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"NoI don’t want to do, I’ to do it"
"Won’t you?" His expression turned conciliatory like he was flipping a switch, eyes suddenly filled with parental concern "Sally, I know you don’t want to treat me like this You know I’ve always, always been on your side Maybe I’m the only person who’s always been on your side Why don’t you help o" The dru to shake I balled the Beverly’s leash until the leather was biting intoharder than ever, andSally"
It was getting hard to focus on hie to turn and run away, fleeing into the city Vallejo ht be filled with sleepwalkers and ars connecting my psyche to itself and pull on them No one there would even kno to start
"I know she can hear me"
"SHUT UP!" I hadn’t intended to scream It felt like the words were ripped out ofThey bounced off the buildings and boats around us, fading into the distance Dr Banks stared atme to remove his bonds
The back ofto the side, taking a step toward him, so that there was barely any space left between us Dr Banks shied back I reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him closer still
"I am the one ns and operates this establishment, Dr Banks, and while I appreciate that youback," I spat "This body is under new ement I am the only one who decides what I do--not you, not Dr Cale, and not the ghost of Sally Mitchell She died, I lived, and you don’t get to call her back because you’ve decided that she’d beBack"
"I understand you perfectly," he said His voice was quavering, just a little--just enough toGood He needed to listen
The fizzing feeling in the back ofmy head down as I tried to focus As soon as I paid attention to it, it snapped into perfect clarity My eyes widened asinto Dr Banks’s terrified eyes
"Sleepwalkers," I whispered, and turned to bolt for the ferry launch, his shirt still clutched in my hand He stu her leash to its absolute lione to find Nathan, or she one for the hated sleepwalkers, which needed to be destroyed if ere going to ever be safe She was a good dog She would protect us if she could, which made it all theher
The door was unlocked, and still slightly ajar from where Fishy and Nathan had slipped inside I hip-checked it open, shoving Dr Banks through, and paused only long enough to turn and close the door firmly behind me It wouldn’t slow them down for more than a few minutes if the sleepwalkers knew that ere inside the building: they couldn’tcos, and fro, there were at least a dozen on their way to us, ed to eat and survive in an abandoned city They would be weak and e to survive is a powerful thing It can drive even the s that should have been impossible, because they don’t want to die If there was any way for the sleepwalkers to get into the ferry launch, they would do it
Dr Banks was still standing a few feet away, looking stunned and uneasy I grabbed his elbow before he could"Come on, we need to find the others," I said, and for once, he didn’t argue
The ferry launch was the sort of airy,that always seee panes of glass set into the roof to coht The silence inside seeh Dr Banks, Beverly, and I weren’t doing anything to stay quiet Beverly’s claws clacked on the wooden floor with every step she took, and Dr Banks clo dohat felt to ree of force
Empty plastic benches stretched out on either side, some with jackets or backpacks discarded on the to be back at anymachines loaded with candy bars or chips lined one wall; a hole was punched in the largest of theh the machine’s contents remained alht that hadn’t ended well? There was no blood I chose to take that as a good sign It was better than the alternatives
"Think your boyfriend ditched us here as so ht?" asked Dr Banks conversationally "Or maybe that curly-headed fellow decided to put a bullet in his brain and take the boat to San Francisco all by himself You can’t surround yourself with crazies and expect them to behave like normal people It’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to them, either They’re just not wired that way"