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"There" Theo points farther down the wall, where ainst Dad when she sees us, as if she’s ith relief But this air raid hasn’t ended, so I don’t knohat she’s so relieved about

Just that I got in, I guess That I have a chance

I expect instructions on what to do, but in this situation there’s only one thing we can do: wait

We all huddle together, catching our breath; a few people are still crying, and others are atte a prayer The outdoor chill of early-spring air has vanished in the heat of hundreds of bodies pressed too closely together Theo still has his ar to co comfort himself

I’ve been afraid for ut, your heart ha and screa like that When you fear for your life, you’re overcohastly clarity You calculate your odds every instant You invent options and see possibilities you wouldn’t have considered at any other time You realize as never before that your life is the only thing that is absolutely, truly yours There is strength within us that we can’t even comprehend until it’s called upon We are, at our core, built to survive

Worse by far is being afraid for someone else We can face our own risks with an unbelievable calmness Risks to the people we love? They turn us stupid Drive usus lies, each ination kills the one we love in our ain, and we have to witness Yet somehow even that isn’t as unbearable as the foolishness of hope It’s hope that makes us believe in miracles that haven’t come to pass Hope that crushes us with the unbearable truth

No danger I’ve faced torer Mom, Dad, Josie, and Theo--any one of the I can do And Paul, wherever he is in this world, is in the greatest danger of all

Standing here, waiting to find out if we’ll get blown to bits, is thein the world Theo’s presence is my lone comfort, but even that only helps so much After a couple of minutes, I can’t bear it anymore Okay, so, use the time Look around, and see what you can learn about this world

Observing the people around me doesn’t help much, because everyone’s upset, and nobody’s dressed nor a rabbed on her way out the door The flag stitched on the sleeve isn’t the A I’ve ever seen before Apparently the geopolitical situation in this universe is dramatically different I ht up as I see that a man near me has tucked a newspaper into the pocket of his bathrobe "May I look at that?" I ask hi at the rolled newspaper A few people stare; no doubt they think a bo raid is a weird tiuy hands

"Good thinking," Theowith here"

The front page reads SAN DIEGO STANDS STRONG: SOUTHERN ALLIANCE REPELLED AT SAN YSIDRO MOUNTAINS A grainy raph shows the SoCal shoreline--but instead of the usual parasailers and beach uraphic that I can’t believe they would run it in a newspaper, period

But I’ht up in this war Ies like this have lost their power to shock