edilio

We__e not going to give in. We__e going to fight.___ot that right,_ a voice cried out.__irst thing we need to have clear: there__ no line between freak and normal here. If you have the power, we__l need you. If you don__, we__l need you.__eads were nodding. Looks were being exchanged.__oates kids, Perdido Beach kids, we__e together now. We__e together. Maybe you did things to survive. Maybe you weren__ always brave. Maybe you gave up hope.__ girl sobbed suddenly.__ell, that__ all over now,_ Sam said gently. __t all starts fresh. Right here, right now. We__e brothers and sisters now. Doesn__ matter we don__ know each other__ names, we are brothers and sisters and we__e going to survive, and we__e going to win, and we__e going to find our way to some kind of happiness again.__here was a long, deep silence.__o,_ Sam said, __y name is Sam. I__ in this with you. All the way._ He turned to Astrid.____ Astrid, I__ in this with you, too.___y name is Edilio. What they said. Brothers and sisters. Hermanos.___huan Vong,_ said a thin boy with yet-unhealed hands like dead fish. ____ in.___ekka,_ said a strong, solidly built girl with cornrows and a nose ring. ____ in. And I have game.___e too,_ called a skinny girl with reddish pigtails. __y name__ Brianna. I_well, I can go real fast.__ne by one they declared their determination. The voices started out soft and gained strength. Each voice louder, firmer, more determined than the one before.Only Quinn remained silent. He hung his head, and tears rolled down his cheeks.__uinn,_ Sam called to him.Quinn didn__ respond, just looked down at the ground.__uinn,_ Sam said again. __t starts fresh right now. Nothing before counts. Nothing. Brothers, man?__uinn struggled with the lump in his throat. But then, in a low voice, he said, __eah. Brothers.

And he thought of the two people who had held his job before him: Sam and Astrid. Both beaten into despair by trying to hold this group of kids together in the face of one disaster after another. Both of them now happy to let Edilio handle it.__o wonder,_ Edilio muttered.__tay inside unless absolutely necessary,_ Edilio shouted, and not for the first or last time wished he was still just Sam__ faithful sidekick.

Sam, I know you__e upset over what happened with you and Drake,_ Astrid began.__pset?_ Sam echoed the word with an ironic smirk.__ut that__ no excuse for you keeping secrets from us.___eah,_ Howard said, __on__ you know only Astrid is allowed to keep secrets?___hut up, Howard,_ Astrid snapped.__eah, we get to lie because we__e the smart ones,_ Howard said. __ot like all those idiots out there.__strid turned her attention back to Sam. __his is not okay, Sam. The council has the responsibility. Not you alone.__am looked like he could not care less about what she was saying. He looked almost beyond reach, indifferent to what was going on around him.__ey,_ Astrid said. __e__e talking to you.__hat did it. His jaw clenched. His head snapped up. His eyes blazed. __on__ push me. That wasn__ you with your skin whipped off and covered in blood. That was me. That was me who went down into that mine shaft to try to fight the gaiaphage.__strid blinked. __o one is minimizing what you__e done, Sam. You__e a hero. But at the same time___am was on his feet. __t the same time? At the same time you were here in town. Edilio had a bullet in his chest. Dekka was torn to pieces. I was trying not to scream from the_You and Albert and Howard, you weren__ there, were you?___ was busy standing up to Zil, trying to save Hunter__ life,_ Astrid yelled.__ut it wasn__ you and your big words, was it? It was Orc who stopped Zil. And he was there because I sent him to rescue you. Me!_ He stabbed a finger at his own chest, actually making what looked like painful impact. __e! Me and Brianna and Dekka and Edilio! And poor Duck.

Yeah, let__ get John here. That way we can stall for a while longer. We can keep on doing nothing for just a little while longer.__lbert said, __ake it easy, Howard.___ake it easy?_ Howard jumped to his feet. __eah? Where were you last night, Albert? Huh? Because I didn__ see you out there on the street listening to kids screaming, seeing kids running around hurt and scared and choking, and Edilio and Orc struggling, and Dekka hacking up her lungs and Jack crying and__ou know who couldn__ even take it?_ Howard raged. __ou know who couldn__ even take what was happening? Orc. Orc, who__ not scared of anything. Orc, who everyone thinks is some kind of monster. He couldn__ take it. He couldn___but he did. And where were you, Albert? Counting your money? How about you, Astrid? Praying to Jesus?__strid__ throat tightened. She couldn__ breathe. For a moment panic threatened to overwhelm her. She wanted to run from the room, run away and never look back.Edilio got to his feet and put an arm around Howard. Howard allowed it, and then he did something Astrid never thought she would see. Howard buried his face in Edilio__ shoulder and cried, racking sobs.__e__e falling apart,_ Astrid whispered for herself alone.But there was no easy escape. Everything Howard had said was true. She could see the truth reflected in Albert__ stunned expression. The two of them, the smart ones, the clever ones, the great defenders of truth and fairness and justice, had done nothing while others had worked themselves to exhaustion.

