you miss them."

"I miss the town, too. Everything there is just… life is just slower there. More peaceful."

"Well, let us hope that our lives will return to their usual pace now the Beast Rebellion is over."

"What will you do for Christmas?"

"I have not decided yet. The last few years I have spent the holiday with Jackson and his mother."

"No family of your own?"

Abe's face tightened. "No. I have no family."

"Something happened, didn't it? Don't worry – I'm not going to push." She hesitated a moment. "Would you like to spend the holiday with me?"

"Go to Japan? Visit your parents?" He seemed genuinely surprised by the offer. Kazuko smiled.

"See the town, enjoy the peace and quiet…"

Abe beamed. "Thank you. I would enjoy that very much."

A few days later Chloe and Jackson boarded a transatlantic flight from D.C. to Paris. Settling into her seat, Chloe pulled her Kindle out of her carry-on luggage, but something about Jackson's posture made her put it back. His whole frame was tense, his hands clenching the seat rests before they'd even taken off. Sweat glistened on his face.

"We are safe," she murmured, covering one of his hands with both of hers. "What happened the last time you were on a plane will not happen again."

"I know that." The smile he gave her was weak. "My head knows it. My heart, uh, my heart's having a little trouble keeping up."

"It will take time." She gave his hands a squeeze. "But you got back on a plane. There are many people who would not."

"Like riding a bicycle. Just get right back on it. Nothing to it." He didn't look as if he believed it, though.

Chloe leaned in close and kissed his cheek. Her smile was impish.

"Feeling better already," he said.

Jamie came to see Mitch off.

"I'll only be gone a week or so," he told her now, hefting his suitcase into the trunk of his rental car and closing the lid.

Jamie stood a few feet away, one arm wrapped around herself, nibbling restlessly on the nails of her other hand. Impulsively she grabbed him for a hug.

"Be careful," she said. "I know the Beast Rebellion is over, but just… be careful, OK?"

Mitch, taken aback by her ferocity, let his arms close gently around her.

"I'm only going to Maine," he said, stroking her hair. "Not the other side of the world." He shrugged. "Though I can see how people would get confused."

Jamie laughed, but it was a watery sound. She was crying.

"Hey," he said, tilting her chin up. He smoothed his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping the trickle of tears away. "You could still come with me."

"I… I don't think I should." She cleared her throat. "It's going to be awkward enough you being in the same room as your ex-wife's new husband. They need to get used to you being a part of your daughter's life again before you introduce anyone else."

"I'm gonna miss you, Jamie." He bent his head and kissed her. She deepened the kiss, twining her arms around his neck.

"I'll call you," she said eventually.

"You better. Every day."

"I managed to call in a few favours," Kazuko said as she drove Abe to another military base out of town. "Got us an Army transport plane."

"And this is better than a commercial flight how exactly?" Abe asked, eyeing her askance.

"Guns."

"But the Beast Rebellion is over. There are no bears here to punch," he replied, his smile teasing.

"Never hurts to be prepared."

Natalie and Jean-Michel lived in a smart town-house. Chloe and Jackson checked into a hotel and caught up on a few hours' sleep, then grabbed a taxi and headed deeper into the city.

"I feel like a fish out of water," Jackson said as they travelled. "I thought my French was pretty good. Enough to get by, anyway. Now, not so much."
Chloe laughed. "You are doing fine! French is not an easy language to learn, but it is a beautiful one, n'est pas?"

"You speak five languages. What's your secret?"

"I guess I am just more intelligent than you," she smirked.

"Come here and say that," Jackson laughed, pulling her into a tight, hard hug in the back of the taxi. He kissed her thoroughly, one hand cupping her cheek.

The driver, glancing at them in the rear view mirror, shook his head and muttered something.

"I could probably understand 'get a room' in pretty much any language," Jackson grinned.

The taxi pulled up by the side of the road. Jackson pulled out his wallet and fumbled with the unfamiliar euros. He felt the familiar shape of the box beside his wallet.

Chloe laughed and handed over the fare before he'd even managed to identify the notes. She laughed again and got out of the car.

They took the lift up to Natalie and Jean-Michel's apartment. It was empty apart from themselves.

"Paris is a beautiful city," Jackson remarked, snaking his arm around her waist. "Maybe I could live here one day."

Chloe eyed him warily. This was the closest they had come to discussing a deeper relationship.

"It is a long way from your home," she said carefully. "A long way from your friends and your mother."

He leaned closer, kissed her cheek. "See, there's a little thing called airplanes that makes transatlantic flight real easy."

"You would really make that move?"

