Hunger (Gone 2)

He forced his eyes closed, but the nagging in the back of his head was yammering louder now, not letting go, demanding attention.

Alton and Dalton fighting over whom they belonged to. Who had taken them.

Did it ever occur to you it might be one of the other kids standing guard?

No. Heather B and Mike J were at the guardhouse. And Josh was asleep the whole time.

What do you mean Josh was asleep?

Junior Mints. The map with the power plant at its center. The memory of the day of the battle.

Bug, the chameleon.

Bug.

The power plant.

Sam jumped out of bed like he’d been shot from a cannon.

He pulled on jeans and searched frantically for his shoes under the bed. He slipped them on and ran to Astrid’s room. He didn’t knock, just threw open the door.

She was asleep, a tangle of blond hair on a pillow.

“Astrid. Wake up.”

She didn’t move, so he took her bare shoulder, feeling an illicit thrill despite his frenzy. “Wake up.”

Blue eyes snapped open. “What? Is it Petey again?”

He was suddenly extremely aware of the fact that he had never been in her bedroom before. But this was not the time.

“Bug. He took the Junior Mints.”

She stared at him. “You woke me up for that?”

“At the power plant. Alton and Dalton. They were both telling the truth. Neither of them took the candy, or Josh, either. Someone else was there. Someone they didn’t see.”

“Why would Bug be at the power plant?” Astrid wondered. Then her eyes widened as she understood.

“Because I’m an idiot, that’s why,” Sam said angrily. “I have to get Edilio. You’re in charge till I get back.”

“You may be wrong,” Astrid said.

He was already on his way out. He pounded down the stairs and out into the frosty night air. He found Edilio at the firehouse, where he stayed most nights.

“Who’s on guard at the plant?” Sam asked Edilio after he’d shaken him out of a sound sleep.

“Josh, Brittney D, um, Mickey, and Mike Farmer.”

“Mike’s solid,” Sam said. “The other three?”

Edilio shrugged. “Man, I work with what I got. Mickey’s the one who was playing around with a gun and shot a hole in the floor of his house, killed the washing machine in the basement. Brittney may be cool. She’s motivated. Josh? I don’t know, man.”

They piled into the Jeep. It took them an hour of crisscrossing the town before they had rounded up Dekka, Brianna, Taylor, Orc, and a handful of Edilio’s soldiers. They added a sedan and a giant Escalade to the convoy. Orc snoozed in the back of the Escalade.

They had ten kids in the three vehicles. They paused in front of the town hall. Sam stood on the sidewalk, where he could be heard by everyone.

“I’m sorry to drag you all out of your warm beds, but I think Caine is going to make a move on the power plant,” he said.