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So … what? Huh? That’s what I felt like saying: huh?

She was askinguess she was hugging uy I was her friend

I stuffed a couple sweatshirts into my backpack

"Well?" she said

"I don’t knohat to say, Astrid I have to go with ether"

"Then get hiht thing to stay"

"No, he wants to go He thinks this is our only chance to find our parents He’d never stay"

"We can’t go! We’ll kill so down her face She wiped at them with the back of her hand

"Please, Dean" Every ti asto sedate us and tie us up We won’t be able to help them, but on’t kill the

"Who knows? Maybe Niko is right Maybe we’ll make it just fine"

"No," she said, near hysterics "I can’t go I can’t go I can’t go!"

"You’ll be fine--"

"I’onna have a baby"

"What?" I said

She crossed her arnant"

"Are you sure?"

She nodded "Been sure for a while now I’m four months Maybe more"

"Four months?"

She lifted up her sweater and undershirt

I saw the creamy skin of her beautiful diver’s body And yes, there was a buht under the navel, a rise How had I not noticed it before?

She dropped her shirt and put her hands up to cover her face She was crying softly

"Oh, Astrid," I said And I stepped to her Took her in my aro?" I said quietly "We should go so we can find a doctor Don’t you think?"

"I thought about that," she said "But ill happen to the, you know, the fetus, if he’s exposed to the compounds? What if he’s like us, Dean?"

And then she lowered her voice "Or what if he blisters?"

I will not share the grisly iuys?" Chloe said, charging into the aisle "We’re al and putting things on the bus and then Josie taking so wind chimes for your mo to get everything into some kind of order

"Finally!" he said when he saw us

Niko had just finished round it up in a teaspoon of jelly

"I gave her the full dose," he said "Hopefully she’ll sleep the whole way I’et Brayden on board"

Josie and Sahalia were helping the kids get into their layers of clothing

"Okay," Niko said as alked toward the Automotive aisle where Brayden was

He took out a piece of paper from his pocket

It was a checklist

"We have food, water, first aid, extra clothes, valuables to trade--"

We heard Luna barking

"Shoot," he said "We need dog food"

"Max," I called back "Food for Luna!"

He nodded and ran for the Pet Depart, rope, un, bullets"

He looked up at me

"What else?"

It was an i," I said

Sahalia ith Brayden She had taken over his care and now see her own layers of clothing and was struggling to get Brayden into his

"We’ll help," I told her

Niko was right, Brayden looked green

As carefully as we could, we put zip-front hoodies onto him Niko dealt with the sweatpants

"Brayden," Niko said softly "We’re going to e he’d heard Niko He was limp and clammy

"Let’s slide the mattress over, then we’ll lift him in"

So the three of us slid the airabout what the hell I was going to do

Josie lay down blankets for Brayden on the second seat of the bus

Niko and Josie and Sahalia and Alex and I lifted Brayden aardly and got hiot hiet you help, Brayden," Sahalia said "You’re going to feel better soon"

As Niko and I left the bus she asked Niko, "We have pain ht? And antibiotics"