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Plague Michael Grant 14850K 2023-09-01

The creature swung its ht Orc in the chest Orc went flying, facedown on the gravel

He inded Not dead, though

He got slowly to his feet Why hurry?

"You want et ht for hi but air, and was face-down again This tiues had attached to hier stand

Astrid screa mouthparts closed in on hi through the night His goal was Perdido Beach But hisith him

How could Sam have told him to throw Little Pete to the creatures? It was crazy, wasn’t it? Crazy? Anyway, it had to be wrong, right?

He raced up hills and down He was not quite tireless, but he was very strong and reveled in that strength now for the first ti behind a curtain, not really seeing as happening around hie when he found the laptops on the train Touching live keys again, seeing a h he hadn’t had tiic touch

And then, a very different feeling when he had fought He had used his enorth and he had saved Sam’s life and Dekka’s and Toto’s Him! Of all people: Computer Jack

He was a hero

He still didn’t look like one--he was no taller or more muscular than before, he had not turned into sohted Jack But the strength no longer seemed completely irrelevant to him

He could be Computer Jack But he could be more, too

And yet, what Sam wanted hiht?

He had run toward town or what he thought was toward town Frohted the sparkly water in the distance and figured that town had to be, oh, around there somewhere

But he finally realized he had becoured it ht just as easily be the Stefano Rey

Then he heard a cry A hu

Jack froze He was breathing hard He strained to hear But there was no second cry Not that he heard, anyway

What was he supposed to do? Sam had told him what to do He had to warn Edilio And he had toHe could barely even forht in his head of what he was supposed to do

But he couldn’t just ignore a scream, could he?

"Go find out," Jack whispered to himself "Whoever she is maybe she needs help And ht: And o to town after all

Jack ran toward the sound, across a deep ravine choked with bushes and up the other side He found himself on a narrow road cut between tall trees