He took her fully in his arms, turned to face her. "Home is where the heart is," he said, touching his fingers to her chest. He drew her into a deep, searching kiss.

The lift doors slid open. An elderly couple stood there, watching the lovers with startled, disapproving eyes. Jackson and Chloe, giggling like teenagers and still holding on to one another, exited the lift.

No one was aware that, on the roof of Natalie's apartment block, birds were massing.

Abe stepped off the giant military plane, bag over his shoulder and Kazuko already ahead of him. A soft lavender sunset spread across the sky, deepening to plum. He took a deep, restorative breath – the smooth journey hadn't allayed his fears one bit – and followed Kazuko.

"What did I tell you?" she said when he reached the bottom of the steps. "Piece of cake."

"We still have the return flight to get through."

"Oh, ye of little faith. Relax. You're on holiday now."

"More than that." He pulled her close and kissed her, though he had to bend down to do so. "I am on holiday with a beautiful woman. What more could a man want?"

Kazuko commandeered an army Jeep. They drove through the thick night; they were miles away from any city, and Abe finally found the peace – the night sounds – comforting in a way they had not been for a long time. That, more than anything, reassured him that the world was finally back to normal. They were safe. They could live again.

Kazuko's parents owned their own land, and their home – a traditional Japanese house – was built on the side of a valley. Both Michael and Hinata Wilson greeted them at the door, bowing low as a sign of their respect. Kazuko's answering bow was lower. Abe did his best to match her.

Kazuko was a mirror of her mother, than she had her father's height. Michael Wilson was solidly built, trim, with greying blonde hair. He looked Abe up and down, then grabbed his hand and shook it hard.

"Good to finally meet you, son," Michael said. Abe was no expert in American accents, but he thought the man had a Northern twang. "Kazuko's told us all about you. Come in, come in."

"I hope she has not told you everything," Abe replied with an easy smile. "I would hate to spoil the surprise."

No one saw the pride of Japanese macaques gathering in the trees above the Wilson family home.

Jamie, the only person to remain behind in D.C., felt… empty. Lost. The world was fine, people weren't dying and there was no big, international conspiracy. Life had gone back to normal.

So why didn't she feel normal?

Part of that, she knew, was living here at Fort McNair. She'd lost her apartment months ago, back when the Beast Rebellion really took off. She, Mitch, Abe and Chloe had been living here ever since their return to the mainland. Just waiting until the crisis was over.

Now it was truly over, it was time to move on. Everyone else had homes to – well, go home to – but Jamie had nothing.

She hauled ass out of bed and padded into the bathroom, finally feeling she had a new purpose. She grabbed the toothpaste and brush and started cleaning her teeth.

"I need to find a new place to live," she said to her reflection in the mirror, "but before that, I need a new job. I guess now Mitch will move back to LA…"

The realisation made her hand pause. White froth foamed on her lips. Now that they could move on with their lives, there was nothing to stop Mitch moving on with his. And that would probably mean… without her. How did she feel about that?

She remembered the sea voyage back to the mainland with exquisite detail, particularly the part where Mitch said 'I love you' and she'd said it back. She'd meant it then, she knew she had… but was it really love? She'd thought about him every single day for three months after Aippaq had rescued her. Some people would call that obsession, not love.

In the mess hall she shared with the boys and girls of Fort McNair, she sipped coffee and flipped straight to the jobs section of the local newspaper. Her reputation meant that she could probably land any journalistic job she wanted, but right now she felt she needed to stay small – to get back to her roots. She'd already helped land the biggest story of her career; it wasn't likely to get much bigger after that.

She picked up a biro and started circling jobs. Then she reached for her phone.

Mitch was dog-tired when he finally made it to Maine. Audra and Clem had gone to stay with his replacement Justin, and his parents. He wasn't expecting a warm welcome from anyone except Clem, but even that was more of a hope than an expectation.

So he was surprised when Audra opened the door and threw her arms around him. He kissed her cheek – perfunctorily – and held her away from him.

"Wow, guess you must have missed me," he drawled.

"You saved our daughter's life and then you saved the world," she smiled. "Get in here, you big lunk."

Mitch took a breather from the family party a few hours later, ducking out of the living room to sit on the hall stairs. He took a healthy gulp from the bottle of beer he'd brought out with him. He eyed it thoughtfully, wondering if he shouldn't stay away from the booze until he went back to D.C; keeping his sarcastic tongue in check had never been a skill of his, and he really didn't want to offend Justin or his folks.

Wild laughter spilled through the open living room door. They were playing some stupid family game or another, and had been desperate to include him. Seems saving the world made people overlook the fact that you were a jerk.

