sam-temple

About time,_ Brianna said.__ey, sorry, we were kind of busy,_ Quinn snapped. __nd I didn__ exactly realize I was on a schedule.___ don__ like what I have to do here,_ Brianna said. She handed Quinn the note.He read it. Read it again.__s this some kind of joke?_ he demanded.__lbert__ dead,_ Brianna said. __urdered.___hat?___e__ dead. Sam and Dekka are off in the wilderness somewhere. Edilio__ got the flu, he might die, a lot of kids have. A lot. And there are these, these monsters, these kind of bugs . . . no one knows what to call them . . . heading toward town._ Her face contorted in a mix of rage and sorrow and fear. She blurted, __nd I can__ stop them!__uinn stared at her. Then back at the note.He felt his contented little universe tilt and go sliding away.There were just two words on the paper: __et Caine.

There's a lot youdon't know, Sam. There's a lot I don't tell you. I know who I am. I know what I do, and what I am to this place.I know what I am to you, and how much you depend on me.You may be the symbol, and you may be the one everyone turns to when something goes bad, and you're the big badass, but I'm the guy doing the day-in, day-out work of running things. So I don't make this about me.

It takes me a while to figure things out, doesn't it?" Edilio grinned. "Do me a favor. When you find Astrid, repeat that to her, word for word, the part about how it takes you a while. Then remember her exact reaction and tell me.

Listen, Sam, and everyone, you need to know something so it won__ freak you out: Pack Leader can speak. I mean, human words. Like Smart-Girl Barbie there was saying, he__ some kind of mutant or whatever. I know you think I__ probably crazy.__he had Hermit Jim__ tin cup now and used it to scoop up another helping of wonderful, wonderful pudding. Blondie__strid__as opening a can of fruit cocktail.__hat do you know about the FAYZ?_ Astrid asked.Lana stopped eating and stared at her. __he what?__strid shrugged and looked embarrassed. __hat__ what people are calling it. The Fallout Alley Youth Zone. FAYZ.___hat does that mean?___ave you seen the barrier?__he nodded. __h, yeah. I__e seen the barrier. I touched the barrier, which, by the way, is not a good idea.__am said, __s far as we can tell, it goes clear around in a big circle. Or maybe a sphere. We think the center is the power plant. It seems like a ten-mile radius from there, you know, twenty miles across.___ircumference of 62.83 miles, with an area of 314.159 square miles,_ Astrid said.__oint 159,_ Quinn echoed from his corner. __hat__ important.___t__ basically pi,_ Astrid said. __ou know, 3.14159265_. Okay, I__l stop.__ana hadn__ stopped being hungry. She took a scoop of the fruit cocktail. __am, you think the power plant caused it?__am shrugged, and then he hesitated, surprised. Lana guessed that he felt no pain in his shoulder. __o one knows. All of a sudden every single person over the age of fourteen disappears and there__ this barrier and people_animals__ana slowly absorbed this new information. __ou mean all the adults? They__e gone?___oof,_ Quinn said. __hey ditched. They blinked out. They vacated. They took the off-ramp. They cut a hole. They emigrated. Adults and teenagers. Nothing left but kids._____e done all I can to strengthen the door,_ Edilio announced. __ut all I have is nails. Someone can break it in eventually.___aybe they didn__ all ditch,_ Lana said. __aybe we did.__strid said, __hat__ definitely one of the possibilities, not that it makes any real difference. It__ effectively the same thing.

Where was Sam?It hit her full force then, the shocking realization. Was this how Sam felt? Was this how he__ been feeling since the beginning? All eyes on him? Everyone waiting for a decision? Even as people doubted and criticized and attacked?She wanted to be sick. She had been there for so much of it. But she hadn__ been the one. She hadn__ been the one making those choices.And now_she was.__ don__ know what to do,_ Astrid said. __ don__ know.

Don__ jump to______ not,_ Dekka said. __ut if that__ what it is, if it__ those things, I__ going to ask you to take care of me.___e__e been over this,_ Sam said, pulling his hand away.__f I tell you it__ time, you do it, okay, Sam?__e couldn__ answer.____ not afraid to die,_ Dekka said.

Albert, I don__ know how long we can keep Sam involved at all,_ she said.__ou__e upset,_ Albert replied.__es, I__ upset. But that__ not the point. Sam is out of control. If we__e ever going to have a working system we may have to find someone else to play the role of savior.__lbert sighed. __strid, we don__ know what__ out there in the night. And maybe you__e right that Sam is out of control. But me? I__ really glad it__ him out there getting ready to face whatever it is.__lbert picked up his omnipresent notebook and left.To a now empty, silent room, Astrid said, __on__ die, Sam. Don__ die.

promise me, Sam: whatever it takes to win, whatever it takes to survive.___strid___uddenly she grabbed his face with one hand and squeezed too hard. __ou listen to me. I__ not losing you because you played fair. You__e not getting killed. You__e not dying. This isn__ some doomed last mission. Do you understand me? This does not end with me crying and missing you every day for the rest of my life. This ends with us walking out of this nightmare together. You and me, Sam.

