edilio

Caine tried to roll to his feet, but something was jabbing him in the crouch. He shook off the stars and saw Edilio standing over him. Edilio had the business end of his automatic rifle in a very sensitive place. "If you move, Caine, I will shoot your balls off," Edilio said. "Toto?" "He will," Toto said, "Although he's not sure it will be just your balls.

The coolly logical part of her brain noted almost sardonically that Edilio had a superpower after all: being Edilio.

Sam sent me to give you a message, Edilio. He said, __ell Edilio I couldn__ kill the bugs.____he things that came out of Hunter?_ Howard asked.Taylor closed her eyes. Tears squeezed out and rolled down her cheeks. __es. The things that came out of Hunter. Sam shot them, you know, with his light. But they__e like, reflective or whatever. Anyway, it didn__ kill them.

Edilio lay on the steps of town hall feeling as weak as a kitten. He had barely heard Caine__ big speech. He couldn__ have cared less. There was nothing he could do, not with delirium spinning his head.He coughed hard, too hard. It wracked his body each time he did it so that he dreaded the next cough. His stomach was clenched in knots. Every muscle in his body ached.He was vaguely aware that he was saying something in between c

Caine__ a guy who needs to win. He needs to win before he poofs. Or he needs to win before I poof. The point is, he__ not going to just accept us freeing all these kids from Coates and taking over Perdido Beach,_ Sam said. __o we need to be ready. And we need to be ready for something else, too: tomorrow is my birthday._ He made a wry face. __ot a birthday I__ exactly looking forward to. But, anyway, we need to decide who takes over for me if_when_I step outside.__everal of the kids made sympathetic or encouraging noises about how Sam maybe wasn__ going to blink out, or maybe it would be a good thing, an escape from the FAYZ. But Sam hushed them all.__ook, the good thing is, when I go, so does Caine. The bad thing is, that still leaves Drake and Diana and other bullies. Orc_well, we don__ exactly know what__ going on with him, but Howard__ not with him. And Lana_we don__ know what happened to her, whether she left or what.__he loss of Lana was a serious blow. Every one of the Coates refugees adored her for the way she had healed their hands. And it was reassuring to think that she could heal anyone who was injured.Astrid said, __ nominate Edilio to take over if_you know. Anyway, we need a number two, a vice president or vice mayor or whatever.__dilio did a double take, like Astrid must be talking about some other Edilio. Then he said, __o way. Astrid__ the smartest person here.___ have Little Pete to look after. Mary has to care for the prees and keep them out of harm__ way. Dahra has responsibility for treating anyone who gets hurt. Elwood has been so busy in the hospital with Dahra, he hasn__ dealt with Caine or Drake or any of the Coates faction. Edilio__ been up against Orc and Drake. And he__ always been brave and smart and able._ She winked at Edilio, acknowledging his discomfort.__ight,_ Sam said. __o unless someone has an objection, that__ the way it is. If I get hurt or I ditch, Edilio__ in charge.___espect to Edilio,_ Dekka said, __ut he doesn__ even have powers.___e has the power to earn trust and to come through when he has to,

Astrid felt a towering wave of disgust. She was furious with Sam. Furious with Little Pete. Mad at the whole world around her. Sickened by everyone and everything.And mostly, she admitted, sick of herself.So desperately sick of being Astrid the Genius.__ome genius,_ she muttered. The town council, headed by that blond girl, what was her name? Oh right: Astrid. Astrid the Genius. Head of the town council that had let half the town burn to the ground.Down in the basement of town hall Dahra Baidoo handed out scarce ibuprofen and expired Tylenol to kids with burns, like that would pretty much fix anything, as they waited for Lana to go one by one, healing with her touch.Astrid could hear the cries of pain. There were several floors between her and the makeshift hospital. Not enough floors.Edilio staggered in. He was barely recognizable. He was black with soot, dirty, dusty, with ragged scratches and scrapes and clothing hanging in shreds.__ think we got it,_ he said, and lay straight down on the floor.Astrid knelt by his head. __ou have it contained?__ut Edilio was beyond answering. He was unconscious. Done in.Howard appeared next, in only slightly better shape. Some time during the night and morning he__ lost his smirk. He glanced at Edilio, nodded like it made perfect sense, and sank heavily into a chair.__ don__ know what you pay that boy, but it__ not enough,_ Howard said, jerking his chin at Edilio.__e doesn__ do it for pay,_ Astrid said.__eah, well, he__ the reason the whole town didn__ burn. Him and Dekka and Orc and Jack. And Ellen, it was her idea.

