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There was no way around the wreckage; they would have to backtrack and find another route They scavenged what supplies they could find-hts and a propane lantern, an assortth of rope that had no obvious use but ht find soe mounted the bottom step, Pastor Don touched hie looked at hie And it’s your bus"

"Not really Technically, it’s Danny’s"

Pastor Don e’s eye "That’s not what I htened They need soave a cagey smile "Oh, I know you better than you think I do I was in the reservesthe quarteruessing ex-Special Forces Rangers, ed "Well, that’s your business But you obviously knohat the hell you’re doing better than anyone else around here This is your show,to hear fro in the aisle, he surveyed the group The Robinsons were seated up front, Linda holding Boy Jr on her lap; directly behind the alone; then Wood and Delores Don took the bench across the aisle Mrs Bella white purse with both hands, like a retiree on a casino junket April was sitting with her brother on the driver’s side, behind Danny Her eyes widened as their glances e cleared his throat "Okay, everybody I know you’re scared I’et you out of here I don’t know just where we’re going, but if we keep heading east, sooner or later we’re going to find safety"

"What about the Army?" Jamal said "Those aholes left us here"

"We don’t really knohat happened But to be on the safe side, we’re going to keep on back roads as far as we can"

"My mother lives in Kearney" This was Linda Robinson "That’s where ere headed"

"Jesus, lady" Jamal scoffed "I told you, Kearney’s just like Fort Collins They said so on the radio"

In every group, Kittridge thought, there was always one This was all he needed

Linda’s husband, Joe, twisted in his seat "Close your mouth for once, why don’t you?"

"I hate to break it to you, but her ht now, eating the dog"

Suddenly everybody was speaking at once Two days in the truck, Kittridge thought Of course they’d be at one another’s throats

"Please, everybody-"

"And just who put you in charge?" Jae "Just because you’re all, like, strapped and shit"

"I agree," said Wood It was the first tie had heard the man’s voice "I think we should take a vote"

"Vote on what?" Jaave him a hard look "For starters, whether or not we should throw you off this bus"

"Fuck you, Rent-a-Cop"

In a flash, Wood was up Before Kittridge could react, the s, they went tu the baby, was trying to sca to grip Jaunshot slapped the air; everyone froze All eyes swiveled to the rear of the bus, where Mrs Bella

"Lady," Ja man, I think I speak for everyone when I say I’m tired of your crap You’re just as afraid as the rest of us You owe an apology to these people"

It was coht Part of hih

"Okay, okay," Jamal sputtered "Just put that cannon away"

"I think you can do better than that"

"I’ht a moment, then lowered the pistol "I suppose that will have to do Now, I do like the idea of a vote This niceisn’t what it used to be-what did you say your nae He see things, let’s see a show of hands"

Every hand went up except Jawith hu What else do you want fro public school, believe me, I’ve dealt with o on You’ll see how much better you feel"

With a look of defeat, Jamal raised his hand

"That’s better" She directed her attention at Kittridge again "We can go now, Mr Kittridge"

Kittridge glanced at Pastor Don, as trying not to laugh

"Okay, Danny," Kittridge said "Let’s turn this thing around and find a way out of here"

Chapter 12

They’d lost hiood Christ had they lost hi into Denver He’d dropped off the screen at that point-the Denver netas a nature from a Verizon tower in Aurora Guilder had asked for another drone to sweep the area, but they’d found nothing; and if Grey had gotten off the interstates, as now seemed likely, and headed into the sparsely populated eastern half of the state, he could travel for irl For all intents and purposes, she’d been sed by the continent

With little to do but wait for news from Nelson, Guilder had plenty of ti the psychiatric workup from the Texas Department of Cri, hiring h that was, Guilder supposed, the point; like the original twelve test subjects, Babcock and Sosa and Morrison and all the creepy rest, the sweeps were no one anybody was ever going to miss

To wit: Lawrence Alden Grey, born 1970, McAllen, Texas Mother a homemaker, father a mechanic, both deceased The father had served three tours in Vietnaed with a bronze star and a purple heart, but it had done the guy in anyway He’d shot hi Grey, just six years old, to find him A series of common-law stepfathers followed, one drunk after another by the looks of it, a history of abuse, etc; by the tihneck in the oil fields near Odessa, then on rigs in the Gulf He’d nevershocker; his psychiatric profile was a bag of proble from OCD to depression to trauuy was basically heterosexual, but with so ure; the boys had been Grey’s way of reliving his own childhood abuse, which his conscious mind had repressed He’d been arrested twice, the first time for exposure, which he’d pled down to a ravated sexual assault Basically, he’d touched the kid-not exactly a hanging offense, but nothing nice, either With the first conviction on his sheet the judge had sentenced hihteen to twenty-four years, but nobody did the full bid anymore, and he’d been paroled after ninety-seven months