No offense, Sam, but you__e going off the road. Off the road! Sam! You__e going off the road!___o, I__ not; shut up,_ Sam snapped as he guided the huge truck back onto the road, narrowly avoiding overturning in the ditch.__his is how I__ going to die,_ Jack said. __rammed in like this in a ditch.___h, please,_ Sam said. __ou__e strong enough to tear your way out even if we did crash.___o me a favor and rescue me, too,

Sam,_ Astrid yelled. __uick.__am thought he was too far gone to respond, but he somehow started his feet moving again and went up to where Little Pete was standing and Astrid kneeling.There was a girl lying in the dirt. Her clothing was a mess, her black hair ratty. She was Asian, pretty without being beautiful, and little more than skin and bones. But the first thing they noticed was that her forearms ended in a solid concrete block.Astrid made a quick sign of the cross and pressed two fingers against the girl__ neck. __ana,_ Astrid cried.Lana sized up the situation quickly. __ don__ see any injuries. I think maybe she__ starving or else sick in some other way.___hat__ she doing out here?_ Edilio wondered. __h, man, what did someone do to her hands?___ can__ heal hunger,_ Lana said. __ tried it on myself when I was with the pack. Didn__ work.__dilio untwisted the cap from his water bottle, knelt, and carefully drizzled water across the girl__ cheek so that a few drops curled into her mouth.__ook, she__ swallowing.__dilio broke a tiny bite from one of the PowerBars and placed it gently into the girl__ mouth. After a second the girl__ mouth began to move, to chew.__here__ a road over there,_ Sam said. __ think so, anyway. A dirt road, I think.___omeone drove by and dumped her here,_ Astrid agreed.Sam pointed at the dirt. __ou can see how she dragged that block.___ome sick stuff going on,_ Edilio muttered angrily. __ho would do something like this?

Today, each of you will make a decision,_ Caine said. __o go with Sam, or to stay here. I won__ try to stop anyone, and I won__ hold it against anyone._ He placed his hand over his heart. __or those who choose to stay, let me be very clear: I will be in charge. Not as a mayor, but as a king. My word will be law. My decisions will be final.__hat caused some murmuring, most of it unhappy.__ut I__l also do everything I can to leave each of you alone. Quinn, if he chooses to stay, can still fish. Albert, if he chooses to stay, will still run his business. Freaks and normals will be treated equally.__e seemed about to add something else but caught himself after a sidelong look at Toto.The silence lengthened and Sam knew it was time for him to speak. In the past he__ always had Astrid at his side for things like this. He was not much of a speaker. And in any case, he didn__ have much to say.__nyone who goes with me has a vote in how we do stuff. I guess I__l be more or less in charge, but we__l probably choose some other people, create a council like . . . Well, hopefully better than we had before. And, um . . ._ He was tempted to laugh at his own pitiful performance. __ook, people, if you want someone, some . . . king, good grief, to tell you what to do, stay here. If you want to make more of your own decisions, well, come with me.__e hadn__ said enough to even cause Toto to comment.__ou know which side I__ on, people,_ Brianna yelled. __am__ been carrying the load since day one.___t was Caine that saved us,_ a voice cried out. __here was Sam?__he crowd seemed undecided. Caine was beaming confidence, but Sam noticed that his jaw clenched, his smile was forced, and he was worried.

