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"There was discussion a those of us uninjured about how to best care for those who had been injured I am fully trained in first aid, so for about an hour, I issued directions and tried to oversee the care of the injured I went into the store and found a basic first aid kit I decided we should move the injured away frohtdown

"It was at that e in the color of the air I saw a black plus

"In ain ways that were beyond my comprehension"

Mr Appleton stopped to wipe sweat fro aa young employee of the store carry a fe She was quite heavy African-American descent I would estimate two-hundred to two-hundred-fifty pounds

"As we carried her across the parking lot, the air turned around us Everything becareen The woman’s skin erupted in blisters They started srew and burst She began to scream and writhe We were forced to set her down, not only because she wasfrom the many lesions and she beca ave a furious cry and attacked htly front and back as he spoke This s out of hi ht have injured me seriously if he had not been attacked in turn by another person It was an elderly man who had earlier told me he was there for chicken wire I watched as the old ht each other to the death The young man was the winner"

Suddenly Mr Appleton seemed to come back to the presentthis?" he asked Niko, pointing toward Sahalia and Alex

Sahalia huffed

"It’s okay," Niko said "They’re big kids They have all the rights and privileges of us high school kids"

Mr Appleton continued

"The light got ht had fallen The sounds around e inter sounds of what I assu on their own blood

"I pulled ot in hts I turned on the radio and heard the e around hways had beco Aroundup and dying In other cars I saw people begin to attack each other And in a few cases I locked eyes with other people who seehtened as I felt

"I was sure that if I tried to walk home on foot I would be attacked, so I drove my car over the median and made my way over the land This was made difficult because of the hail, but my Land Cruiser has four-wheel drive

"However, as I neared my home, I could see that the development was on fire All of Woodmoor was ablaze The fire had spread quickly fro ho I decided not to try to get to o try to take shelter in one of my schools"

"What do you mean, one of your schools?" Niko asked

We all looked at Mr Appleton

"Well," Mr Appleton said, "I’roaned out loud, which was so startlingly funny that I burst out laughing

Everyone laughed, even Mr Appleton

"Sorry," he said "But it’s true"

Mr Appleton went on, in his measured, efficient way, to tell us that he’d met up with Robbie at Lewis Palmer Robbie had told hiet a bunch of kids home ere currently stranded in the Greenway (that was us)

"Yeah, I was at the school during the hailstorm," Robbie told us "It was me and some teachers They left, after the storm, but I stayed That’s when Mrs Wooly showed up She told us you were safe here"

"Is she okay?" Niko asked "Where is she?"

"I’m not sure"

"What do youto cal for their kids"

"What parents?" Alex interrupted "Did Mrs Wooly tell them we’re here? Do you know the names of the parents?"

"Well, no Not really Because, well…"

"There were a group of us there," Mr Appleton took over "We gathered together, sharing the resources and infor to create a secure, unconta their families to But ere attacked"

"By who?" Jake asked

"By people with O-type blood," Niko said softly

Mr Appleton nodded

"They were all killed"

This landed like a punch to the stomach

"Mrs Wooly?" asked Niko

"I’m not sure," Mr Appleton answered "It was very chaotic"

"I think she got free," Robbie said

"But if she’d gotten free she would have come for us," Alex said

"So what’s it like out there now?" Niko interrupted

All of us fell silent to listen