sam-temple

Female say Pack Leader stop,_ Pack Leader said angrily.__hat?_ Caine could make no sense of it till he saw Diana striding up, dark hair flying, eyes furious.__ told this filthy beast to stop,_ Diana said, barely controlled.__top what?_ Caine demanded.__hey__e still attacking the kids,_ Diana said. __e__e won. Sam is dead. Call them off, Caine.__aine turned his attention back to the battle between Drake and the monster. __hey__e coyotes,_ Caine said coldly.Diana flew at him. __ou__e lost your mind, Caine. This has to stop. You__e won. This has to stop.___r what, Diana? Or what?_ Caine demanded. __o get Lana. I__ hurt. Pack Leader, do what you want.___aybe this is why your mother abandoned you,_ Diana said savagely. __aybe she could see that you weren__ just bad, you were twisted and sick and evil.

There were dozens of theories about what it was, that dome. Every scientist in the world, it seemed, had made a pilgrimage to the site. Tests had been conducted, measurements taken.They had tried drilling through it. Under it. Had flown over it. Had dug beneath it. Had approached it by submarine.Nothing worked.Every species of doomsayer from Luddite to End Times nut had had his say. It was a judgment. On America__ technological obsession, on America__ moral failure. This. That. Something else.Then the twins had popped out. Just like that. First Emma. Then, a few minutes later, Anna. Alive and well at the exact moment of their fifteenth birthday.They told tales of life inside the bowl. What they called the FAYZ.Connie Temple__ heart had swelled with pride for what she had learned of her son, Sam. And crashed into despair with tales of her other son, her unacknowledged child, Caine.Then, nothing. No other kids arrived for a while.Black despair settled over the families as they realized that it would be only these two. Months passed. Many lost faith. How could kids survive alone?But then, the Prophetess had reached into their dreams.One night Connie Temple had a lurid, incredible dream. She__ never had such a detailed dream. It was terrifying. The power of it took her breath away. There was a girl in that

Quinn came forward and Sam pulled him aside. His old friend looked tortured and sad.__hat__ up, brah?_ Sam asked.Quinn couldn__ speak. He was choked with emotion. __ude . . .___ou want to stay in town.___y crews . . . my boats and all . . .__am put a hand on his shoulder. __uinn, I__ glad you found something so important to do. Something you really like.___eah, but . . .__am pulled him into a brief hug. __ou and me, we__e still friends, man. But you have responsibilities.

He pictured himself at the lake, on a houseboat. Dekka would be there, and Brianna and Jack. He would have friends. He wouldn__ be alone.But he couldn__ stop himself from looking for her.She no longer had Little Pete to worry about. They could be together without all of that. But of course he knew Astrid, and knew that right now, wherever she was, she was eaten up inside with guilt.__he__ not coming, is she?_ Sam said to Dekka.But Dekka didn__ answer. She was somewhere else in her head. Sam saw her glance and look away as Brianna laid a light hand on Jack__ shoulder.Dahra was staying in the hospital, but a few more kids came. Groups of three or four at a time. The Siren and the kids she lived with came. John Terrafino came. Ellen. He waited. He would wait the full two hours. Not for her, he told himself, just to keep his word.Then Orc, with Howard.Sam groaned inwardly.__ou gotta be kidding me,_ Brianna said.__he deal was kids make a choice,_ Sam said. __ think Howard just realized how dangerous life can be for a criminal living in a place where the __ing_ can decide life or death.

