Maxima!!

"Hey," said Isabel. "How long are you going to stay in that corner?"

Henry peeked over his shoulder. Even though he'd gotten his glasses fixed, he didn't make use of them. He turned back around and huddled in the motel room's corner, while his hands gripped the trash can he'd repurposed as a helmet. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't block out the sounds that came from the TV.

"You look stupid wearing that." Isabel patted an empty space beside her on the bed. "Come on. Watch."

"I can't."

"Right. Because of the trash can."

"At this stage, it's actually pretty comforting." He pulled the trash can lower. "I'm used to these by now."

Isabel focused on the TV. "Scared?"

"Yes, ma'am."

That got a hum out of her. "The danger is concentrated downtown, so we'll be fine here on the outskirts. On the other hand --"

Henry lifted the trash can an inch. "The soldiers have already started moving out. That's bad. That's very, very bad."

"At least they're not aiming at you."

"What if they change their minds? What if they find out we've been involved with Ms. Haywood?" He tucked into an even tighter ball, even if he risked fracturing his neck to do it. "What if they arrest us? Torture us?"

"We'll get tortured."

Henry swiveled to face her from his corner. "How can you be so cavalier about that?"

"Because as bad as we might get it, you know there's someone about to have it much worse." Isabel's eyes cut away from the TV to jab Henry. "Is worrying about yourself any way to honor the woman who kept on smiling for a loser like you?"

"I -- I mean -- I just --!" Henry shook his head furiously -- and thanks to the trash can, banged it against the wall. "You're right." He tossed the can aside. "I'm sorry for acting so cowardly. And selfish, too."

Isabel shrugged and focused on the TV. Henry didn't. At least, he tried not to. Yet even if he kept his eyes well clear, his ears picked up plenty. The crackling fires. The shattering glass. The shots fired. The falling rubble, the screeching tires, the hysterical screaming. And amidst it all, the quakes -- too frequent and rhythmic to be natural, yet forceful nonetheless. Before he knew it, he stood up and turned away from the corner. "Are things going to be okay?"

"Don't know. Never lived through a city under siege."

"What about Ms. Haywood?"

Isabel blinked slowly, and drew an even slower breath. "You know the Bible, right? If this night goes anything like that, then Goliath loses."

"But that's --!" Henry reached for Isabel. "You can't be serious! Are you really okay with that?"

Isabel twitched. "No."

"Then there has to be --!"

"There isn't. All we can do is stay informed. Watch the story play out. Remember what happened here. Understand?" She patted the bed again. "Don't look away from the truth."

Henry bit his lip and hung his head. But no matter how much he resisted, he eventually nodded and trudged toward the bed. Yet after two measly steps, he stopped cold -- and not simply because of the blast from the TV. He swept his eyes over his safe corner, and from the corner to the rickety table beside it. Isabel still had some essentials tucked into a half-zipped duffle bag.

Sure enough, the corner of a stolen cube jutted out.

***

The last hours of the night held Santa Infierno in their clutches. It didn't look like it. Thousands of the downtown district's neon lights -- pinks hotter than volcanoes, and blues charged by thunderbolts -- fought to snuff out the stars, and dyed the bottom fringes of the sky a deep magenta. Streets fed into hubs ripe for wallet-sapping, packed to the breaking point with theaters, restaurants, and clubs. Still more ushered the city's remaining night owls, those who chose to remain and gallivant through the city, toward seedier locales. Theaters gave way to glitzy casinos, tricked out with enough flashing bulbs to short-circuit a stadium. Clubs shredded their humility in exchange for glamour, and some went the extra mile with silhouettes of women pulled from the finest mud flaps. Luxury hotels tried and failed to put space between sites unfitting for children, but coaxed them inside with towering monuments -- imitations from marvels all over the world.