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Chapters (79)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Thirty-Two
  36. Thirty-Three
  37. Thirty-Four
  38. Thirty-Five
  39. Thirty-Six
  40. Thirty-Seven
  41. Thirty-Eight
  42. Thirty-Nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty-One
  45. Forty-Two
  46. Forty-Three
  47. Forty-Four
  48. Forty-Five
  49. Forty-Six
  50. Forty-Seven
  51. Forty-Eight
  52. Forty-Nine
  53. Fifty
  54. Fifty-One
  55. Fifty-Two
  56. Fifty-Three
  57. Fifty-Four
  58. Fifty-Five
  59. Fifty-Six
  60. Fifty-Seven
  61. Fifty-Eight
  62. Fifty-Nine
  63. Sixty
  64. Sixty-One
  65. Sixty-Two
  66. Sixty-Three
  67. Sixty-Four
  68. Sixty-Five
  69. Sixty-Six
  70. Sixty-Seven
  71. Sixty-Eight
  72. Sixty-Nine
  73. Seventy
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. Praise for Destroy All Monsters
  77. Books by Sam J. Miller
  78. Back Ad
  79. About the Publisher

So he could see it. So they were visible to the person who was in them.

“Never mind how,” I said.

His Induction had been pretty mild, compared to the swastikas and arson of some of his teammates. He’d put a dirty magazine into the backpack of Rory Lowell, a Jehovah’s Witness classmate of ours so strait-laced that back in first grade he had to go to the principal’s office whenever we celebrated someone’s birthday.

The photo didn’t show what happened when the magazine was discovered. If a parent found it and flipped out, or if Rory found it and recognized it for the bullying tactic that it was, if he got scared and upset. Or if he was superhappy about this forbidden fruit landing in his lap. It just showed a slightly blurry Justin sneaking it into Rory’s backpack.

“Are you going to show my mom?”

My heart broke, at that. At the sadness in his voice. He wasn’t scared of the cops or the teachers. He just didn’t want to disappoint his mom.

“I’m not going to show anyone,” I said, and did not add, because no one but you and I can see this photo. “But I want to stop the Induction Ceremonies, and I want your help.”

He nodded. He listened.

“Sheffield is the one who should go down for this,” I said. “He’s the mastermind. But he only has the power that you give him. If everybody got together, you could stop this before it gets any worse. Before people get hurt, or go to jail.”

He nodded, but slowly. He wasn’t agreeing to anything. Not yet.

Thinking about Sheffield as the mastermind, it occurred to me for the first time to wonder what Mr. Barrett’s place might be in all of this—the destruction planned by the football team he coached. If he knew about it; if he was involved.

“Thanks, Ash. For not telling my mom.”

“No problem,” I said. “Just please don’t mention this to anyone, okay? Not yet.”

“And stay tuned,” Solomon said, standing up. “We’ll call you soon, with how we’re proceeding. What we need from you.”

“Yeah,” Justin said, and stood up too, and shook our hands very awkwardly. “Sure.”

“One down, twenty-nine to go,” I said to Solomon, when we were back in the car.

“You’re amazing,” he said.

“I learned it from watching you,” I said.

In the rearview mirror, I looked at how he stared out the window. His face seemed to lose focus, and I wondered what he was seeing. From my car speakers, Ms. Jackson told us about the Hudson Police Department’s plans for an increased presence at the annual Halloween dance, in light of recent destructive acts.

Sixty

Solomon