What__ Albert going to do?_ a boy named Jim demanded. __here__ Albert?__lbert stepped from an inconspicuous position off to one side. He mounted the steps, moving carefully still, not entirely well even now.He carefully chose a position equidistant between Caine and Sam.__hat should we do, Albert?_ a voice asked plaintively.Albert didn__ look out at the crowd except for a quick glance up, like he was just making sure he was pointed in the right direction. He spoke in a quiet, reasonable monotone. Kids edged closer to hear.____ a businessman.___rue._ Toto.__y job is organizing kids to work, taking the things they harvest or catch, and redistributing them through a market.___nd getting the best stuff for yourself,_ someone yelled to general laughter.__es,_ Albert acknowledged. __ reward myself for the work I do.__his blunt admission left the crowd nonplussed.__aine has promised that if I stay here he won__ interfere. But I don__ trust Caine.___o, he doesn__,_ Toto agreed.__ do trust Sam. But . . .__nd now you could hear a pin drop.__ut . . . Sam is a weak leader._ He kept his eyes down. __am is the best fighter ever. He__ defended us many times. And he__ the best at figuring out how to survive. But Sam__ Albert now turned to him___ou are too humble. Too willing to step aside. When Astrid and the council sidelined you, you put up with it. I was part of that myself. But you let us push you aside and the council turned out to be useless.__am stood stock-still, stone-faced.__et__ face it, you__e not really the reason things are better here, I am,_ Albert said. __ou__e way, way braver than me, Sam. And if it__ a battle, you rule. But you can__ organize or plan ahead and you won__ just put your foot down and make things happen.__am nodded slightly. It was hard to hear. But far harder was seeing the way the crowd was nodding, agreeing. It was the truth. The fact was he__ let the council run things, stepped aside, and then sat around feeling sorry for himself. He__ jumped at the chance to go off on an adventure and he hadn__ been here to save the town when they needed it.__o,_ Albert concluded, ____ keeping my things here, in Perdido Beach. But there will be free trading of stuff between Perdido Beach and the lake. And Lana has to be allowed to move freely.__aine bristled at that. He didn__ like Albert laying down conditions.Albert wasn__ intimidated. __ feed these kids,_ he said to Caine. __ do it my way.__aine hesitated, then made a tight little bow of the head.__ want you to say it,_ Albert said with a nod toward Toto.Sam saw panic in Caine__ eyes. If he lied now the jig would be up for him. Toto would call him out, Albert would support Sam, and the kids would follow Albert__ lead.Sam wondered if Caine was just starting to realize what Sam had known for some time: if anyone was king, it was neither Sam nor Caine, it was Albert.

It's over, Sam. Finally.""Yeah," he said. "I guess it is.""Turn out the light, Sam."Sam reached for the switch and turned out the light.

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.

Sam, no!_ Edilio snapped.Sam missed a step, then stopped. He looked at Edilio, puzzled.__e__e scattered. And we can__ risk you. You die and the light dies with you.___re you out of your mind? You think I__ going to let Drake come in here and take Diana?___ot you, Sam. Dekka, yes. Orc, yes. He__ out there, too. And send Jack as well. Anyone but you.__am looked like he__ been punched. Like someone had knocked the wind out of him. He blinked and started to say something and stopped.__ou aren__ replaceable, Sam. Figure it out, okay? It__ going dark and you make light. So this isn__ going to be your battle. Not now. It__ on the rest of us to step up.

