“Oh, don’t pee your pants, Buzz. You’re under arrest.”

She believes in the law, like her father did. She will not betray that. Not tonight, anyway.

“You have the right to remain silent,” she says. “Anything you say can and will be used against you — ”

“Are you shitting me?” he says. “That’s the end of the world over there! And you think you’re going to take me to jail?”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Even if it is the end of the world.”

He stares at her, open-mouthed. “Do you have any idea what he’s going to do to me for failing him?”

“No,” she says. “Don’t care.”

Buzz sighs heavily.

“Well I do,” he says, and lifts the gun.

“Don’t —” she says.

But he’s already put the gun under his chin.

Before Carrie can finish her sentence, Buzz blows a hole through the top of his skull.

He was always fast. It’s how he got his nickname.

She holds it together long enough to hobble over to Buzz’s corpse. He’s not getting up. Whatever magic has been done here tonight, it doesn’t extend to spontaneous resurrection.

Which is good, because Carrie has nothing left. She drops the pistol. It was getting insanely heavy, and she can’t feel her leg below the knee. She checks the bandage. It’s soggy, completely soaked through with her blood. This doesn’t bother her as much as it should. She sits down heavily on the ground.

She looks at Buzz and thinks about how some people, if you know them long enough, are almost like family, even if you never really liked them that much.

She knows she should get up. Get back to Danny and the others. Find her mom and get her home. But maybe she’ll stay here for a few more minutes.

She’s earned a little rest.

36

These Are Not Ideal Conditions

Danny gets the final terminal back in place. His hands are a bloody, stinging mess as he signals to Tyler Grant, who sits behind the wheel of the last bus. The engine starts, and Tyler begins weeping with gratitude. Danny slams the hood back down and jumps to the ground.

Grace stands guard. She has carved a lot of Shadowmen into tiny scraps, and they appear to have retreated back into the cold ground. Maybe they know that this is not their time after all. The last of the crowd, parents and kids, is cramming itself into the buses, desperate to get away. There are still bodies on the hill.

“Go!” Grace tells him, and he smiles again. Honestly, it’s freaking adorable that she’s trying to rescue him.

But he doesn’t see Carrie.

He looks at the bus, and locates her mom, hanging half out of a window. He runs to her.

“Where’s Carrie?” he shouts.

She looks helpless for a moment. Confused.