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Sam had been too late, too slow, too distracted, too unsure He hadn’t h people to help out He’d let the resently He hadn’t protected Ralph’s from Drake, or the power plant from Caine

Kids were sitting in the dark in Perdido Beach, thinking thoughts of cannibalise, so it was on him

Even now, Sa vital So A resource

A weapon

Well, if he survived this day, he was finished Let Astrid be in charge Or Albert Or Dekka Best of all, probably, Edilio

If he won this day, if he stopped Caine, and if Dekka closed the h

And if one of theaiaphage? It had Lana It had been inside Caine’s mind It knehat Lana knehat Caine knew Drake as well, no doubt It knew all their strengths and all their limits And if it became what it wanted to become, then what?

He was

But what else was new? Soon, it would be so

He didn’t need waves, not really He could just paddle his board out and lie there Just lie there That would be fine

But first…

Sa lot to the door of the turbine rooed He expected to be shot But he reached the door and found it unguarded

A relief But not a good thing Caine would have so the door If he was still inside

He stepped through into the eerie and unexpected silence The plant was shut down The turbines were no longer turning Nor Now he could hear his own footsteps

He found the passageway to the control room with the door forced inward It took him a moment to make sense of the tools driven into the floor and bent back