"What are we gonna do, man?" said Chris, asking no one in particular. I didn't know whether I should answer him or not, so I just remained silent.

"We're gonna take him back, ain't we?" came Teddy's voice. I hadn't even seen him or Vern return. I could have punched them both. "We're gonna be heroes. Ain't that right?"

Chris made a face before turning to Teddy and giving him a hard shove over.

"Keep your trap shut," Chris snapped, his eyes blazing. He glared daggers at Teddy. "Paratroops over the side my ass. You lousy rubber chicken." His choice of insult was interesting, but it wasn't a joke. He'd left us to fend for ourselves when he was supposed to stand by us.

"It was the hail!" Teddy cried in defense. "It wasn't those guys, Chris! I'm scared of storms! I can't help it! I would have taken all of em on at once, I swear on my mother's name! But I'm scared of storms! Shit, I can't help it!" He sat there, crying pathetically now. I didn't know if I felt pity or slight resentment toward Teddy. Either way, there was no mistaking the obvious pang of disappointment.

"What about you?" Chris reared toward Vern now, who was obviously stunned at how angry Chris was. "Are you scared of storms, too?"

"Hey, man, I thought we was all running," Vern said.

"You must be a mind reader, then, because you ran first."

Chris turned to Gordie and I, both of us just silent. "We're going to build him a litter," he said.

"If you say so, Chris," said Gordie. I just nodded.

"Sure! Like in scouts. Just like in the fucking scouts. A litter--poles and shirts. Like in the handbook. Right, Gordie?"

"Yeah. If you want. But what if those guys-"

"Fuck those guys!" he roared. "You're all a bunch of chickens! Fuck off, creeps!" I jumped noticeably, taking a step back.

"Chris, they could call the Constable. To get back at us."

"He's ours and we're gonna take him out!"

"Those guys would say anything to get us in dutch," said Gordie. "Say anything and then lie each other up. You know how people can get other people in trouble telling lies, man. Like with the milk mo-"

"I don't care!" I was surprised stupid to see that Chris had his fists balled up, ready to slug Gordie a good one. When Chris lunged, he tripped over Brower's body and fell full on into the mud and just kind of laid there pathetically.

Seeing someone break down in front of you is scary. Seeing the toughest guy you know break down in front of you is fucking terrifying. I didn't know what to do, nor did the others. I was the only one to continue to stand there, watching Chris' body shake vividly with anguish.

I didn't know what I was thinking when I sat down beside him, but I did. I thought it was because I knew he would have done so to me, but when I looked up and saw Gordie and Vern and Teddy sitting on the embankment, I felt like maybe it was best to leave him alone to scream and cry.

It was nearly a half hour when Chris stopped crying. I had remained in my spot in the mud beside Chris, his fists splashing mud onto my t-shirt and jeans. My once navy blue sneakers were now caked in grey and felt like ten ton bricks due to all the water that had been absorbed into them.

Chris looked up at me as soon as he had stopped and we held a gaze for a minute. "I'm sorry," he whispered. I shook my head.

"It's okay."

"We're not taking him," he said before standing up. He stuck out his hand and I let him pull me to my feet. We walked over to the embankment to join the others. "You're right, Gordie. Nobody gets last dibs. Goocher all around, huh?"

Gordie only nodded. We all just kind of stood there for a couple of minutes, not really sure what to do. Suddenly, Gordie stood up and trotted down the embankment. He began to dig around in the muddy bog.

"What you doing?" said Teddy, walking over to see what he was up to.

"It's to your left, I think," said Chris. That was when I realized just what Gordie was doing. He was looking for the casings. If those fuckers ever did end up telling the Constable that we had a gun, they had no evidence that it'd ever been fired.

Gordie finally found the casings and brought them back over to Chris. Chris examined them for a minute before handing one to me and stuffing the other in his jeans pocket. I did the same, unsure of what else to do with it.

"Now we go," I said.

"Hey, come on," said Teddy. "I wanna take him!"

"Listen, dummy, if we take him back we could all wind up in the reformatory. It's like Gordie says. Those guys could all make up any story they wanted to. What if they said we killed him, huh? How would you like that?"

"I don't give a damn," Teddy replied, infuriated. "Besides, we might only get a couple of months or so. As accessories. I mean, we're only twelve fucking years old, they ain't gonna put us in Shawshank. And what about Rosie? They ain't gonna lock up a little girl like that."

I puffed out my chest irritably. Just as I was about to open my mouth, Chris stepped in.

"You can't get in the Army if you got a record, Teddy."

This seemed to quieten Teddy for just a few moments. I didn't know if this was true or not, but it got him to shut up real quick.

"No shit?" he said, his lip quivering.

"Ask Gordie."

"He's right," said Gordie. "He's right, Teddy. First thing they do when you volunteer is to check your name through R&I."

I gulped and Chris gave me a quick sideways glance.

"Holy God!"

"We're gonna shag ass back to the trestle," said Chris, nodding his head toward the direction of Castle Rock. "Then we'll get off the tracks and come into Castle Rock from the other direction. If people ask where we were, we'll say we went camping up on Brickyard Hill and got lost."

"Milo Pressman knows better," Gordie said.

"Yeah and that shitter at the Florida Market does, too," I added.

"Well, we'll say Milo scared us and that's when we decided to go up on the Brickyard." Gordie and I nodded simultaneously.

"What if our folks get together?" Vern squeaked.

"My dad won't," I said.

"Yeah, you worry about it if you want. My dad will still be juiced up," Chris said.

"Come on then," I sighed. "Let's get while the getting's good."

As if something had called to us, we all turned toward the body one last time. I took in the sight that was Ray Brower. I didn't know whether I should cry or not. I didn't. Not then.

"Okay," said Chris. "Double time."