She hesitated, thinking of the American flag pin. "Were¡­you with President Whitaker in the bunker?"

For a long second he didn't reply, but a tic worked in his jaw. At last he said, "Yes. Whitaker died only two weeks in. One of us had carried the virus into the bunker, but we didn't know it until it was too late. It killed everyone¡­except me."

"Oh my God," she whispered, only too able to imagine the horror he must have endured. She could see he wasn't going to talk about it ...