Not Jamie, though. She was smart as a cookie, that one. His feelings for her were… not exactly changing, but fluctuating, and he was sure she was going through the same transformation.

He'd been so sure he was in love with her. She was everything he wasn't – brave, compassionate – and he should be in love with her. He still felt an echo of that feeling.

Their problems stemmed from that damned plane crash, and that kiss. She'd taken him by surprise, knocked him off-kilter, then left him more unsure of himself than he'd ever been. Not her fault – of course it wasn't her fault – but if that plane had never crashed, they would have been able to explore their attraction, their feelings for each other, in a more natural way. He wouldn't have spent three months mourning her death, building his attraction into some fantasy ideal of love.

But… he'd gone through hell to get her off that island. Then he'd come after her on the cargo ship. Didn't that mean he was in love with her?

"God, what a mess," he groaned, running his hand down his face. All he wanted to do was finish this beer and sleep for a week.

A slight figure sneaking away from the party drew his attention – Clem, his darling Clementine, the centre of his universe. Today she was wearing baby-girl pink; he wondered how much longer she'd pick that colour. When she hit her teenaged years, would she favour Goth or grunge? Would she go for the hipster look? How would his little girl change?

Doesn't matter, he thought, taking another swig of beer. Fact of the matter is, she will change, because those teenaged years are now a certainty. He swallowed his mouthful and smiled at her.

"Hey, kiddo. Not digging the Monopoly?"

"Monopoly's stupid," she said, coming to sit beside him on the stairs. "Gramma built hotels on all of her squares, and now I'm bankrupt."
"Ouch," Mitch laughed. "Welcome to the real world. How, how's Henry doing?"

Henry was the dog he'd bought for her years ago, trained to warn her when a seizure was coming. He was no longer needed in that capacity, but he was still a much-loved part of the family.

"He's doing great." Clem beamed. "I could never work out why… you know."

"Why he didn't get all bitey?" Clem nodded. "Well…" He took another swallow of beer, thinking about his answer. "The truth is, we just don't know. Certain animals didn't change. There's all kinds of theories…"
"What do you think?"

"Me? It's all in here." He tapped his chest, above his heart. "The human connection. Henry, other animals like him, they've been trained pretty much since birth to look after their people. Maybe that has an effect. But who knows?" He shrugged.

"I like that theory," she smiled. But then it faded, and her expression became serious. "Mitch…" She looked away from him, fiddling with the lace on her sneaker.

"Yeah?"

She didn't say anything.

"Clem, you can ask me anything."

"Why didn't you bring Jamie? I really wanted to get to know her properly."

Ah, crap. How was he supposed to field this question?

With the truth, I guess. She's wise enough to understand.

"I invited her," he said eventually. "She… well, she decided it might be better if she didn't come, at least not this year." He didn't want to think about next Christmas – that was a big, hazy 'what-if'.

"Why not?"

"She thought it might be awkward… you know, between your Mom, Justin and her."

"But I think Mom would really like her."

"Honey, what people see on TV and what you get in real life… well, that doesn't always match up."

"But you know what Jamie's really like."

"Well, I thought I did…" He took another mouthful of beer. The bottle was nearly empty. He swilled it around the bottom.

"You're not breaking up with her?"

The alarm in her voice might have been comical, under other circumstances. Not now. He didn't want Clem to be alarmed over anything, especially not his relationship.

"I don't – I don't know," he rushed to say, holding out a placating hand. "Everything's up in the air right now."

"Do you love her?"

Wow, that was a blunt question to hear from a little kid.

"It's not as simple as that…"

"Do you love her?"

He'd been out of his daughter's life for a long time. It pained him that his happiness meant this much to her.

"Clem, I…" He struggled to articulate how he felt. "I think… I think I don't know how to love her when the world's not ending."

"Is that it?" She seemed so scornful. He couldn't understand why.

"Well, that's a fairly big 'it'…"

"Mitch, the world was ending since the day it began. It's just gonna take a really, really long time to get there. Now go call your girlfriend and tell her you love her!"

He grinned, tipped his beer bottle toward her in a salute. "Out of the mouths of babes," he said. "As you command, princess."

Outside, in the thick Maine snow, a lone wolf watched the house. It was joined by another. And another. And another. And another…

Luck – or more likely her reputation – was with Jamie. She bagged an interview the very first call she made. It wasn't the job she'd applied for, but the editor she'd talked to had given her the number of an editor for the Washington Post.

