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Quinn sat back down He leaned forward, elbows on knees "Man, don’t you re tests in school? Multiple choice: A, B, C, D, or E, all of the above"
"Yeah?"
"Dude, sometimes the answer is ‘all of the above’ This place needs you And it needs Astrid And it needs Sam It’s all of the above, Albert"
Albert blinked
"I mean, no offense," Quinn said quickly "But it’s like Astrid’s yapping away about hoe need so your et out of his way and let him fry whoeverup You aren’t working together, which is what all of us regular people need you to do Because, and really, I’ to be a jerk or whatever, but duh: we do need a system, and we do need you and your ’Bertos, and so and kick so away, but it occurred to hi and that Quinn aiting for an answer, and cringing a little like he expected Albert to lash out
Quinn stood up again, shook his head ruefully, and said, "Okay, I get it I’ll stick to fishing"
Albert ht Spread the word, okay?"
THIRTY-FOUR
7 HOURS, 2 MINUTES
DIANA STARTED TO cry when Sanjit put the bowl of Cheerios in front of her He poured from a carton of shelf-stable rant, so wonderfully noisy as it sloshed around in the blue bowl
She reached for it with her fingers Then she noticed the spoon It was clean Bright
With treers she dipped the spoon into the cereal and raised it to her lips The rest of the world disappeared then, for just a fewcompletely visible as he did likewise But all she noticed, all she felt, was the cool crunch, the rush of sugar, the shock of recognition
Yes, this was food
Diana’s tears ran down her face into the spoon, adding a touch of salt to her second bite
She blinked and saw Sanjit staring at her He held the industrial-size box of cereal at the ready in one hand, the carton of hed and spilled cereal and reed
"What else do you have?" Caine asked
"You have to take it slow," Sanjit said
"Don’t tell me how to take it"
Sanjit did not back down "You aren’t the first starving people I’ve seen"
"Someone else froed a look with the younger boy, Virtue He’d told Diana that was his real name