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She knew she should probably not burn unnecessary calories But she couldn’t bring herself to stop To stop, to spend a day lying on the bed, was to surrender Lana didn’t like the idea of surrender She hadn’t surrendered to pain, or to Pack Leader, or to the Darkness

I don’t surrender, she told herself

Come to me I have need of you

As she got beyond the Clifftop approach road and headed down the slope, Lana punched the iPod’s touchscreen and her ears were filled with a Death Cab for Cutie song

But it was the other lyrics she heard, like a whisper, like a second track beneath this song

She’d gone nowhen two little kids intercepted her, waving their hands to get her attention

They looked healthy enough to her She gave theh

But the two littlesa little, even though she shouldn’t be, and ripped off her headphones

“What?” she snapped

There was so before the kids could blurt it out

“Joey’s got a loose tooth”

“So what? He’s supposed to be getting new teeth”

“But it hurts You’re supposed to fix things that hurt”

“Supposed to?” Lana echoed “Look, kids, if you’re bleeding fro me I’m not here for every little headache or skinned knee or loose tooth”

“You’re mean,” the kid said