Chapter 25: Heartbreak

Book Two: Hide

The last of the dust has settled. Reid coughs what is left of it from his lungs and huddles by himself in the flickering

light of the weak bulb. The tunnel walls are rough and far from comfortable to lean against but he has nothing else so he

lives with it.

Most of the kids have stopped crying at least. Since the blast closed the entrance, they've shivered together in terror

that the ceiling will fall in on them. Reid doesn't care about it, not any more. He thinks he would happily die now if it

meant he didn't have to live with Drew's sacrifice.

When they first met, Reid never would have thought the short, pudgy kid with the glasses and braces and ridiculous

penny-loafers would make it even a minute out there in the forest. But Drew's tenacity surprised Reid at every turn, and

his brains and logical thinking kept Reid moving in the right direction. Reid never intended to let the kid get to him,