human-crew

The intruders spoke no words as they rushed in. Five boys carrying baseball bats and tire irons. They wore an assortment of Halloween masks and stocking masks.But Derek knew who they were.__o! No!_ he cried.All five boys wore bulky shooter__ earmuffs. They couldn__ hear him. But more importantly, they couldn__ hear Jill.One of the boys stayed in the doorway. He was in charge. A runty kid named Hank. The stocking pulled down over his face smashed his features into Play-Doh, but it could only be Hank.One of the boys, fat but fast-moving and wearing an Easter Bunny mask, stepped to Derek and hit him in the stomach with his aluminum baseball bat.Derek dropped to his knees.Another boy grabbed Jill. He put his hand over her mouth. Someone produced a roll of duct tape.Jill screamed. Derek tried to stand, but the blow to his stomach had winded him. He tried to stand up, but the fat boy pushed him back down.__on__ be stupid, Derek. We__e not after you.__he duct tape went around and around Jill__ mouth. They worked by flashlight. Derek could see Jill__ eyes, wild with terror. Pleading silently with her big brother to save her.When her mouth was sealed, the thugs pulled off their shooter__ earmuffs.Hank stepped forward. __erek, Derek, Derek,_ Hank said, shaking his head slowly, regretfully. __ou know better than this.___eave her alone,_ Derek managed to gasp, clutching his stomach, fighting the urge to vomit.__he__ a freak,_ Hank said.__he__ my little sister. This is our home.___he__ a freak,_ Hank said. __nd this house is east of First Avenue. This is a no-freak zone.___an, come on,_ Derek pleaded. __he__ not hurting anyone.___t__ not about that,_ a boy named Turk said. He had a weak leg, a limp that made it impossible not to recognize him. __reaks with freaks, normals with normals. That__ the way it has to be.___ll she does is___ank__ slap stung. __hut up. Traitor. A normal who stands up for a freak gets treated like a freak. Is that what you want?___esides,_ the fat boy said with a giggle, __e__e taking it easy on her. We were going to fix her so she could never sing again. Or talk. If you know what I mean.__e pulled a knife from a sheath in the small of his back. __o you, Derek? Do you understand?__erek__ resistance died.__he Leader showed mercy,_ Turk said. __ut the Leader isn__ weak. So this freak either goes west, over the border right now. Or_ He let the threat hang there.Jill__ tears flowed freely. She could barely breathe because her nose was running. Derek could see that by the way she sucked tape into her mouth, trying for air. She would suffocate if they didn__ let her go soon.__et me at least get her doll.

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.