Hunter__ entire body writhed and squirmed.The side of his head was partly gone. A creature, like some monstrous melding of insect and eel, protruded from Hunter__ shoulder and as they stood there rooted in horror it took a vicious bite of Hunter__ flesh.Taylor was suddenly gone.Dekka__ face was grim, her eyes wet.__ tried . . . ,_ Hunter said. He held up his hands, mimicked pressing them against his head. __t didn__ work.___ can do it,_ Sam said softly.____ scared,_ Hunter said.__ know.___t__ __ause I killed Harry. God has to punish me. I tried to be good but I__ bad.___o, Hunter,_ Sam said gently. __ou paid your dues. You fed the kids. You__e a good guy._____ a good hunter.___he best.___ don__ know what__ happening. What__ happening, Sam?___t__ just the FAYZ, Hunter,_ Sam said.__an the angels find me here so I can go to heaven?__am didn__ answer. It was Dekka who spoke. __o you still remember any prayers, Hunter?__he insectlike creature was almost completely emerged from Hunter__ shoulder. Legs were becoming visible. It had wings folded against its body. It looked like a gigantic ant, or wasp, but silver and brass and covered with a sheen of slime.It was emerging like a chicken breaking out of an egg. Being born. And as the creature was born, it fed on Hunter__ numbed body.Jerky movements beneath Hunter__ shirt testified to more of the larvae emerging.__o you remember __ow I lay me down to sleep_?_ Dekka asked.__ow I lay me down to sleep,_ Hunter said. __ pray the Lord my soul to keep.__am raised his hands, palms out.__f I should die___win beams of light hit Hunter__ chest and face. His shirt caught fire. Flesh melted. He was dead before he could feel anything.Sam played the light up and down Hunter__ body. The smell was sickening. Jack wanted to look away, but how could he?Sudden darkness as Sam terminated the light.Sam lowered his hands to his side.They stood there in the darkness. Jack breathed through his mouth, trying not to smell the burned flesh.Then they heard a sound. Many sounds.Sam raised his hands and pale light glowed.Hunter was all but gone.The things that had been inside him were still there.

Caine has Drake and Orc, Panda and Chaz, and I hear Mallet has made peace with him. And maybe a half dozen other guys.___re you afraid of them?_ Astrid asked him.__eah, Astrid, I am.___kay,_ she said. __ut you were scared of going into a burning building, too.___ou don__ get this, do you?_ Sam demanded with enough heat that Astrid took a step back. __ know what you want, okay? I know what you and a bunch of other people want. You want me to be the anti-Caine. You don__ like the way he__ doing things and you want me to go kick him out. Well, here__ what you don__ know: even if I could do all that, I wouldn__ be any better than him.___ou__e wrong about that, Sam. You__e____hat night when I first used the power? When I hurt my stepfather? How do you think I felt?___ad. Regretful._ Astrid looked at his face like the answer would be written there. __cared, probably.___eah. All that. And one more thing._ He held up his hand and inches from her nose squeezed his fingers into a tight fist. __ also felt a rush, Astrid. A rush. I thought, oh my God, look at the power I have. Look what I can do. A huge, crazy rush.___ower corrupts,_ Astrid said softly.__eah,_ Sam said sarcastically. ____e heard that.___ower corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I forget who said it.___ make a lot of mistakes, Astrid. I don__ want to make that mistake. I don__ want to be that guy. I don__ want to be Caine. I want to_ He spread his arms wide, a gesture of helplessness. __ just want to go surfing.___ou won__ be corrupted, Sam. You wouldn__ do those things._ He had moved back. She moved to close the distance.__ow can you be so sure?___ell, two reasons. First, it__ not your character. Of course you felt a rush from the power. Then, you pushed it away. You didn__ grab at it, you pushed it away. That__ reason number one. You__e you, you__e not Caine or Drake or Orc.__am wanted to agree, wanted to accept that, but he felt he knew better. __on__ be so sure.___nd reason number two: you have me,

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,

Little Pete. He__ not exactly just Astrid__ autistic brother._ He explained briefly while Toto added a chorus of __am believes that__ true_ remarks.__ow do we get Little Pete to do anything?_ Dekka asked.__he last time Little Pete felt mortal danger he made the FAYZ,_ Sam said. __e needs to be in mortal danger again.__ack and Dekka exchanged a wary look, each wondering what the other had known or guessed about Little Pete.__ittle Pete?_ Jack asked. __hat little kid has that kind of power?___es,_ Sam said simply. __ext to Pete, me, Caine, all of us, we__e like . . . like popguns compared to a cannon. We don__ even know what the limits of his powers are,_ Sam said. __hat we do know is we can__ communicate with him very well. We can__ even guess what he__ thinking.___ittle Pete,_ Dekka muttered and shook her head. __ knew he was important, I got that a long time ago. But he can do that? He has that kind of power?_ She pondered for a moment, nodded, and said, __ see why you kept it secret. It__ like having a nuclear weapon in the hands of, well, a little autistic kid.

