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The full weirdness struck her then The handrail of the stairs stopped as it reached the level of the upper floor The steps themselves ended on a splintered half riser

Astrid stepped out onto as now a platforone Everything It was as if a giant had co through walls and plu pipe and electrical conduit

All that was left was Little Pete’s bed And Little Pete hihed twice He licked his lips His eyes stared blankly up at open sky

Astrid followed the direction of his gaze And there, in the blue ray cotton Directly above the house

Brianna was seething She seethed a fair a, slow burn over the fight with Drake and the fact that Jack had left toithout even telling her so she had to hear it froested that Taylor should adopt a cool name, like Brianna had with "the Breeze" "The Teleporter," hed at her

Brianna wasn’t supposed to be on the street The quarantine was still in effect But she was thirsty, hungry, hu for trouble

Or at least a sip of water

She was giving this whole waiting-around thing a fewto run up to Lake Evian herself for a drink Taylor said the road was dangerous, that the greenies were there But Brianna didn’t fear flying snakes Not even flying snakes that peed green bug eggs, or whatever that was all about She was too fast for so

Someone had nailed plywood up over ain town hall

"What’s that about?" she wondered aloud

She shrugged and was getting ready to zooetting rapidly louder And coh the botto silvery that moved with respectable speed

Brianna stared up at it for a few seconds and then, quite suddenly, an to force their way through the plywood

The first to eround

Brianna had plenty of ti mouth and its antennae, and to be utterly creeped out by eyes the color of rubies

She could guess what they were These were the things that Taylor had gotten all freaked out by The things that had supposedly coht here and pouring down the wall fro landed it launched itself at Brianna She sidestepped it like a ive you that," Brianna said "But you’re not the Breeze"

As one the swarnashing and red eyes blazing

This was more like it She could just zooa his autos

"Oh, well," Brianna said "Ti knife and sliced the antennae fro Then, just for show, just because it was a coolShe stabbed it, ais Her blade bit the wing instead and did not penetrate