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Sam chose to ignore it. Edilio’s worry, not his.
He headed toward the dark hills above town.
After a while Dekka took Sam’s arm and slowed him down. She let Jack and Taylor move out in front.
“Did Edilio or Astrid tell you?”
“I haven’t talked to Edilio. I steered clear. He’s going to be mightily annoyed with me when he realizes I skipped town and didn’t even tell him.”
Dekka waited.
“Okay,” Sam said with a sigh. “Tell me what?”
“It’s Hunter. He’s got some kind of . . . Well, it’s like these bugs all inside him. Astrid says they’re parasites.”
“Astrid says?” Sam snapped. “So I guess you did see her before you left. And she didn’t tell you?”
“We had other things going on.”
“Oh?”
“No,” Sam said. “Not like that. Unfortunately. Tell me about Hunter.”
Dekka told him.
Sam’s face grew darker as he listened. So much for getting out of town before anything went wrong. This had “wrong” written all over it.
It sounded as if Hunter wasn’t going to be hunting much longer. Which meant the town would be running out of meat as well as water. They could probably survive without Hunter’s kills, but it sure would increase the sense of panic.
This mission had just gotten more important, not less.
“He said the greenies are on the morning side? Off the lake road? That’s what he said?”
Dekka nodded.
Sam called up to the other two who were arguing over something stupid. “Taylor! Jack! Veer right up there. We’re stopping off to see Hunter.”
Hunter woke suddenly. A noise.
It was a noise unlike anything he’d ever heard before. Close! Very close.
Like it was on him. Like it was . . .
Just in one ear.
He twisted his head. It was f
ull night. Black as black in the woods far from the starlight.
He couldn’t see anything.
But with his hands he could feel. The thing on his shoulder.
His ear . . . gone!
A terrible fear wrung a cry of horror from Hunter.
He couldn’t feel it, his ear, or his shoulder, couldn’t feel with anything but his fingers and he felt, reached beneath his shirt, felt the flesh of his belly pulse and heave.
