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are you doing?” He ignored her and walked up to the kids.
    “—and you read my diary,” the girl was saying. “I know you did!”
    She was about twelve, the boy a few years younger. They looked like brother and sister.
    “Hey, guys,” Matt said. “Can you tell me—?”
    “Why would I read your stupid diary? It’s all about boys and
feels
and TV shows.”
    Matt cleared his throat. “Um, guys?”
    “How would you know what’s in it if you haven’t read it?”
    “Yo!” Reyna said, stepping between them. “Time out, kiddies. We need to talk to you.”
    “I don’t need to read it to know what’s in it,” the boy said. “All the same stupid stuff you talk about with your friends when you’re supposed to be babysitting me.”
    The boy didn’t lean around Reyna to yell at his sister. He just kept talking, as if there weren’t someone standing between them.
    “They don’t see us,” Matt said. “We’re invisible.”
    Reyna took the girl’s hand, lifted it, and then dropped it. The girl kept arguing. Reyna tweaked the boy’s nose. No reaction.
    “We aren’t just invisible, Matt. They can’t see
or
feel us. And they’re fighting about everyday stuff… in the middle of a freaking apocalypse.”
    Matt clutched his amulet. It still gave him no clues, and he let out a hiss of frustration.
    “You were walking,” she said. “Did you
decide
to come talk to these kids or feel
compelled
to do it?”
    “I was wondering why no one was reacting to us.”
    “Okay, so your
gut
was still telling you to keep moving. Ignore this and do that.”
    He started to turn away when he noticed an old man in the window, watching the kids. Matt thought of his grandfather. He didn’t want to—he’d been trying so hard not to for the last day—but seeing an old man brought it all back.
    Granddad betrayed me. He betrayed us. Our family. Our town.
    His grandfather was leading the monsters. His grandfather expected Ragnarök to happen, exactly as it did in the old stories. He expected Matt to die.
    Reyna swirled her hand, fog billowing over the children. “Whoops, they’re gone. Too bad, so sad. Guess you’ll have to just keep walking, Matt.”
    “I wasn’t thinking about them. I was thinking—”
    “Don’t. You need all your energy for fighting or you’ll do something stupid like use an aikido pin on a wolf.”
    “Um, pretty sure
you’re
the one who—”
    “Nope, you did.” She winked at him. “I’ve rewritten the scene. You pinned the wolf. I saved your butt. It was epic. Now, back to the road, or I’ll call the Berserkers to carry you.”

    When Matt’s amulet began vibrating—signaling the presence of actual monsters in Rapid City—it came almost as a relief. He felt guilty thinking that, but in a weird way, it settled his nerves. These days, monsters made sense, far more than anything else.
    The buzzing amulet lit his trail in neon. It let him know when he was getting closer. Like a little voice saying
Hot, hotter, cold, hot again
…
    It led him to the Journey Museum. He’d been here on a field trip last year. He’d thought it was fascinating. Cody and his other friends had nearly died of boredom. They’d ended up touring maybe a quarter of it, at Matt’s insistence, just enough to complete their assignment. Then he’d led them on a very different kind of tour, one exploring the areas clearly marked DO NOT ENTER .
    “The monsters are inside?” Reyna said as they stopped outside the front doors.
    Matt started to say
I think so
, then changed to a simple “Yes.” His amulet and his gut told him they were inside. Qualifying that made him look indecisive.
    “I don’t hear screaming,” Ray said. “If it’s anything like that creature at the water park, there should be screaming.”
    “Maybe there’s no one left to scream,” Reyna said.
    Matt gave her a look.
    “What?” she said. “It’s true. Although, I suppose, if the monsters killed everyone, they wouldn’t still be in there.