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The drums that normally accompanied me on any tense occasion were silent, which only made the tension worse Croed frolass littering the street, picking up the ones they liked best and flapping off into the distance We passed an office building with broken s on the third floor, and a whole ar us walk by with their beady, judgmental eyes

"I don’t kno the crow population around here will fare after the first winter without people," said Nathan, in the neutral "science voice" he always used when he wanted to iers They’re smart, but it’s no question that they’ve benefited froan Their nor to be renewed"

"See, there’s a great reason to save the world," I said "Save the human race, save the crows"

Nathan s off his glasses was ely relaxed, considering the circuain, some of our best times had been like this Just hi to come would come I reached over and slipped htly Nathan cast another san

Beverly started to growl

It was a s forward fro cha her teeth, while the growl grew steadily louder, beconore Even Fishy heard it He stopped, pulling Dr Banks to a halt alongside him, and turned to look quizzically back at us

"What’s up with the dog?" he asked

"Sleepwalkers," I said curtly, trying to scan the street around us without losing any forwardit difficult to focus

Fishy’s sudden grin didn’t help "Excellent," he said, and let Dr Banks go completely as he raised his rifle into position

"Reet to the ferry"

"Nothing says I can’t have a little fun first," countered Fishy, and began to ain

The street around us reht not need to pull the trigger; weanyone Please stay that way, I silently prayed, resisting the nearly overwhelh the darkened, frequently broken s around us Looking would only terrify ht be dealing with So I didn’t look I clutched Beverly’s leash and I watched the street, and I waited for all hell to break loose

It wasn’t like we could just explain ere doing here and expect to be allowed to go on our way: there was no reasoning with sleepwalkers All we could do was kill them, and then tell their corpses that ere sorry I illing to bet that for Fishy and Dr Banks-- so The tapeworms didn’t even come into the equation

It must have been nice to only have to worry about one-half of the being you were killing When I had to kill a sleepwalker--so I’d only been forced to do twice so far, and that ice tooa husked-out hus, one that hadn’t been as lucky as I was Sally Mitchell had provided row and thrive Without her, and without the life support that had sustained her body while I acclimated myself to what I had become, I would have been just like the ai and put a bullet inany louder, until it see froether without discussing it, using one another for cover and support at the sa for any signs of ht tell

Then, with as little fanfare as a radio co from a simple absence of drums to the soft, war I had when Adaet, if a little weaker and harder to identify, when Sherman or Ronnie was nearby The part of h to be wired for receipt of phero up on the presence oftheer, slower monkey-mind that controlled the basic functions of the body

Sleepwalkers

"There are two groups of them," I said dazedly, distracted by the threads of data that were slithering their way through roup is up ahead, and the s in from the west They all know that we’re here, but they’re stillslowly--more slowly than they should be, when there’s prey available" I paused, understanding dawning, and said, "I think they knoe "

"That’s not so to sound happy about," snarled Dr Banks