poof

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,

I've always liked Belgian waffles, but I must say, I didn't think I would one day be having Belgian waffles in Belgium! I just sort of POOF found myself there and there I was with a gigantic Belgian waffle in my hands, standing on a sidewalk in Belgium!

Here's to love at first sight, and here's to getting over it the moment you blink.

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.

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.

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.

Find Sam Temple. Tell him you escaped.__ack gulped and bobbed his head.__etter yet, find that girl, Astrid._ Diana recovered some of her mocking attitude. __strid the Genius. She__l be desperate to save Sam.___kay. Okay._ He steeled himself. __ better go.__iana touched his arm. __ell them about Andrew.__ack froze with his hand on the key. __hat__ what you want me to do?___ack, if Sam blinks out, Drake will turn on me, and Caine won__ be able to stop him. Drake is stronger than before. I need Sam alive. I need someone for Drake to hate. I need balance. Tell Sam about the temptation. Warn him that he__l be tempted to surrender to the big jump, but maybe, maybe, if he says no_ She sighed. It was not a hopeful sound. __ow: go.