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And this wasn’t the time to think about that I turned back to the row of ornalers of the sleepwalker mob sha to taper off I illing to bet it wasn’t because the screa of a deal

"Now," hissed Fang, and shoved through the plants, knocking two of theh True to his word, Fang didn’t look back, and so neither did I I just ran

The sleepwalkers weren’t that focused I could see the no curiosity or confusion Only their failure to grab and hold us gave their bewilderes in their environe over them We could run away and they didn’t kno to follow They just knew that so, and that they wanted to devour it, because they wanted to devour everything

Nathan pulled up even with rab for my hand I shookon the act of running I understood what he was offering, and I appreciated it more than I could have possibly said, but I couldn’t let hih to help an to slow We caught up to hi the sleepwalkers that had made the decision to turn as they shambled after us There weren’t many of them yet, but there would be soon My phero froasped I couldn’t stophad described it, and Daisy was inside Whatever mechanism she had used to open the doors--stolen keys or jimmied locks--didn’t matter nearly asher They clawed at the s and slapped the glass, and if they were anything like every other sleepwalker in the world, they’d break through soon She was trapped They’d devour her, and then they’d go looking for so e I didn’t understand That didn’t e barriers when it comes to profanity He looked at Daisy in the little red car like she represented the end of the world, and I realized what I had to do I didn’t want to do it Nathan wasn’t going to like it I didn’t see any other choice

It only took ivenoff: it snagged on et it off That hat finally caught Nathan’s attention He turned, eyes widening behind his glasses as he sahat I was doing

"Sal?" He sounded be lot was pretty weird "What’s going on?"

"I’ the sweater all the way off I dropped it on the ground It was never going to find its way back to its original owner, and I felt bad about that, but it was for the greater good "Phero ?"

"Yes?" Fang looked ata little as he took in my bare arown I think he realized what I was going to do He’d been with Dr Cale for a long time He had to have dealt with situations like this, or at least in the same family

"Make sure he runs" The sentence ca Nathan on the cheek before he could react, and then I bolted toward the car, waving"Hey! Hey, sleepwalkers, hey! Hey, it’s your cousin! Sal! I’ht here and I think I’ to do about it, huh?"

My exact words probably didn’t one to understand what I was saying, but they understood that so nearby, and as they turned and their nostrils started to flare, they understood that the so They understood that they wantedelse in the world, they wantedthey really understood since they’d eaten their way into the brains of their human hosts, and once they’d come to understand it, they couldn’t deny it It was too powerful One by one, the sleepwalkers that had been surrounding the car pulled away, deserting their captive prize in favor of sha after me

They didn’t run, thankfully; they weren’t coordinated enough for that yet, and they ht never be But they shambled with remarkable speed, and many of them were taller than me, which meant that for some of them, each of their unsteady steps was the equivalent of two of , their nu as more sleepwalkers shambled over from the direction of the hospital, or fro lot

I heard Nathan shout so behind me--a prayer, a plea, it didn’t matter, because there was a horde betweenIf I stopped, they’d catch erness to have me I was the perfect meal, the ultimate prize, and the only consolation I had was that they’d probably hurt each other getting to me