9 Basic White Teenage Boy
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I took the Talon from around my neck and dropped it in the dust. “Hurry up,” I said. “Cover it with something, anything. Those bags of flour.”
I started dragging the sacks from the shelves and letting them fall to the floor—as Jesse and Quint lifted the 50-pound bags together and threw them over the Talon, which cut off our light.
“Whatever happened to just letting it repel the bastards?” asked Quint, and grunted. “I mean, at this point, it’s pretty much just a liability, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, sure.” I took off my pack and started digging for my lighter. “You gonna be the one to wear it? It’s like you said: I don’t even want to be close to those things.”
“We should ditch it, then,” said Quint. “That is, if we ever get out of this mess.”
“No,” I
