Hospitals … She never could have gotten Dad and the boys to the doctors in time if not for Ffodor’s advice, she realized. She shook her head so hard it wrenched her neck. Yet still the regrets clung to her like cobwebs.

To keep from crying again, she said, “I can’t get us there in one shot. My closest site is about five blocks from there.”

Ray looked impressed. “That’s actually pretty close.” Mollie didn’t like the way his eyebrows hitched together, as though he were thinking through a puzzle. “How many sites do you have memorized in New York?”

“A lot.”

The SCARE agent was a lot sharper than he looked. He said, “Wow. Rounding up all those jokers must have been hard work. I feel for you.”

When Michelle woke, she was alone.

The fog curled around her like an obscene lover. It was misting again, but the cold had changed to a suffocating heat, just like the jungle in the PPA. She got up. It was difficult. The punch from Ana’s dirt wall had given her a surge of fat. It wasn’t as much as she’d handled before, but she hurt now. Really hurt. And that frightened her.

Looking around, she saw she was in the jungle. In the distance, she could hear Monster roaring. The last time she’d encountered him, she’d battled him to a standstill, but now she wouldn’t be able to. Not when something as minor as Earth Witch’s wall had thrown her for such a loop. She took a step and groaned.

No, no, no, she thought, a cold shiver running down her spine. This can’t be happening. How will I protect Adesina? Screw that freak. I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for that creature. She should have left her in that charnel pit with the rest of those monstrosities.

Nonononononono. I love Adesina. Michelle clung to the thought, but it only flickered in her mind for a moment.

And as she thought of it, the ground in front of her opened. Ana. That bitch. But she didn’t see Earth Witch. Rotting things began crawling out of the hole. They were covered in the festering syrup of the charnel pit. The stench made her gag. Around her the jungle began closing in. Pushing her closer to the pit.

Across the pit, she saw Mummy.

“I just killed you!” she screamed. “I’ve killed you twice!”

Michelle held her hands, palms up, in front of her. A barrage of lemon-sized bubbles flowed from them. They hit and blew chunks of Mummy into the air. It didn’t matter. The chunks reassembled and she grew larger.

“No,” Michelle moaned. Terror surged through her. “No, you’re dead.”