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Astrid had nothing to say She knew all the right answers But the as gone Did she herself even believe in God any over lies

But Astrid still had her pride And she could not remain silent and let Brittney have the final word

"Brittney, do you really want to kill a little boy? No ? When your beliefs tell you to ?"

Brittney frowned "God’s will"

"Even if it is, Brittney, even if that mutant monster in a cave really is God, and even if you’ve understood Hi His will, and He wants you to kill, to deliver a little boy to Hi? Isn’t it just plain wrong?"

"God decides right and wrong"

"No," Astrid said And now, despite everything, despite her own exhaustion, despite her fear, despite her self-loathing and conte she had never accepted before "Brittney, it rong to ht and wrong doesn’t come from God It’s inside us And we know it And even if God appears right in front of us, and tells us to our faces to "

It was that simple in the end, Astrid realized That simple She didn’t need the voice of God to tell her not to kill Little Pete Just her own voice

"Anyway, Brittney," Astrid said "If you want to get to Petey, you have to go through me"

She s time

Brittney, too, smiled, but sadly "I won’t, Astrid But Drake will You knoill The bugs are all around this building, waiting And when Drake coirls had al, bleary-eyed Orc

He rabbed Brittney by the neck and waist and threw her from the

"I don’t like her," he said

Astrid ran to theand saw Brittney lying flat on the ground

The bugs turned their blue eyes upward

Indifferent to Brittney--as already picking herself up, unhared toward the ruined front door of Coates Acadeet this over with"

"Orc, don’t let the her hand on his arm

"You was always nice to ed "Don’t et out if you can Most likely this won’t take long"