The Man Who Ended the World Read Online Free PDF Page B

car? 
    I don't know, Henry says.
    No, really, she says. She puts her hand on Henry's shoulder and tugs him away from the fence. You haven't thought about it? 
    I don't know, Henry says again. I guess not. 
    Henry, why do people climb into the trunks of cars? she asks.
    He considers this. They don't? he finally says. 
    That's right, she agrees. They don't. 
    He stares at her, still seeming to miss the connection.
    Henry, she says. What does that mean?
    I don't know. 
    She's beginning to get frustrated.
    If I told you to get into a car's trunk for no reason, would you?
    Pshfft, Henry sputters. No. 
    Well, what would make you want to get into the trunk of the car? 
    He finally seems to think about it. Maybe there's money in there? 
    Okay, that's a decent enough reason. But he already has like six hundred bazillion dollars. 
    Maybe it's a lot of money?
    Think about it this way, she says. Did you see him come out? 
    Nuh-uh, Henry says. He didn't come out.
    And how long did you wait and watch the car? Clarissa asks.
    Maybe ten minutes? he says.
    And if you were in the trunk of a car, wouldn't you want out long before ten minutes? 
    Not if I was asleep, Henry says. Hey, maybe he's asleep! Or maybe he's dead and the car is his coffin!
    Henry, Henry, she says. She shakes her head at him.
    He doesn't like it when she does this. What? 
    Henry, she says. I think he lives in there. 
    •   •   •
    Night starts to fall, and it begins to get cool. Henry regrets leaving his coat at home. Clarissa seems nice and warm in hers. 
    After they get bored trying to blow rings with their frosty breath, Henry says, Okay, so let me see if I get it. You think he lives in a car? 
    Didn't we already talk about this? Clarissa sighs.
    I don't get it, though. I mean, why would you get into the trunk? Why wouldn't you just sleep inside like a normal person who lives in their car? And why would you live in a Chevy Corsica that only has three doors? Why wouldn't you pick, I don't know, like, a van or something? 
    I think you're missing the point, Clarissa says. Have you ever seen a movie where someone had a hidden room? 
    Like a secret one? A secret hidden room? 
    Yes.
    I think so. 
    Okay, she says. So how do people usually hide secret rooms? 
    I don't know, he says. Behind other things?
    Exactly! They hide them behind other things. Or inside of other things. Or underneath other things. Like behind bookcases or paintings. 
    So what you're saying --
    What I'm saying, Henry, is that the car is just the front door.
    So what's inside the car? he asks.
    She's had some time to think about this as night fell.
    It's not what's inside the car, she says. I mean, look at it. It's a car trunk. You can't really put much inside a car trunk. 
    So what, then? 
    I think it's what's underneath the car. 
    But there's just junk underneath the car. 
    Henry, she says, drawing his name out slowly. I think you're missing the point. You miss the point a lot. 
    Hey, he says.
    Do you think it's safe to go in there? she asks. Will he know? 
    I don't know.
    But you haven't seen him come out, right? 
    Not since he went in. 
    Which was, like, four days ago? 
    I think so. 
    Okay, she says. Let's go inside.
    Henry says, I don't know. What if he comes out right now? 
    Don't be a crybaby, Clarissa says. 
    I'm not the one who --
    Shut it. 
    She points, and he leads the way to the Silver Cloud Lane side of the junkyard. He crouches beside a particularly rotted board, then carefully pulls it toward him. It's loose enough that he can swing it to his left. He holds it back and Clarissa squeezes through the space. 
    He follows. 
    The junkyard is quiet, which has always creeped him out. The sun is almost completely down, and it's getting hard to see. His instinct is to creep across the yard, but Clarissa just marches straight over to the old Corsica. She kneels down and squints up underneath it, and frowns. 
    The entire car appears to be resting precariously