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"No Think, John We went through a door and caht where we needed to be You made that happen Because of the Soy Sauce, you have control You can control the doors the way They do We’ll go back to the door we ca to concentrate--and I know you can do this--you’re going to concentrate on the water tower Porta-Potty and it’s going to take us right there Right?"

Thunder rumbled outside The wind picked up and the arthritic old building creaked under the strain

John nodded and said, "Right This is going to work"

We ran to the front door We dragged away the cabinet we’d used as a barricade I took a deep breath, opened the front door and was iun barrels

Ar the scene Amy said, "Don’t shoot!"

I putsquad in front of me said, "I know you’re all worked up, but listen toto boht noe are all in the same boat As far as the rest of the world is concerned, all of us are infected"

The guy nearest to uy as built like a linebacker, screamed, "DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND LAY FLAT ON THE GROUND THIS IS THE ONLY WARNING YOU GET"

Then I noticed the ear I took a deep breath and screamed, "THEY ARE GOING TO BOMB THE TOWN IN AN HOUR!" I tried to pantoe bo about a bird shitting on his head

No response To John and Ao back inside"

Under his breath, John said, "One Two Three--"

We spun and ran back through the big wooden doors--

--and I ran gut-first into a rusting Ford sedan Amy slammed into my back I looked around and realized that ere not, in fact, inside the rew in a field of yelloeeds all around us

John cheered "HA! It worked! Screw those guys!"

Amy said, "This is not the water tower"

It was, in fact, the junkyard south of town

John and I spun around at the sa in the weeds behind us

"Damn it!" said John "They moved the shitter What is this, the junkyard? We’re way the hell on the other side of town"

The first sprinkles of rain were co breath and said, "It’s okay You’re going to concentrate, and we’re going to go back into the Porta-Potty, and you’re going to send us to the water tower There has to be a door there we can co to send us to that door Any door in the vicinity You are not going to send us back to the asyluht, like a shadoas passing overhead I looked up and, for the second tih the air

We ran screa sedan flattened the Porta-Potty with a thunder of rending ot a face full of dried weeds I scra behind a hatchback

John screamed, "There! There!" and we turned to see a shrunken, dried-up old man who looked about ninety He wasnear a twenty-foot-tall faded fiberglass statue of a suy looked coe third ars

The old ine block out of the dirt He shrieked and threw the engine at us underhand, like a softball The four-hundred-pound hunk ofout of its cylinders We dodged again, ine crushed the roof of the hatchback in a cloud of glass bits

John’s shotgun thundered next to me It had absolutely no effect on the old uy was iun and fumbled with three more shells Two of them fell into the weeds

"AMY! SHOOT HIM!"

Aun, closed her eyes and fired

The alien gunsound The air rippled The oldto his face When his hands came away I observed that he now had a thick, white wizard beard

John screamed, "GODDAMNIT, AMY! YOU’VE GOT IT SET ON BEARD"

The reice as long

I yelled, "AMY! YOU CAN GO LETHAL ON THIS ONE!"

"I’M TRYING!"

The oldright at us We ran away Aun The shot ild and suddenly the fiberglass pizza e beard

I screaun Before I could turn on the oldwith a blow to s I hit the weeds, gasping I rolled over to see the olda car buun up at the old fart I squeezed the trigger

The gun went off with a boo irated into a fine, red rass burned in the spot where he had stood, the soil itself charred

John walked up and said, "Jesus, Dave Why don’t you, uh, give that back to Amy"