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Danny was thinking about this,the children, even Billy Nice and his stupid jokes and har-har-har, when up ahead he saw a boy It was Ti with his older sister at the end of their driveway Danny would have known the boy anywhere, on account of the cowlick-two spikes of hair that stuck up fro Tirade or maybe third, and small; sometimes the housekeeper waited with him, a plump brooman in a smock, but usually it was the boy’s older sister, who Danny guessed was in high school She was a funny girl to look at, not funny ha-ha but funny strange, with hair streaked the color of the Pepto that Mo too fast and heavy black eyeliner that s in a scary movie, the kind with eyes that moved She had about ten studs in each ear;collar! Like she was a dog! The odd thing was that Danny thought she was sort of pretty, if not for all the weird stuff He didn’t know any girls her age, or any age, really, and he liked the way she waited with her brother, holding his hand but letting it go as the bus approached so the other kids wouldn’t see

He drew up to the end of the driveway and pulled the lever to open the door "Hey," he said, because that was all he could think of "Hey, good "

It see Danny let his eyes quickly graze their faces; their expressions were nothing he could read None of the trains on Thomas ever looked like these two did The Tho else, like the blank screen on the TV when the cable wasn’t working The girl’s eyes were puffy and red, her hair kind of s with the back of his wrist Their clothing was all wrinkled and stained

"We heard you honking," the girl said Her voice was hoarse and shaky, like she hadn’t used it in a while "We were hiding in the cellar We ran out of food two days ago"

Danny shrugged "I had Lucky Charood that way"

"Is there anybody else left?" the girl asked

"Left where?"

"Left alive"

Danny didn’t kno to answer that The question see Maybe there wasn’t; he’d seen a lot of bodies But he didn’t want to say so, not with Timothy there

He glanced at the boy, who so far had said nothing, just kept nervously rubbing his nose with his wrist "Hey, Tiies? I have those sometimes"

"Our parents are in Telluride," the boy stated He was looking at his sneakers "Consuela ith us But she left"

Danny didn’t knoho Consuela was It was hard when people didn’t answer your question but instead answered soht of

"Okay," said Danny

"She’s in the backyard"

"How can she be in the backyard if she left?"

The boy’s eyes widened "Because she’s dead"

For a couple of seconds, nobody said anything Danny wondered why they hadn’t gotten on the bus yet, if maybe he’d have to ask theirl said "We heard it on the radio"

"What’s at Mile High?"

"The Army They said it’s safe there"