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I turned and ran

"Anika, co around I burst out into the street, and as I ran I could see the truth all around me now, everywhere I looked

In one , I saw thein circles with his dead bride, his hands frozen to the wrist and he not caring in the least

In another , Mrs Mason, h chair--a baby that had not survived to its first birthday

And on a porch, a wo--but it wasn’t the wood creaking; it was her frozen bones She waved tothat "I know you" kind of srab my brother, leave this place, and never coate and fumbled with my keys at the front door, only to find it unlocked

"Sammy!" I called as I burst in I could see that Dad wasn’t holaciers with no idea as going on in town I didn’t knohere we could go that would be safe, but anywhere was safer than here We could leave Dad a note and hide up in the woods until he found us "Sammy, wake up!" But when I went into his room, he wasn’t there Sammy loved to play hide-and-seek with an," I de that always ended hide-and-seek was calling him by his full name It was always my admission of defeat--proof that he had stu place in victory But not this time

And then I began to think, What if they got hi--I was hyperventilating, so I made myself sit at the kitchen table They’re not zombies, I told myself They’re not zombies; you said it yourself, Anika They’re not ie didn’t hurt meThey won’t hurt Sammy Still, I couldn’t convinceto slow ical explanation for Sa on TV that frightened hihbors Of course! That’s what happened! It was just a hbor’s house he went to, that was all

I stood up, steadied myself, and went out the front door

As it turned out, I didn’t have to look far for Saonna do a low flyby and wave to us," I had told Sammy "Maybe even take us with him to the ice field"

And then I had left him alone What do little kids do when they’re left alone? They coood It would be hard to see a passing helicopter froht have a better view A place like the roof, for instance

Somehow Sammy had climbed onto the roof I don’t know if he ever saw Dad’s helicopter go by Maybe he did Maybe Sa Maybe that’s what made him slip

While I was off with Rav, Sammy had fallen off the roof But he didn’t break his neck like I was alarning him he would He didn’t break any bones at all

I hadn’t seen hi, but he had never left ho, speared on Dad’s perfect picket fence Now he lay there lile picket stuck through his torn Spider-Man paja, stained a horrible, shiny red

I ran to hi that it wasn’t what it looked like--that it was just a trick of the light "No! No! No!" I wailed "It’s okay, Sah I knew it just wasn’t true

I lifted hiround "Sae things As if calling hi hi him out this time I knew because his eyes were half open and there was nothing in theht And I knew because when I tried to stanch the flow of blood, it did nothing--because there was no blood spilling fro heart to pu, awful, sweet, wonderful little brother--was dead Dead

I knelt there and cried This was my fault Mine, mine, mine What if I hadn’t left him? What if I had taken him with ret

Dad!

How could I tell Dad? Once he found out, it would kill hirief was unbearable, butco about ht so occurred tohorrible, but at the same time wonderful Sammy was dead His spirit had left him, and with all my heart I hoped that he ith ourhi hionebut his body was still here

Somewhere far away I heard the beat of helicopter blades The landing pad was a good mile from here Once he landed, Dad would have to drive his date back to her hotel Maybe I had soe and a towel, and washed down the pickets until enough of the blood was gone that it couldn’t be seen in the ht When I was done, I looked tolawn, and took a deep breath, steeling rabbed him, and lifted hi to ht heavier than a boulder