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Dad had heard about the ca early syo, but she knew there was nothing anyone could do If she was going to die, she wanted to do it in her own hous hospice in thethe final hours, the rumor came around that the hospital had been turned into a rendezvous point, a kind of survivor safe house, far enough from town to be reasonably safe in the next wave, whatever that was going to be (though the smart h for the People in Charge to find when they cae and if they came

The unofficial boss of the camp was a retired marine named Hutchfield He was a human LEGO person: square hands, square head, square jaw Wore the saht have been blood, though his black boots always sported a h not his chest or back, which he really should have considered) He was covered in tattoos And he liked guns Two on his hip, one tucked behind his back, another slung over his shoulder No one carriedto do with his being the unofficial boss

Sentries had spotted us co, and e reached the dirt road that led into the woods to the caden I’m pretty sure ere supposed to notice the firepower draped all over their bodies Hutchfield ordered us to split up He was going to talk to Dad; Brogden got ht about that idea You know, like where exactly on his tattooed behind he could stick it

I’d just lost one parent I wasn’t too keen on the idea of losing another

"It’s all right, Cassie," ued with his was street for "thugs with guns," the murderers, rapists, black eneral punks who showed up h the 3rd Wave, the reason people barricaded their houses and stockpiled food and weapons It wasn’t the aliens that first ear up for war; it was our fellow huued back "I’d do the sa in their position" He patted d condescending little pat one more time… "It’ll be fine, Cassie"

He went off with Hutchfield, out of earshot but still in sight That made me feel a little better I hauled Saden’s questions without popping him with my free hand

What were our names?

Where e from?

Was anyone in our party infected?

Was there anything we could tell hi on?

What had we seen?

What had we heard?

Why e here?

"Youexistential?" I asked

His eyebrows drew together into a single harsh line, and he said, "Huh?"

"If you’d askedlike, ‘We’re here to serve our fellow man or contribute to society’ If I wanted to be a smartass, I’d say, ‘Because if eren’t here, we’d be so to say it’s because we’re just dumb lucky"

He squinted atsnarkily, "You are a smartass"

I don’t kno Dad answered that question, but apparently it passed inspection, because ere allowed into cah) was allowed to have his pick of weapons frouns Never liked theht not kill people, but they sure erous so ht they were ridiculously la to be against a technology thousands, if not millions, of years ahead of ours?" he asked Hutchfield "It’s like using a club and stones against a tactical ument was lost on Hutchfield He was a marine, for God’s sake His rifle was his best friend, his most trusted companion, the answer to every possible question

I didn’t get that back then I get it now

13

IN GOOD WEATHER, everyone stayed outside until it was ti had a bad vibe Because of why it was built Why it existed What had brought it--and us--into these woods Soht, almost like a summer camp where by some miracle everybody liked one another Someone would say they heard the sound of a helicopter that afternoon, which would set off a round of hopeful speculation that the People in Charge were getting their acts together and preparing for the counterpunch

Other tiht air We were the lucky ones We’d survived the EMP attack, the obliteration of the coasts, the plague that wasted everyone we knew and loved We’d beaten the odds We’d stared into the face of Death, and Death blinked first You’d think that would make us feel brave and invincible It didn’t

We were like the Japanese who survived the initial blast of the Hiroshima bomb We didn’t understand ere still here, and eren’t completely sure anted to be

We told the stories of our lives before the Arrival We cried openly over the ones we lost We wept secretly for our smartphones, our cars, our microwave ovens, and the Internet

We watched the night sky The reen, malevolent eye

There were debates about where we should go It was pretty much understood we couldn’t squat in these woods indefinitely Even if the Others weren’t co anytime soon, winter was We had to find better shelter We had severalupon how ees wandered into camp Did ait for rescue or hit the road to find it? Dad was all for the latter He still wanted to check out Wright-Patterson If there were People in Charge, the odds were a lot better we’d find the about the proble about it I was ready to tell Dad we should tell these douchebags to stuff it, take off for Wright-Patterson hoever wanted to go with us and screw the rest

Sohly overrated concept

I brought Sammy inside and put him to bed Said his prayer with him "‘Now I lay me down to sleep…’" To me, just random noise Gibberish I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but I felt that, when it came to God, there was a broken proht The h to take a walk in the woods

Souitar Theme into the woods It was the first music I’d heard since the 1st Wave

"And, in the end, we lie awake

And we drea our escape"