I__ killing Zil. Clear enough? I__ putting him down.___hoa, man,_ Edilio said. __hat__ not what we do. We__e the good guys, right?___here has to be an end to it, Edilio._ He wiped soot from his face with the back of his hand, but smoke had filled his eyes with tears. __ can__ keep doing it and never reaching the end.___t__ not your call anymore,_ Edilio said.Sam turned a steely glare on him. __ou too? Now you__e siding with Astrid?___an, there have to be limits,_ Edilio said.Sam stood staring down the street. The fire was out of control. All of Sherman was burning, from one end to the other. If they were lucky it wouldn__ jump to another street. But one way or the other, Sherman was lost.__e should be looking to save any kids that are trapped,_ Edilio said.Sam didn__ answer.__am,_ Edilio pleaded.__ begged Him to let me die, Edilio. I prayed to the God who Astrid likes so much and I said, God, if You__e there, kill me. Don__ let me feel this pain anymore.__dilio said nothing.__ou don__ understand, Edilio,_ Sam said so softly, he doubted Edilio could hear him over the roar and crackle of the fire raging all around them. __ou can__ do anything else with people like this. You have to kill them all. Zil. Caine. Drake. You just have to kill them. So right now, I__ starting with Zil and his crew,_ Sam said. __ou can come with me or not.

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.

Have a seat with me,_ Caine said, hopping down from the wall. __ow have you been, Taylor?___ife__ one big party,_ she said.He laughed appreciatively at her joke. __hings must be pretty bad for Edilio to send for me, huh?___hings are always pretty bad,_ she said. __e__e at a new level of bad. I saw those bugs.__aine mustered all his sincerity. __ have to go and fight these creatures. But I don__ know much about them.__aylor told him what she knew. Caine felt some of his confidence drain away as she laid out the facts in gruesome detail and with complete conviction.__ell, this should be fun,_ Diana said dryly. ____ so glad we came back.

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?

It took Caine a few beats to get it. __o. Go kill yourself. Eat your own gun. No. No no no.___ou__e happy here counting fish and nagging kids to work?_ Edilio asked.__e__ not,_ Virtue said, beating Toto to the punch and earning an annoyed glance from Caine.__e__ only done it for two days since the battle, and he__ already bored.

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.

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.

Lana's going through them one at a time. Healing them. She's amazing."Sam thought he heard something extra in Edilio's voice. "She's cute too, huh Edilio?"Edilio's eyes went wide and started blushing. "She's just...you know..."Sam slapped his shoulder. "Good luck with that.""You think she...I mean, you know me, I'm just..." Edilio stammered his way to a stop."Dude, let's see if we can stay alive. Then you can ask her out or whatever.

Have either of you seen Sam? Brianna can__ find him.__lbert sighed. __e__ out of town.__dilio felt the blood drain out of his face. __e__ what?__strid arrived, coldly furious. ____ not on the council anymore. You have no right____hut up, Astrid,_ Edilio said.Astrid, Albert, and Howard all stared. Edilio was as amazed as any of them. He considered apologizing__e had never spoken to Astrid that way. He__ never spoken to anyone that way.The truth was he was scared. Sam was out of town? With Drake running loose?__hat makes you think Sam is out of town?_ Edilio asked Albert.__ sent him,_ Albert said. __im and Dekka. Taylor and Jack, too. They__e looking for water.___hey__e what?___ooking for water.

Hunter__ dead,_ Taylor said without preamble. __t was these . . . these things. They came crawling up out of him and were eating him, oh God, I mean, it was like . . . I mean he was crying and Dekka prayed with him and he tried to fry his own brain just like he did with Harry only I guess it didn__ work, I guess he couldn__ do it, so Sam . . ._ She swallowed. __nyone have some water?___hat about Sam?_ Astrid demanded.__e did it for him. Sam. I mean, he . . . Hunter was, you know . . . so Sam._ She pantomimed raising her hands, like Sam, like he would do when using his power.Astrid closed her eyes and crossed herself.__est in peace,_ Edilio said and crossed himself as well.__am burned the boy?_ Howard asked. Then, bitterly sarcastic said, __eah, you all pray to Jesus. Because Jesus is really providing a lot of help here. Sounds to me like Sam was the one doing what had to be done.