Um, people.__t wasn__ hard to get their attention. They gathered around. Even the littlest ones toned down their giggling, at least a bit.__irst of all, thanks to Albert and his helpers for this meal. Let__ give it up for the true Mac Daddy.__ round of hearty applause and some laughter, and Albert waved sheepishly. He frowned a little too, obviously conflicted about the use of the __ac_ prefix in a way that was not approved in the McDonald__ manual.__nd we have to mention Lana and Dahra, because without them, there would be a lot fewer of us here.__ow the applause was almost reverential.__ur first Thanksgiving in the FAYZ,_ Sam said when the applause died down.__ope it__ our last,_ someone shouted.__eah. You got that right,_ Sam agreed. __ut we__e here. We__e here in this place we never wanted to be. And we__e scared. And I__ not going to lie and tell you that from here on, it will all be easy. It won__ be. It will be hard. And we__l be scared some more, I guess. And sad. And lonely. Some terrible things have happened. Some terrible things_ For a moment, he lost his way. But then he stood up straighter again. __ut, still, we are grateful, and we give thanks to God, if you believe in Him, or to fate, or to just ourselves, all of us here.___o you, Sam,_ someone shouted.__o, no, no._ He waved that off. __o. We give thanks to the nineteen kids who are buried right there._ He pointed at the six rows of three, plus the one who started a seventh row. Neat hand-painted wooden tombstones bore the names of Bette and too many others.__nd we give thanks to the heroes who are standing around here right now eating turkey. Too many names to mention, and they__ all just be embarrassed, anyway, but we all know them.__here was a wave of loud, sustained applause, and many faces turned toward Edilio and Dekka, Taylor and Brianna, and some toward Quinn.__e all hope this will end. We all hope we__l soon be back in the world with people we love. But right now, we__e here. We__e in the FAYZ. And what we__e going to do is work together, and look out for each other, and help each other._ People nodded, some high-fived.__ost of us are from Perdido Beach. Some are from Coates. Some of us are_well, a little strange._ A few titters. __nd some of us are not. But we__e all here now, we__e all in it together. We__e going to survive. If this is our world now_I mean, it is our world now. It is our world. So, let__ make it a good one.__e stepped down in silence.Then someone started clapping rhythmically and saying, __am, Sam, Sam._ Others joined in, and soon every person in the plaza, even some of the prees, was chanting his name.

He__ becoming useless. Worse than useless,_ Sam said. Then, relenting, he said, __e__l get past it.___ou mean you and Quinn?___eah.__strid considered just keeping her mouth shut, not pushing it. But this was a talk she needed to have with Sam sooner or later. __ don__ think he__ going to get over it.___ou don__ know him that well.___e__ jealous of you.___ell, of course I am so terribly handsome,_ Sam said, straining to make a joke of it.__e__ one kind of person, you__e another. When life is going along normally, you__e sort of the same. But when life turns strange and scary, when there__ a crisis, suddenly you__e completely different people. It__ not Quinn__ fault, really, but he__ not brave. He__ not strong. You are.

What__ up, Sam?___hat birthday?_ he panted.__hat?___hat birthday, Anna?__t took a while for her to absorb his fear. It took a while for the reason for his fear to dawn on her.__ifteen,_ Anna said in a whisper.__hat__ the matter?_ Emma asked, sensing her twin__ mood. __t doesn__ mean anything.___t doesn__,_ Anna whispered.__ou__e probably right,_ Sam said.__h, my God,_ Anna said. __re we going to disappear?___hen were you born?_ Sam asked. __hat time of day?__he twins exchanged scared looks. __e don__ know.___ou know what, no one has blinked out since that first day, so it__ probably___mma disappeared.Anna screamed.The other older kids took notice, the littles, too.__h, my God!_ Anna cried. __mma. Emma. Oh, God!__he grabbed Sam__ hands and he held her tight.The prees, some of them, caught the fear. Mother Mary came over. __hat__ going on? You__e scaring the kids. Where__ Emma?__nna just kept saying, __h, my God,_ and calling her sister__ name.__here__ Emma?_ Mary demanded again. __hat__ going on?__am didn__ want to explain. Anna was hurting him with the pressure of her fingers digging into the backs of his hands. Anna__ eyes were huge, staring holes in him.__ow far apart were you born?_ Sam asked.Anna just stared in blank horror.Sam lowered his voice to an urgent whisper. __ow far apart were you born, Anna?___ix minutes,_ she whispered.__old my hands, Sam,_ she said.__on__ let me go, Sam,_ she said.__ won__, Anna, I won__ let you go,_ Sam said.__hat__ going to happen, Sam?___ don__ know, Anna.___ill we go to where our mom and dad are?___ don__ know, Anna."__m I going to die?___o, Anna. You__e not going to die.___on__ let go of me, Sam.__ary was there now, a baby on her hip. John was there. The prees, some of them, watched with serious, worried looks on their faces.__ don__ want to die,_ Anna repeated. ___I don__ know what it__ like.___t__ okay, Anna.__nna smiled. __hat was a nice date. When we went out.___t was.__or a split second it was like Anna blurred. Too fast to be real. She blurred, and Sam could almost swear that she had smiled at him.And his fingers squeezed on nothing.For a terribly long time no one moved or said anything.The littles didn__ cry out. The older kids just stared.Sam__ fingertips still remembered the feel of Anna__ hands. He stared at the place where her face had been. He could still see her pleading eyes.Unable to stop himself, he reached a hand into the space she had occupied. Reaching for a face that was no longer there.Someone sobbed.Someone cried out, other voices then, the prees started crying.Sam felt sick. When his teacher had disappeared he hadn__ been expecting it. This time he had seen it coming, like a monster in a slow-motion nightmare. This time he had seen it coming, like standing rooted on the railroad tracks, unable to jump aside.