Albert had created a currency based on gold bullets and McDonald__ game pieces. He__ wanted to call the currency something else, but no one remembered what. So, __ertos they were, a play on __lbert,_ coined by Howard, of course, who had also come up with __he FAYZ_ to describe their weird little world.Sam had thought Albert was nuts with his obsession with creating money. But the evidence was in: Albert__ system was producing just enough food for kids to survive. And a lot more kids were working. Far fewer were just hanging out. It was no longer impossible to get kids to go into the fields and do the backbreaking work of picking crops. They worked for __ertos and spent __ertos, and for now at least starvation was just a bad memory.

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.

Look, people, I__ announcing a new rule. It__ going to seem harsh. But it__ necessary.__he word __arsh_ got almost everyone__ attention.__e can__ have people sitting around all day playing Wii and watching DVDs. We need people to start working in the fields. So, here__ the thing: everyone age seven or older has to put in three days per week picking fruit or veggies. Then Albert__ going to work with the whole question of freezing stuff that can be frozen, or otherwise preserving stuff.__here was dead silence. And blank stares.__hat I__ saying is, tomorrow we__l have two school buses ready to go. They hold about fifty kids each and we need to have them mostly full because we__e going to pick some melons and it__ a lot of work.__ore blank stares.__kay, let me make this simple: get your brothers and sisters and friends and anyone over age seven and be in the square tomorrow morning at eight o__lock.___ut how about_?___ust be there,_ Sam said with less firmness than he__ intended. His frustration was draining away now, replaced by weariness and depression.__ust be there,_ someone mimicked in a singsong voice.Sam closed his eyes, and for a moment he almost seemed to be asleep. Then he opened them again and managed a bleak smile. __lease. Be there,_ he said quietly.He walked down the three steps and out of the church, knowing in his heart that few would answer his call.

What do you think that fish is?' Sam asked Astrid.,' she said.'Yeah?' Sam made a face. 'Do you think it's okay to eat?'? Inedible? Joke, duh. Try to keep up, Sam, I made that really easy for you.'Sam smiled. 'You know, a real genius would have known I wouldn't get it. Ergo, you are not a real genius. Hah. That's right. I threw down an 'ergo.''She gave him a pitying look. 'That's very impressive, Sam. Especially from a boy who has twenty-two different uses for the word 'dude.

Brianna__ looking for Drake,_ Edilio said, thinking out loud.__ou sent her out against Drake?_ Albert demanded.__ent her? Who sends Brianna out to get into a fight? She goes on her own. Anyway, it__ not like you__e left us with anyone else.__lbert had the decency not to say anything to that.__ou know, you guys put me in charge. I didn__ ask to be in charge. I didn__ want to be in charge. Sam was in charge and all you guys ever did was give him grief,_ Edilio said. __ou two, especially._ He pointed at Albert and Astrid. __o, okay, Astrid takes over. And then Astrid finds out it__ not so much fun being in charge. So it__ like, okay, let__ get the dumb wetback to do the job.___o one ever_,_ Astrid protested.__nd me, like a fool, I__ thinking, okay, that must mean people trust me. They asked me to be in charge, be the mayor. Come to find out, I__ not making decisions; Albert__ making decisions. Albert__ deciding we need to find more water and sending our two best fighters off into the countryside. Now I__ supposed to fix everything? It__ like you go, __ight a war,_ but you sent my army off on a wild goose chase.

Sam. Brianna is dead.__e just stared at her. Then, in a soft, almost childlike voice, he said, __reeze?___he stopped Gaia. It looked like Brianna almost killed her. The second time she . . . But this time . . .__here were tears in Sam__ eyes. __y God. How is Dekka?___ike you__ expect. Destroyed. Roger__ dead, too, so Edilio . . . It__ been really bad, Sam. Really bad. It__ like we__e in a war.___e are.