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EDDIE PICKED SUSANNAH UP, held her with his sticky hands locked together at the small of her back, and kissed her deeply He reeked of sweat and pine-tar She touched his cheeks, his neck; she ran her hands through his wet hair She felt an insane urge to touch him everywhere until she was absolutely sure of his reality

"It al on some crazy carni-val ride What a shot! Jesus, Suze - what a shot!&039;

"I hope I never have to do anything like that again," she saidbut a sested that she could not wait to do soain And it was cold, that voice Cold

"What was - " he began, turning toward Roland, but Roland was no longer standing there He alking slowly toward the bear, which now lay on the ground with its shaggy knees up Froles as its strange guts continued to slowly run down

Roland saw his knife planted deep in a tree near the scarred veteran that had saved Eddie&039;s life He pulled it free and wiped it clean on the soft deerskin shirt which had replaced the tatters he had been wearing when the three of the down at it with an expression of pity and wonder

Hello, stranger, he thought Hello, old friend I never believed in you, not really I believe Alain did, and I know that Cuthbert did - Cuthbert believed in everything - but I was the hardheaded one I thought you were only a tale for children another hich blew around inher jab-bering ee of the old times, like the pump at the way station and the old machines under the mountains Are the Slow Mutants orshipped those broken remnants the final descendents of the people who once lived in this forest and finally fled your wrath? I don&039;t knoill never know but it feels right Yes And then I ca so ic circle around us and around everything we touch, strand by poi-sonous strand, and now here you lie, at our feet The world has ain, and this time, old friend, it&039;s you who have been left behind

The monster&039;s body still radiated a deep, sick heat Parasites were leaving its mouth and tattered nostrils in hordes, but they died al on either side of the bear&039;s head

Eddie approached slowly He had shifted Susannah over to one hip, carrying her as a ht carry a baby "What was it, Roland? Do you know?"

"He called it a Guardian, I think," Susannah said

"Yes" Roland&039;s voice was sloith aoneif they ever existed outside of the old wives&039; tales in the first place"

"Whatever it was, it was one crazy mother," Eddie said

Roland smiled a little "If you&039;d lived two or three thousand years, you&039;d be one crazy mother, too"

"Two or three thousand Christ!"

Susannah said, "Is it a bear? Really? And what&039;s that?" She was pointing at what appeared to be a square s It was alles of hair, but the afternoon sun had pricked out a single starpoint of light on its stainless steel surface, revealing it

Eddie knelt and reached hesitantly toward the tag, aware that strangefroiant He looked at Roland

"Go ahead," the gunslinger told him "It&039;s finished"

Eddie pushed a clump of hair aside and leaned closer Words had been stamped into the metal They were quite badly eroded, but he found that with a little effort he could read them

NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS, LTD

Granite City Northeast Corridor

Design 4 GUARDIAN

SerialAA 24123 CX 755431297 L 14

Type/Species BEAR

SHARDIK