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He thought briefly of EZ Of the wor, to test Howard’s suggestion that he would be invulnerable Hopefully, that would work

For a brief ht have spread But even if they had, surely not to the es

Adistance to cover if you were a worm

“Beer me,” Orc bellowed

Albert handed Howard a red and blue can of beer A Budweiser That’s what Albert had the most of, and Orc didn’t seem to have any particular brand loyalty

Howard popped the tab and extended it out of the driver’s side , reaching back Orc snatched it as they drove down the pitted dirt road

Orc sat in the bed of the pickup truck He was too big to fit in anything s to fit inside the truck’s cab Hoas driving Albert was in the front seat, squeezed in beside a large polystyrene cooler The cooler had the logo of the University of California, Santa Barbara It was full of beer

“You knoe should have hung out more, back in the old days,” Howard said to Albert

“You didn’t know I existed, back in the old days,” Albert said

“What? Come on, man There’s, like, a dozen brothers in the whole school and I didn’t notice one?”

“We’re the same shade, Howard That doesn’t make us friends,” Albert said coolly

Howard laughed “Yeah, you were always a grind Reading toomuch fun Good little fa man in the FAYZ?

?

Albert ignored that He wasn’t interested in re Not with Howard, for sure, not really with anyone The old world was dead and gone Albert was all about the future

As if reading his , aren’t you? You know it’s true You are all business”