As Sam came to a panting stop, a jet of orange flame burst from a high window.Several dozen kids were standing, watching. A crowd that struck Sam as very strange, until he realized why it was strange: there were no adults, just kids.__s anyone in there?_ Astrid called out. No one answered.__t could spread,_ Sam said.__here__ no 911,_ someone pointed out.__f it spreads, it could burn down half the town.___ou see a fireman anywhere?_ A helpless shrug.The day care shared a wall with the hardware store, and both were only a narrow alley away from the burning building. Sam figured they had time to get the kids out of the day care if they acted fast, but the hardware store was something they could not afford to lose.There had to be forty kids just standing there gawking. No one seemed about to start doing anything.__reat,_ Sam said. He grabbed two kids he sort of knew. __ou guys, go to the day care. Tell them to get the littles out of there.__he kids stared at him without moving.__ow. Go. Do it!_ he said, and they took off running.Sam pointed at two other kids. __ou and you. Go into the hardware store, get the longest hose you can find. Get a spray nozzle, too. I think there__ a spigot in that alley. Start spraying water on the side of the hardware store and up on the roof.__hese two also stared blankly. __udes: Not tomorrow. Now. Now. Go! Quinn? You better go with them. We want to wet down the hardware__hat__ where the wind will take the fire next.__uinn hesitated.People were not getting this. How could they not see that they had to do something, not just stand around?Sam pushed to the front of the crowd and in a loud voice said, __ey, listen up, this isn__ the Disney Channel. We can__ just watch this happen. There are no adults. There__ no fire department. We are the fire department.__dilio was there. He said, __am__ right. What do you need, Sam? I__ with you.___kay. Quinn? The hoses from the hardware store. Edilio? Let__ get the big hoses from the fire station, hook __m up to the hydrant.___hey__l be heavy. I__l need some strong guys.___ou, you, you, you._ Sam grabbed each person__ shoulder, shaking each one, pushing them into motion. __ome on. You. You. Let__ go!

He__ a murdering chud,_ Zil was yelling.__hat do you want to do? Lynch him?_ Astrid demanded.That stopped the flow for a second as kids tried to figure out what __ynch_ meant. But Zil quickly recovered.__ saw him do it. He used his powers to kill Harry.___ was trying to stop you from smashing my head in!_ Hunter shouted.__ou__e a lying mutant freak!___hey think they can do anything they want,_ another voice shouted.Astrid said, as calmly as she could while still pitching her voice to be heard, __e are not going down that path, people, dividing up between freaks and normals.___hey already did it!_ Zil cried. __t__ the freaks acting all special and like their farts don__ stink.__hat earned a laugh.__nd now they__e starting to kill us,_ Zil cried.Angry cheers.Edilio squared his shoulders and stepped into the crowd. He went first to Hank, the kid with the shotgun. He tapped him on the shoulder and said, __ive me that thing.___o way,_ Hank said. But he didn__ seem too certain.__ou want to have that thing fire by accident and blow someone__ face off?_ Edilio held his hand out. __ive it to me, man.__il rounded on Edilio. __ou going to make Hunter give up his weapon? Huh? He__ got powers, man, and that__ okay, but the normals can__ have any weapon? How are we supposed to defend ourselves from the freaks?___an, give it a rest, huh?_ Edilio said. He was doing his best to sound more weary than angry or scared. Things were already bad enough. __il, you want to be responsible if that gauge goes off and kills Astrid? You want to maybe give that some thought?__il blinked. But he said, __ude, I__ not scared of Sam.___am won__ be your problem, I will be,_ Edilio snapped, losing patience. __nything happens to her, I__l take you down before Sam ever gets the chance.__il snorted derisively. __h, good little boy, Edilio, kissing up to the chuds. I got news for you, dilly dilly, you__e a lowly normal, just like me and the rest of us."____ going to let that go,_ Edilio said evenly, striving to regain his cool, trying to sound calm and in control, even though he could hardly take his eyes off the twin barrels of the shotgun. __ut now I__ taking that shotgun.___o way!_ Hank cried, and the next thing was an explosion so loud, Edilio thought a bomb had gone off. The muzzle flash blinded him, like camera flash going off in his face.Someone yelled in pain.Edilio staggered back, squeezed his eyes shut, trying to adjust. When he opened them again the shotgun was on the ground and the boy who__ accidentally fired it was holding his bruised hand, obviously shocked.Zil bent to grab the gun. Edilio took two steps forward and kicked Zil in the face. As Zil fell back Edilio made a grab for the shotgun. He never saw the blow that turned his knees to water and filled his head with stars.He fell like a sack of bricks, but even as he fell he lurched forward to cover the shotgun.Astrid screamed and launched herself down the stairs to protect Edilio.Antoine, the one who had hit Edilio, was raising his bat to hit Edilio again, but on the back swing he caught Astrid in the face.Antoine cursed, suddenly fearful. Zil yelled, __o, no, no!__here was a sudden rush of running feet. Down the walkway, into the street, echoing down the block.