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He let go then, and fell into the pit and drifted from reality

Brianna hit town like Paul Revere riding a rocket She zooet your butt out here!”

No Duck Plenty of kids heard her yelling and ducked Which on another day she ht have found funny

She ran as fast as she could Not fast enough to outrun her own fear Radiation She had touched the reactor pool

Was she already doomed?

She ran into Astrid with Brother John and her own little weird brother pulling a red wagon toward town hall At first she couldn’t believe what she was seeing Mary Terrafino was in the wagon, curled up and covered with a blanket that dragged on the pavement

Brianna hit the brakes and skidded to a stop in front of Astrid Little Pete was chanting sos “Nestor! Nestor! Nestor!” Crazy Like a crazy street person Brianna didn’t kno Astrid could stand it

When Little Pete spotted Brianna, he stopped His eyes glazed over, and he slowly pulled a handheld game from his pocket

“Brianna! Is Sam okay?” Astrid cried

“No Drake tore hi up and overtook her “Oh, God, Astrid, he’s hurt so bad”

Astrid gasped and covered her hand with her mouth Brianna put her arms around Astrid and sobbed into her hair

“Is he going to die?” Astrid asked, voice wobbly

“No, I don’t think so,” Brianna said She stood back and wiped her tears “I gave hi for the pain But he’s messed up, Astrid”

Astrid grabbed her arh to cause Brianna pain

“Nestor,” Little Pete said