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After that he cut back to the road The road curved high above the glittering ocean, affording a pretty, if disquieting view So

Bug figured if he was visible on infrared, well, too bad He could always switch sides like Computer Jack had done Of course then he’d be in trouble if Drake ever got hold of him

He took Drake’s threats seriously Very seriously

Bug had been beaten many tiood and drunk, a punch But his father had so’s mother would be able to take custody away from him Not that his father loved hi’sthat would allow her to win

At the worst of tiirlfriend and they’d had a fight, Bug had learned to hide His favorite place was in the attic because it was stuffed with boxes, and behind the boxes there was a spot where Bug could crawl under the eaves and lie flat on the insulation between cross-beams His father had never found him there

It seehtly lit power plant A gli from beyond a bend in the road It felt like another forever before he cauardhouse, the one that squatted across the road with a chain-link and barbed-wire fence extending out in both directions

Caine had speculated that the fence, which only one Coates kid had ever seen,to take any chances He walked along the fence, uphill, into the rough, away froan to scoop out the dirt below the fence It wouldn’t take

Bug felt very exposed As long as he was digging with the stick, he was visible: sticks did not have the power of caht at all now felt like a searchlight focused right on hi beast crouched beside the water, blazingly bright in the blackness

Bug crawled under the fence on his back Dirt found its way inside his shirt, but he did not get electrocuted Not that he really thought the fence was electrified Still, better to be careful

Bug stood up, brushed hi down the hill toward the power plant

He was hungry He would spy and do all the things Drake had told him to do But first, he would look for food

Sam tried to sleep Wanted desperately to sleep

He was in the spare bedroom at Astrid and Mary and John’s house In the dark On his back Staring up at the ceiling

Downstairs, in the kitchen, there were a half dozen cans of food He was hungry But he had had his ration for the day He had to set the example

Still, he was hungry, and the hunger didn’t care about setting an example