The interview went well. Really well. So well in fact she'd barely had to open her mouth to have a job offer waved at her; she felt uncomfortable, then guilty, at trading on her reputation as 'The Woman Who Survived' and 'The Woman Who Helped Save the World'. But that was how things worked. When life gave you apple pie, you damned well sat down and ate it.

She was manoeuvring the busy city streets – what a difference a couple of months made! – when her phone rang. It was Mitch.

"Hey," he said. She could hear the smile in his voice.

"Hey yourself." She wasn't smiling. For some reason she felt guilty again. She had no idea why. She'd done nothing to feel guilty about. "How's it going up in Maine? They treating you OK?"

"Well, after the bank seized half my estates and Justin's Mom ripped me for rent, I kinda think Monopoly isn't my game."

"Ouch," she laughed. "Feel the burn. How's Clem?"

Approaching a coffee shop, she saw a familiar face coming from the opposite direction. Oh my God, that's Ethan!

"Clem's good. She's fine. Bummed you didn't come, though."

"Look, Mitch, I – uh – I gotta go," she said abruptly. "Call me tomorrow, OK?"

"Well, that was a short one," he replied. "I lo –"

She cut him off, shoved the phone back in her purse, and hurried after Ethan.

Shrill squeaks echoed from the storm drains on either side of the road outside the coffee shop. A rat poked its nose out onto the tarmac. Spurred on by the ranks of those behind, it scurried out onto the sidewalk.

Jackson, Chloe, Natalie and Jean-Michel were sitting on opposite sides of the politest war-zone Jackson had ever seen.

Natalie's apartment was large and neat, just as Chloe's had been. He noticed that the sisters had similar tastes – both had fine, delicate furniture. There the similarities ended… though the way they were both blatantly uncomfortable in the other's presence was a similarity they could all do without.

"So, uh, Jean-Michel…" Jackson said into the awkward silence. The women hadn't exchanged more than half a dozen words since they'd arrived. They even avoided looking at each other. "You into sports?"

"I enjoying watching football," he said, jumping on the conversational lifeline. He kept shooting anxious glances between his ex-girlfriend and his current one. "The World Cup… the European Cup…"

"Soccer, huh?" Jackson sat up, reached for his coffee. He sipped it and winced; too strong. "What's the French team like these days?"

"Eh…" Jean-Michel gave a masculine shrug that Jackson interpreted with ease. It said that, while the team wasn't as good as it could be, it was the national team of his country and he was duty-bound to defend it.

Something banged against the window, making them all jump. Natalie in particular shrunk in on herself; Jean-Michel curled his arm around her shoulders.

"What was that?" Chloe exclaimed.

Jackson jumped up and crossed to the window. There was a dent in the glass, but nothing else.

"I think a bird flew into it," he said, uneasy. "I don't see any more, though."

"We are fine," Chloe murmured, more to herself than to the room at large. "The Beast Rebellion is over. It was just a stray bird, that is all."

"Always so sure you have the answers, yes?" Natalie rasped. "Always so sure you have the moral high ground?"

Jackson and Jean-Michel shared a look. It was going to be a long holiday.

Abe, Kazuko and her parents were sharing tea around a traditional table. Though Michael Wilson looked comfortable beside his wife and daughter, Abe looked comically out of place beside the petite women.

"I am enjoying this tea very much," he told Hinata. "Thank you."

"You are most welcome." Hinata smiled and bowed from her seated position. "I hope you are enjoying your stay?"

"Your home is beautiful," Abe sighed. "I could see myself living in a place like this one day, surrounded by trees and the wilderness. The trees and the grass might be a different colour, but they are not so different from my homeland."

Kazuko met her mother's eyes and smiled.

Outside, a macaque shrieked.

Mitch was halfway down his… actually he'd lost track of how many beers he'd had right after Jamie had hung up on him. He just stayed out on the stairs. He was no stranger to drowning his sorrow.

"So this is where you're hiding," Audra said as she entered the hall. She glared at him with her arms crossed. "Clem told me you'd worked your way through the Bud."

"Is that what this is?" He held the bottle up and squinted at it. Oh yeah. There was a label.

"What's gotten into you? Is this how you want your daughter to know you? As a drunken old fool?"

"I," he said, waving the bottle at her, "am not old. I am, however, a fool. And not nearly drunk enough."

Audra dropped down on the stairs beside him, forcing him to scoot to make room for her.

"What's wrong?"

"Me, apparently."

"Ahh… is this something to do with Jamie?"

How bizarre. He was discussing his girlfriend with his ex-wife. Did it feel as weird to her as it did to him?

