Holding his breath, Alan lifted the Allen gently, cradling it in his palms. It squirmed and thrashed weakly. "Shh," he said again. His hands were instantly made slippery and sticky with its blood. "Shh." Something sharp pricked at his hand. Now that he had it up close, he could see where the blood was coming from: A broken-off sewing needle, shoved rudely through its distended abdomen. "Cover up," Bradley said, "I'm coming up." They heard his lopsided tread on the steps. Mimi pulled the blanket up around her chin. "Okay," she said. Bert opened the door quickly. He wore nothing but the oversized jeans that Alan had given him, his scrawny chest and mutilated feet bare. "It's going to die," Brad said, hunkering down beside the bed. "Davey pinned it and then sent Link over with it. It can't last through the night." Adam felt like he was choking. "We can help it," he said. "It can heal. It healed before." "It won't this time. See how much pain it's in? It's out of its mind." "So what do you want me to do?" "We need to put it out of its misery," Brad said. "It's the right thing." In his hands, the thing squirmed and made a small, hurt sound. "Shhh," Alan said. The sound it made was like sobbing, but small, so small. And weak. Mimi said, "I think I'm going to be sick." "Yeah," Brian said. "Yeah, I can see that." She lifted herself out of bed, unmindful of her nudity, and pushed her way past him to the door, to the bathroom. "Stop being such a baby," she told Trey as he clutched at his foot. "It's almost stopped bleeding already." He looked up at her with murder in his eyes. "Shall I take another one?" she said. He looked away. "If I get word that you've come within a mile of my brother, I will come back and take your eyes. The toe and the finger joint were just a down payment on that." He made a sullen sound, so she took his vain and girlish blond hair in her fist and tugged his head back and kissed his throat with the knife. "Nod if you understand. Slowly." # "The knife is under Mimi's pillow." "I can't do it," Alan said. "I know," Brian said. "I will." And he did. Took the knife. Took the Allen. It cried. Mimi threw up in another room, the sound more felt than heard. The toilet flushed and Brian's hands were sure and swift, but not sure enough. The Allen made a sound like a dog whistle. Bruce's hand moved again, and then it was over. He dug a sock out of the hamper and rolled up the Allen's remains in it. "I'll bury it," he said. "In the back." Numbly, Alan stood and began dressing. "No," he said. "I will." Mimi joined them, wrapped in a blanket. Alan dug and Brent held the sock and Mimi watched solemnly. A trapezoid of light knifed across the back garden. They looked up and saw Krishna staring down at them from a third-floor window. He was smiling very slightly. A moment later, Link appeared in the window, reeling like he was drunk, giggling.