Where__ Dekka?_ Astrid asked.__n the basement,_ Edilio said. __he kept going for a long time. Her and Orc and Jack. But she__ sick. Tired and sick. And she got a bad burn on one hand. That was it for her. I made her go to Dahra. Lana will_you know, when she__ done with_Man, I__ sorry,_ he said as he began crying again. __ can__ be digging graves. Someone else has to do that, okay? I can__ do that anymore.

Help me,_ the girl pleaded softly.Sam knelt beside her. He recoiled in shock. __ette?__he left side of Bouncing Bette__ face was covered in blood. There was a gash above her temple. She was panting, gasping, like she had collapsed after a marathon and was trying with her last ounce of energy to crawl across the finish line.__ette, what happened?___hey__e trying to get me,_ Bette cried, and clutched at Sam__ arm.The three dark figures advanced to the edge of the circle of light. One was clearly Orc. No one else was that big. Edilio and Quinn moved into the garage doorway.Sam disengaged from Bette and took up a position beside Edilio.__ou want me to beat on you guys, I will!_ Orc yelled.__hat__ going on here?_ Sam demanded. He narrowed his eyes and recognized the other two boys, a kid named Karl, a seventh grader from school, and Chaz, one of the Coates eighth graders. All three were armed with aluminum bats.__his isn__ your business,_ Chaz said. __e__e dealing with something here.___ealing with what? Orc, did you hit Bette?___he was breaking the rules,_ Orc said.__ou hit a girl, man?_ Edilio said, outraged.__hut up, wetback,_ Orc said.__here__ Howard?_ Sam asked, just to stall while he tried to figure out what to do. He__ lost one fight to Orc already.Orc took the question as an insult. __ don__ need Howard to handle you, Sam.__rc marched right up to Sam, stopped a foot away, and put his bat on his shoulder like he was ready to swing for a home run. Like a batter ready for the next fastball. Only this was closer to T-ball: Sam__ head was impossible to miss.__ove, Sam,_ Orc ordered.__kay, I__ not doing this again,_ Quinn said. __et him have her, Sam.___in__ no __et me,__ Orc said. __ do what I want.__am noticed movement behind Orc. There were people coming down the street, twenty or more kids. Orc noticed it too, and glanced behind him.__hey aren__ going to save you,_ Orc said, and swung the bat hard.Sam ducked. The bat whooshed past his head, and Orc rotated halfway around, carried forward by the momentum.Sam was thrown off balance, but Edilio was ready. He let loose a roar and plowed headfirst into Orc. Edilio was maybe half Orc__ size, but Orc was knocked off his feet. He sprawled out on the concrete.Chaz went after Edilio, trying to pull him off Orc.The crowd of kids who had come running down the street surged forward. There were angry voices and threats, all aimed at Orc.They yelled, Sam noted, but no one exactly jumped into the unequal fight.

Sam, can you, you know, like burn that concrete off her hands?___o. I can__ aim that precisely.___ don__ even know what can be done,_ Edilio said as he fed the girl another microscopic bite of food. __ou try and break that stuff off with a sledge hammer or something, or even a hammer and a chisel, it__ going to really hurt. Probably break every bone in her hands, man.___ho would have done this to her?_ Lana wondered.__hat__ a Coates Academy uniform,_ Astrid answered. __e__e probably not far from there.

Then, Zil and a half dozen of his crew swaggered into the plaza from the far side. Astrid clenched her jaw. Would the crowd turn on them? She almost hoped so. People thought because she wouldn__ let Sam go after Zil she must not really despise the Human Crew__ Leader. That was wrong. She hated Zil. Hated everything he had done and everything he had tried to do.Edilio moved quickly between Zil and a few of the boys who had started toward him, sticks and knives at the ready.Zil__ kids were armed with knives and bats, and so were those who wanted to take them on. Edilio was armed with an assault rifle.Astrid hated that this was what life so often came down to: my weapon is bigger than your weapon.If Sam were here it would be about his hands. Everyone had either seen what Sam could do, or heard the stories retold in vivid detail. No one challenged Sam.