"Everything I've done over the last couple months has been to do with Jamie. And what does it mean? That I'm a goddam idiot, that's what." He took a hearty swig of beer, only to find the bottle empty. Well, shoot.

"Tell me what happened."

"You really wanna know?"

"If it's going to affect our daughter, then yeah, I want to know."

"I called her. She hung up on me."

Audra covered a smile with her hand. "That's it?"

"Right in the middle of me telling her I loved her."

Audra winced. "Do you love her?"

"Oh God, yes. Clem helped me put everything in perspective. Kids are funny like that, right?"

"Sure. They have a way of cutting through all the BS to get right to the heart of things. Does Jamie love you?"

"I thought she did. Now, I don't know nothin' about nothin'."

"Call her in the morning," Audra advised. "There's any number of reasons why she could have hung up. Who knows, maybe she just lost signal or something?"

"You, madam, are the voice of reason," he slurred.

"And you're drunk. Go to bed, Mitch."

"Yes, ma'am."

Outside, a wolf raised its voice in a howl. Others joined in until it sounded as if the whole pack was singing.

Mitch looked at Audra. He didn't feel the least bit drunk anymore.

"I never thought I'd run into you here!"

Jamie and Ethan had bought coffee and now sat at a table near the back of the shop, where they could talk in peace.

"I work a couple blocks over," Ethan explained. Damn, he was just as good looking as he'd been during their relationship. Jamie was struggling to remember why they'd broken up. "There's an independent newspaper there. Small now, but looking up."
A small, independent news agency. Just what she'd been looking for! And for Ethan to be the one to bring it to her… maybe it was fate or something. Not that she believed in fate.

"What made you leave your old job?"

"Lots of reasons." He shrugged, giving her that warm, attractive smile she remembered so well. "I just wanted a change of pace, I guess. Plus, you weren't there anymore."

"Shucks. I'm blushing." She looked down at her coffee.

"Odd that we should run into each other like this, right?"

"Right." She laughed, but it felt awkward and stilted. "I, uh, I'm kinda seeing someone…"

"So where is he now? It's nearly Christmas, Jamie."

"Up in Maine. Visiting his daughter and ex-wife."

"Daughter… wow, that's a lot of baggage."

Yeah. It was.

"Let's not talk about him, OK?" she begged, reaching out to touch his hand.

Over at the counter, a waitress screamed. Jamie whipped around so fast she thought she'd given herself whiplash.

A fat, glossy rat sat on the counter.

"Would you like some more coffee, Jackson?" Natalie asked.

"Ah, we have beer if you would like that instead?" Jean-Michel rushed to offer. Jackson squashed a smile. Maybe he wasn't the only one who thought Natalie's coffee was too strong.

"Beer would be great," he said.

Something slammed into the window again. It was followed by another thud, and another. Natalie shied closer to Jean-Michel, while Chloe stared at the window with wide-eyed horror.

The glass cracked. Then it shattered. The birds poured in.

The shriek of the macaques was getting louder by the minute. Kazuko and her family exchanged uneasy glances.

"I would like to say there is nothing to worry about," Abe commented, "as the Beast Rebellion is over, but I find I am worried."
A crash snapped their attention to the front of the house, where dark silhouettes could be seen marauding through the paper screen of the dividing door.

An enraged macaque exploded through the door and leapt at Kazuko.

In the living room, Clem's dog Henry – hearing the wolves howl – stood with his legs spread and hackles raised, lips curled back in a full-on snarl. He started barking a challenge to the wolves outside.

"Where's Clem?" Mitch demanded, already on his feet. The empty beer bottle was forgotten.

"Still playing Monopoly." Audra's eyes were round with fear. "Is it – is it the Beast Rebellion?"

Clem ran into the hall and went to stand by her mother. Audra put protective arms around her daughter. Justin followed a second later.

"Could just be a bunch of wolves singing at the moon." Mitch winced. Even he didn't believe that.

"They can't get in, right? Mitch? Tell me they can't get in?"
Her answer was a crash of glass from the kitchen.

"This is D.C!" Ethan yelled, irritably. "We don't get goddamned rats in coffee shops!"

"Maybe we should go," Jamie said, darting uneasy looks around the room. "I didn't think you could get a nest of super-evolved rats in a hotel basement, either, and I was wrong about that."

Ethan picked up a sugar shaker and hurled it at the rat. His blow would have connected, if the rat hadn't darted out of the way.

"Uh, I think maybe you shouldn't have done that…"

"Why not? The Beast Rebellion's over, right?"

Two rats popped up where one had been a moment before.

"Right, right…"

A horde of rats dropped from the ceiling and onto the counter.