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"So what about the s It was just like Zander said There weren’t any At least none that ca out in the valley But they pretty much just left me alone They don’t like to hunt in the turbine fields, Zander always thought theto do with it, I don’t know" The boy paused; Peter could see the weight of his ordeal finally catching up with hiot used to it, it was actually kind of peaceful I didn’t see Zander after that I could hear hi around at the base of the tower But he never answered ured my best chance was to wait for the relief crew to show up and try to get away"

"So you saw us"

"Believe uess you were just too far away to hear one The jenny, too The virals ht at the most But I was out of water, and there was no way anyone was co to look for me in the east field, so I decided to cliot to within maybe a thousand ht, That’s it, I’m meat for sure I hid under the base of one of the towers and pretty much waited to die But for some reason, they kept their distance I couldn’t tell you how long I was under there, but when I looked out they were gone, not a suess I just thought I could get inside somehow"

Arlo turned to Theo "It doesn’t make sense Why would they leave hi hi him as bait maybe, to draw us out? Since when do they do that?"

"They don’t" So hardened in Theo’s expression then; he stiffened in his chair "Look, I’ But that was sooes off-line, the lights go out, that’s it for everybody I don’t knohy I have to explain this, but apparently I do"

Peter and Alicia were silent; there was nothing to say It was true If Peter’s rifle had gone just a few centiht, they’d probably all be dead now It had been a lucky shot and he knew it

"None of which explains how Zander got infected," Theo went on "Or what he was doing, leaving Caleb on the tower"

"The hell with that," Arlo said, and slapped his knees "What I really want to know about are those guns How many are there?"

"Twelve crates under the stairs," Alicia answered "Six more in the crawl space on the roof"

"Which is exactly where they’re going to stay," Theo said

Alicia laughed "You can’t be serious"

"Oh, yes, I can Look what alone outside there without those guns?"

"Maybe not But Caleb’s alive because of thelad ent outside These aren’t just guns, Theo They’re like brand-new"

"I know they are," Theo said "I’ve seen them I know all about them"

"You do?"

He nodded "Of course I do"

For a moment no one spoke Alicia leaned forward over the table "So whose guns are they?"

But it was Peter to whoave his answer "Our father’s" So, in the last hour of the night, Theo told the story Caleb, unable to keep his eyes open another one to the barracks to sleep, and Arlo had broken out the shine, as they soht on the Wall He poured it into each of their cups, two fingers, and passed it around the table

There was an old Marine Corps base east of there, Theo explained, about a two-day ride A place called Twentynine Palone, he said, prettythere unless you knehere to look Their father had found the weapons in an underground bunker-all boxed up, tight and dry, and not just rifles Pistols and e of vehicles, even a couple of tanks They had no way to move the heavier weapons, and none of the vehicles would run, but their father and Uncle Wille the rifles back to the station a cartload at a time-three trips total before Willem had been killed

"So why didn’t he tell anyone?" Peter asked

"Well, he did He told our mother, and a few others He didn’t ride alone, you know I’ the Colonel knew Probably Old Chou Zander had to know, since he was stashing them here"

"But not Sanjay," Alicia cut in

Theo shook his head, frowning "Believe me, Sanjay was the last person : Sanjay is fine at what he does But he was always dead set against the rides, especially after Raj was killed"

"That’s right," Arlo said "He was one of the three"

Theo nodded "I think it was always a sore spot with Sanjay, that his brother wanted to ride with our father I never really understood it, but there was some bad blood between theot worse Sanjay turned the Household against our father, voted him out as Head, put an end to the rides That hen our father stepped down and began to ride alone"

Peter held his cup of shine to his nose, felt its acrid fu his nostrils, and put it down on the table He didn’t knoas -that his father had kept this secret frouns in the first place?" he asked "Why not just bring them up the mountain?"

"And do ith them? Think about it, brother We all heard you out there By my count, the two of you shot off thirty-six rounds to kill, what, two virals? Out of how uns’d last about a season if he just handed the at their own shadows Hell, half the ti each other I think that’s what he was most afraid of"

"How many are left?" Alicia asked