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WE KEEP WALKING AS the daylight slowly fades, the darkness finally bringing some respite from the heat

"What time is it?" Adam asks

"No idea"

"What day is it?"

"Don&039;t know that either"

"Don&039;t suppose itdirt track that curves around the edge of a deserted farht-the time, day, date, temperature, position of the er about order and routine, it&039;s about the hunt and the kill and just getting through each day unscathed When the war began, killing was all thatnow

I would never tell hi someone like him to talk to has proved unexpectedly beneficial Maybe that&039;s why I went back for him earlier, and why I&039;ve put up with hi it, he&039;s helping me make sense of what&039;s happened to me since the onset of the Hate Before I killed thee, chained to the wall like a dog He&039;d spent months there in total isolation I&039;ve had to explain everything that happened to the rest of the world while he&039;d been locked away Going over it all again has helped me to understand

Adam&039;s first direct experience of the Hate was similar to her than uard when he realized what he was and what he had to do He tried to kill his family, but, filled with the sa after I&039;d killed ht back and se hammer Rather than finish hih, Adam&039;s parents locked him up and locked theth to kill hih they knew he&039;d kill both of them in a heartbeat I understand why they did it It&039;s like the tied-up kid I found earlier today The Unchanged just can&039;t let go They hold on to the people that used to matter to them in the vain and pointless hope they&039;ll soain But how can we be cured? We&039;re not the ones who are sick Ada planned out They starved the poor fucker for days, then fed hi hi book Wonder if Stephen King&039;s like us or like them?

"Can we stop soon?"

"Suppose"

"You got any idea where we are?" Adalance across at hihly," I answer Truth is I&039;es I actually do have a fair idea of where I am For weeks I&039;ve traveled everywhere on foot Like most people I&039;ve shunned cars and other similar means of transport-they make me feel conspicuous when all I want to do is disappear, and anyway, etting close, but it was yesterday afternoon, after we&039;d spent al on the outskirts of a vicious battle for a kill that never caht of the Beeches on the horizon-a distinctively shaped clump of ancient trees perched on top of an otherwise barren and exposed hill The trees are a natural land back houess was that ere three or four miles short of them, and froe of town

"So where are we?"

"Close to where I used to live"

"So why do you want to go back there?"

"What?" I mumble, distracted

"Back hohter, and I want to find her again," I tell hihtfully Then, frorin spreads across his tired, sweat-streaked face

"So how many did you kill today, Dan?"

"Two, I think You?"

"Beat you! I got three You should have seen the last one Speared the fucker on ain than it did to skewer him!"

"Nice"

"I tell you, one and his voice suddenly full of energy and enthusias When I first see them they scare the hell out of otever go? Telloff the buzz of sudden power and freedo your first few kills I felt the same when it happened to ain It&039;s like a drug, and we&039;re like junkies I don&039;t get the sas The euphoria has faded, and life&039;sharder to find food, and I&039;, and all that&039;s left to do in those gaps is think

"The feeling doesn&039;t go," I answer "It just changes"

"Wish I&039;d been there at the start"

For a few seconds he&039;s quiet again, daydrea about all the opportunities he&039;s convinced he&039;s missed The silence is only temporary while he thinks of the next question to ask