More than two dozen kids lined a low railing around the gazebo. They were all tied to it by a rope leash that gave them no more than a few feet of movement. Neck to rail, like tethered horses. Each of the kids was weighed down by a concrete block that encased their hands. Their eyes were hollow, their cheeks caved in.Astrid used a word that Sam had never imagined coming from her.__ice language,_ Drake said with a smirk. __nd in front of the Pe-tard, too.__ cafeteria tray had been placed in front of each of the prisoners. It must have been a very recent delivery because some were still licking their trays, hunched over, faces down, tongues out, licking like dogs.__t__ the circle of freaks,_ Drake said proudly, waving a hand like a showman.In a crusty old wheelbarrow to one side, three kids were using a short-handled shovel to mix cement. It made a heavy sloshing sound. They dumped a shovelful of gravel into the mix and stirred it like lumpy gravy.__h, no,_ Lana said, backing away, but one of the Coates kids smashed her behind the knee with his baseball bat, and she crumpled.__otta do something with unhelpful freaks,_ Drake said. __an__ have you people running around loose._ He must have seen Sam start to react because he stuck his gun against Astrid__ head. __our call, Sam. You so much as flinch and we__l get to see what a genius brain really looks like.___ey, I got no powers, man,_ Quinn said.__his is sick, Drake. Like you__e sick,_ Astrid said. __ can__ even reason with you because you__e just too damaged, too hopelessly messed up.___hut up.

Sam, Edilio__ a good guy,_ Albert said, breaking in on Sam__ gloomy thoughts. __ut like I said, he__l tell the rest of them. Once the council knows, everyone knows. If everyone knows how desperate things are, what do you think will happen?__am smiled without humor. __bout half the people will be great. The other half will freak.___nd people will end up getting killed,_ Albert said. He cocked his head sideways, trying his best to look like the idea had just occurred to him. __nd who is going to end up kicking butts? Who will end up playing Daddy and then be resented and blamed and finally told to go away?___ou__e gained new skills,_ Sam said bitterly. __ou used to just be about working harder than anyone else and being ambitious. You__e learning how to manipulate people.__lbert__ mouth twitched and his eyes flashed angrily. __ou__e not the only one walking around with a big load of responsibility on your shoulders, Sam. You play the big mean daddy who won__ let anyone have any fun, and I play the greedy businessman who is just looking out for himself. But don__ be stupid: maybe I am greedy, but without me no one eats. Or drinks.

Sam?___eah.___ was on the school bus that day. Remember?___aguely,_ he said, and laughed. __y fifteen minutes of fame.___ou were the bravest, coolest person I__ ever known. Everyone thought so. You were the hero of the whole school. And then, I don__ know. It was like you kind of just_faded.__e resented that a little. He hadn__ faded. Had he? __ell, most days the bus driver doesn__ have a heart attack,_ Sam said.Astrid laughed. __ou__e one of those people, I think. You go along in your life just sort of living. And then something goes wrong and there you are. You step up and do what you have to do. Like today, the fire.___eah, well, to tell you the truth, I kind of prefer the other part. The part where I just live my life.__strid nodded like she understood, but then she said, __hat__ not going to happen this time.

How do we stop them?_ Edilio asked. He raised his head, and Sam saw the distress on his face. __ow do you think we stop them? When your fifteenth birthday rolls around, the easy thing is to take the poof. You gotta fight to resist it. We know that. So how are we going to tell kids this isn__ real, this Orsay thing?___e just tell them,_ Astrid said.__ut we don__ know if it__ real or not,_ Edilio argued.Astrid shrugged. She stared at nothing and kept her features very still. __e tell them it__ all fake. Kids hate this place, but they don__ want to die.___ow do we tell them if we don__ know?_ Edilio seemed genuinely puzzled.Howard laughed. __eely-O, Deely-O, you are such a doof sometimes._ He put his feet down and leaned toward Edilio as if sharing a secret with him. __he means: We lie. Astrid means that we lie to everyone and tell them we do know for sure.__dilio stared at Astrid like he was expecting her to deny it.__t__ for people__ own good,_ Astrid said in a low voice, still looking at nothing.__ou know what__ funny?_ Howard said, grinning. __ was pretty sure we were coming to this meeting so Astrid could rank on Sam for not telling us the whole truth. And now, it turns out we__e really here so Astrid can talk us all into becoming liars.