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He steps across.
Nothing. No pain. No roots. No invisible wall.
Just road.
Ezra looks back at Ward Farm then down at our joined hands.
A laugh leaves him.
Free.
We walk.
Behind us, Ward Farm burns.
Ahead… I have no fucking idea. But for the first time tonight, I don’t need to.
We reach the parking field just before dawn.
There’s cars everywhere. Some abandoned. Some smashed.
Mariah’s miraculously still exists.
She falls against the hood. “I am never going to a Halloween attraction again.”
Ali opens the passenger door. “Agreed.”
“Next year, we stay home.”
“Absolutely.”
“Movies.”
“Yes.”
“Pizza.”
“Yes.”
“No corn.”
“Fuck corn.”
I point at them. “Don’t say that word.”
Rhett leans against her car. “So what happens next Halloween?”
All three of us yell “SHUT UP, RHETT.”
He smiles.
Ezra looks toward the sunrise.
Malakai crouches beside the pavement.
I notice. “What?”
He touches something growing through a crack.
