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Sally laughed "Modest, too Real sha town Jessie Riley was the luckiest woman in California, and strike…," Too I was heading to Brother David’s when I heard soht off a couple of goons Kid was doing okay at first Had a wooden version of that sword you carry The goons were trying to take the sword away fro they were zoms and that sort of stuff You’ve seen it before"

"Yes," he said coldly, "I’ve seen it What happened?"

"Kid uys Hit him on the shoulder, and I could hear the thwack all the way up the hill Then the guys stopped playing and laid into the kid with a will Whipped the sword out of his hands and beat the living crap out of hiht about the ascetic and intellectual Chong fighting for his life How brave he must have been, and how terrified

"By that tiured that the kid must have been your brother So I came down the hill with a hoop and sliced irly about it either Would have just messed them up some and let the pair of theet all fancy on me It didn’t end well for ’em, and no loss to the world"

"Wait … you said you took theainst me? I coulda done that back in ly-fight"

"No, I mean, if you nailed theuy Never saw hi I was about to quiet the two freaks when suddenly so hit my arm from behind and knocked me into a tree Tried to shake it off, but someone came at me fro man hite hair, and then I blacked out"

"White hair? Sally--could it have been Preacher Jack?"

"The loony-tune froer Anyway … I passed out, and when I woke up, the kid was gone and so was the big guy"

"What about the other two?"

"Still there Whoever shot me must have quieted ’eht about it "Could the big uy was as big as Charlie Pink-eye and his face was all messed up Burned and all nasty-lookin’"

"Could it have been Charlie?"

Sally narrowed her eyes "Charlie’s dead You killed him"

"Not exactly," Tom said He told her about what had happened after Benny hit Charlie with the Motor City Haal wants to hear when she’s already feeling poorly You think Charlie’s alive?"

"I don’t know Did the guy who attacked you do it to avenge the men you killed, or was he after the boy?"

"I … don’t know But wouldn’t Charlie know this kid’s not your brother?"

To both"

Sally took another swig from the canteen and chewed her lip for a moment "Before I attacked them, I heard some of what the two punks said to the kid I heard where they said they were taking hi to say and he closed his eyes as if he, rather than she, was in physical pain "Say it"

"Ga to try and sell hi that place Put him in the zombie pits"

"But you don’t know if thehim there?"

"No idea"

"Terrific," Tom said sourly "They’ve moved Gameland twice since we took down Charlie’s crew I’ve been trying to find it … and I don’t have a damn clue where it is It could be all the way over in Utah for all I know"

"I don’t think so, To the kid, one of the in the pits by dawn’s early light His words"

Tom looked out at the darkness "Damn," he said softly

37

BENNY RAN RIGHT INTO A ZOM THE CREATURE TURNED WITH A SNARL, and white fingers scrabbled for his face He could feel the edges of broken fingernails scratch hiers slide over his nose and ust It fell against a second zom and they went down Others tumbled over them in what could have been comedy if the world was not broken and insane Zoms snarled and bit at him as he ran

Sloarned his inner voice He tried to slow himself; he ordered his feet to walk instead of run, but they disobeyed Nix was sixty paces ahead Fifty

Lilah was nowhere in sight Had she run out on theotten her? No … there would have been screams if they’d attacked her First her war cries, and then … other screah his head as he ran He ducked under white hands, jinked and dodged around zombies who tried to wrap their aritated, their awareness drawn to the runningand turned to see Benny collide with another zom and have to bash his way out of its e in pitch as their hite fingers clawed the air for him

Slow DOWN!