Page 6 (1/2)

"Better you than me"

Bullets fly past the traffic "Please--you don't understand--you can't taketithed I'll !"

And finally, a hint of humanity comes to the maniac's eyes "You're an Unwind?"

There are a s to be furious about, but Lev finds himself incensed by what he's just been called "I' horn, and Lev turns to see a bus bearing down on them Before either of them has a chance to scream, the bus careens off the road to avoid thee oak, stopping the bus cold

There's blood all over the ss halfway through, and he's not

"Oh, crap!" says the irl has just stepped out of the bus The crazy kid looks at her, and Lev realizes that nohile he's distracted, is the last chance he's going to have to get away This kid is an animal The only way to deal with hirabs the arm that's locked around his neck and sinks his teeth in with the full force of his jaws until he tastes blood The kid screa toward his father's car

As he nears it, a back door opens It's Pastor Dan opening the door to receive hi but happy

With his face already swelling from the crazy kid's brutal punch, Pastor Dan says with a hiss and strange warble to his voice, "Bun, Lev!"

Lev wasn't expecting this "What?"

"Run! Run as fast and as far as you can RUN!"

Lev stands there, impotent, unable tohim to run? Then co starts spinning round and round and down a drain into darkness

4 Connor

The pain in Connor's arm is unbearable That little monster actually bit him--practically took a chunk out of his forearets rear-ended The tranq bullets have stopped flying, but he knows that's teotten the Juvey-cops

Just then, he ot off the bus He thinks she's going to go stu from their cars to help, but instead she turns and runs into the woods Has the whole world gone insane?

Still holding his stinging, bleeding arm, he turns to run into the woods as well, but stops He turns back to see the kid in white just reaching his car Connor doesn't knohere the Juvey-cops are They're lurking, no doubt, sole of vehicles That's when Connor makes a split-second decision He knows it's a stupid decision, but he can't help himself All he knows is that he's caused death today The bus driver's, ot to balance it soood to -AWOL And so, battling his own instinct for self-preservation, he races toward the kid in white as so happily going to his oinding

It's as Connor gets close that he sees the cop twenty yards away, raising his weapon, and firing He shouldn't have risked this! He should have gotten ahen he could Connor waits for the telltale sting of the tranq bullet but it never comes, because the moment the bullet is fired, the boy in white takes a step back, and he's hit in the shoulder Two seconds, and his knees buckle The kid hits the ground, out cold, unwittingly taking the bullet meant for Connor

Connor wastes no tiround and flips him over his shoulder Tranq bullets fly, but no others connect In a few seconds Connor's past the bus, where a gaggle of shell-shocked teens are getting off He pushes past them and into the woods

The woods are dense, not just with trees but with tall shrubs and vines, yet there's already a path of broken branches and parted shrubs ht as well have arrows pointing the police in their direction He sees the girl up ahead and calls out to her "Stop!" She turns, but only for an instant, then renews her battle with the dense growth all around her

Connor gently puts down the boy in white and hurries forward, catching up with her He grabs her arh so that she can't pull away "Whatever you're running froether," he tells her He glances behind hiht yet There aren't "Please--we don't havethe bushes and looks at him

"What do you have in mind?"

5 Cop

Officer J T Nelson has spent twelve years working Juvenile He knows AWOL Unwinds will not give up as long as there's an ounce of consciousness left in theal substances as well Nicotine, caffeine, or worse He wishes his bullets were the real thing He wishes he could truly take these wastes-of-life out rather than just taking them down Maybe then they wouldn't be so quick to run--and if they did, well, no great loss

The officer follows the path h the woods by the AWOL Unwind, until he coe, just dureen froe, and brown froood thing this boy took that bullet after all Being unconscious probably saved this kid's life No telling where the Unould have taken him, or what he'd have done to him

"Help irl The officer isn't expecting this

"Help irl sits up against a tree, holding her ar in pain He doesn't have time for this, but "Protect and Serve" is more than just a motto to hirity

He goes over to the girl "What are you doing here?"

"I was on the bus I got off and ran away because I was scared it would explode I think irl's arm It's not even bruised This should be his first clue, but his mind is already too far ahead of hiht back" He turns, ready to pick up his pursuit, when so, soround, and suddenly there are two figures attacking hiether How could he have been so stupid? He reaches for his tranq pistol, but it's not there Instead he feels its h, and he sees triuht," the Unwind says

A sharp pain in the officer's leg, and the world goes away

6 Lev