The Missing

421 Pages·2007·1.34 MB·English

by  Sarah Langan

THE

MISSING

S A R A H L A N G A N
For J. T. Petty
Crises, precipitate change.
—Virus, Deltron 3030

Contents

Epigraph iii
PROLOGUE: WINTER 1
PART ONE: CONTAMINATION 7
ONE
Where Are You Going,
Where Have You Been? 9
TWO
The Monster in the Woods 31
PART TWO: INCUBATION 45
THREE
Splitting Atoms 47
FOUR
The War Between the States 63
FIVE
Robitussin for What Ails You! 77
SIX
The Melancholy Choir 90
SEVEN
Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’ 103
EIGHT
The Hunger 113
PART THREE: INFECTION 121
NINE
The Human Trick 123
TEN
Babes in the Woods 126
ELEVEN
It Was So Sad It Was Funny,
or Maybe It Was So Funny It Was Sad 139
TWELVE
God Only Knows 151
THIRTEEN
Make Friends and Solve Crime
in Your Spare Time! 158
FOURTEEN
A House Divided 173
FIFTEEN
The Fat Kids Kept Coughing 181
SIXTEEN
I Hate You! 190
SEVENTEEN
The Dandy 197
EIGHTEEN
Bloody Carpet 205
NINETEEN
Leaky Eyes 220
TWENTY
An Itch in Her Bones 225
TWENTY-ONE
Romeo and Juliet 231
TWENTY-TWO
A House in Ruins 242
TWENTY-THREE
Wheel of Fortune 255
PART FOUR: DISEASE 263
TWENTY-FOUR
Quarantine 265
TWENTY-FIVE
It’s Okay to Eat Fish, ’Cause
They Don’t Have Any Feelings 273
TWENTY-SIX
Juliet, the Belly Dancer 290
TWENTY-SEVEN
Going Lou McGuffin 295
TWENTY-EIGHT
Witch 306
TWENTY-NINE
Brother’s Keeper 316
THIRTY
From Death, Life 326
THIRTY-ONE
The Lump in the Bed 328
THIRTY-TWO
Mostly It Was Just Plain Sad 333
THIRTY-THREE
The Victorian 338
THIRTY-FOUR
Room 69 345