amongst the debris, rocking Shiloh in his arms, and
looking up at me with … God … wet teary eyes, my mind somehow just registered
that my legs were moving. I needed to catch my breath because my heart broke
for him.
“Max, wait, please.” I
tugged back, making him stop.
I looked around; everything
was in ruins. The hillside next to the student parking lot had collapsed into
the asphalt, burying several cars, Max’s Tahoe included.
“Great, just great.”
Max ran his hand through his mess of blond curls. “We’re going to have to hoof
it.”
The hillside had also
crashed into the Post Office next door to the parking lot, knocking down the
back wall and filling the entire building with dirt and muck.
Max grabbed my arm and
pulled me along. We made it the half mile to Scully Road, which was still far
from home. My ears resounded with screams and sobs from all around us. It seemed
odd how some of the buildings remained standing, while others lay in shambles,
some with cars crushed under them. Broken glass lay everywhere. A toppled over electrical
pole had crushed a Prius down the center, killing the driver. My stomach twisted
and my head swam in nauseating circles.
My legs rubbered out
and I stopped running again. Max turned toward me. “What’s wrong? We need to go
home!” His tone hummed with an irritating urgency. “Don’t you want to get to
your mom and dad?”
“Yes, but …” I leaned
over and puked all over his sneakers.
“Uhhh…” Max groaned,
holding his hand over his mouth.
“Sorry. I need a
minute.” Too frightened to be embarrassed and unable to stand any longer, I sat
in the middle of the street, one leg bent up. Resting my hands and forehead on my
knee, I attempted to compose myself as a disgusting, rank odor like gasoline
and burning rubber whizzed by my nose and I hurled again. At least this time I
missed Max’s shoes.
“Jeez.” Max glanced
around the area, as though looking for something. “Okay. Stay here a minute. I’ll
be right back.” I waved him off, not wanting to look at him in my nauseated
state. He headed toward a pile of wreckage, picked up some sort of rag, and brought
it to me. “Here, it’s the best I could find.” I took the small piece of cloth
and wiped the vomit from my chin and sweater before handing it back to him so
he could clean up too. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die when I looked at
the goop on his black high-tops.
An explosion burst
through the air and I almost jumped out of my skin. I turned toward the noise
and stared in horror at the sight of the Arco gas station completely engulfed
in flames. The fire immediately spread into a clump of trees between the
station and the half-demolished grocery store about six feet from where Max stood.
“Max!” I screamed and
leaped up forgetting about the clenching in my stomach.
Max hurried back and
grabbed my hand again. We ran, hopping over broken brick, concrete, glass, and
wood from collapsed buildings, swerving between and around abandoned cars stopped
or smashed along the road. Max never let go of my hand. Trees and buildings
consumed in flames glowered around us, the heat almost too much to bear. The
scent of gas permeated the air along with the muck of smoke and debris. Water
spewed up from a broken fire hydrant, knocked it on its side by the delivery
truck now perched on top of it and I gasped at the sight of a bloodied man’s
head hanging out the window.
I wanted to be home
more than anything now. Did we even have a home? Were my mom and dad okay? The
twins? What about Big Blue? I fought back tears, trying to convince myself they
were all fine and probably wondering where I was. I squeezed my eyes shut to
picture my mom pacing the living room, worrying and telling my dad they needed
to find me.
All of a sudden, we stopped
running. I glanced up to see why and gaped with horror at the road in front of us.
The broken asphalt had buckled into a pile about twelve feet high, obstructing
looking up at me with … God … wet teary eyes, my mind somehow just registered
that my legs were moving. I needed to catch my breath because my heart broke
for him.
“Max, wait, please.” I
tugged back, making him stop.
I looked around; everything
was in ruins. The hillside next to the student parking lot had collapsed into
the asphalt, burying several cars, Max’s Tahoe included.
“Great, just great.”
Max ran his hand through his mess of blond curls. “We’re going to have to hoof
it.”
The hillside had also
crashed into the Post Office next door to the parking lot, knocking down the
back wall and filling the entire building with dirt and muck.
Max grabbed my arm and
pulled me along. We made it the half mile to Scully Road, which was still far
from home. My ears resounded with screams and sobs from all around us. It seemed
odd how some of the buildings remained standing, while others lay in shambles,
some with cars crushed under them. Broken glass lay everywhere. A toppled over electrical
pole had crushed a Prius down the center, killing the driver. My stomach twisted
and my head swam in nauseating circles.
My legs rubbered out
and I stopped running again. Max turned toward me. “What’s wrong? We need to go
home!” His tone hummed with an irritating urgency. “Don’t you want to get to
your mom and dad?”
“Yes, but …” I leaned
over and puked all over his sneakers.
“Uhhh…” Max groaned,
holding his hand over his mouth.
“Sorry. I need a
minute.” Too frightened to be embarrassed and unable to stand any longer, I sat
in the middle of the street, one leg bent up. Resting my hands and forehead on my
knee, I attempted to compose myself as a disgusting, rank odor like gasoline
and burning rubber whizzed by my nose and I hurled again. At least this time I
missed Max’s shoes.
“Jeez.” Max glanced
around the area, as though looking for something. “Okay. Stay here a minute. I’ll
be right back.” I waved him off, not wanting to look at him in my nauseated
state. He headed toward a pile of wreckage, picked up some sort of rag, and brought
it to me. “Here, it’s the best I could find.” I took the small piece of cloth
and wiped the vomit from my chin and sweater before handing it back to him so
he could clean up too. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die when I looked at
the goop on his black high-tops.
An explosion burst
through the air and I almost jumped out of my skin. I turned toward the noise
and stared in horror at the sight of the Arco gas station completely engulfed
in flames. The fire immediately spread into a clump of trees between the
station and the half-demolished grocery store about six feet from where Max stood.
“Max!” I screamed and
leaped up forgetting about the clenching in my stomach.
Max hurried back and
grabbed my hand again. We ran, hopping over broken brick, concrete, glass, and
wood from collapsed buildings, swerving between and around abandoned cars stopped
or smashed along the road. Max never let go of my hand. Trees and buildings
consumed in flames glowered around us, the heat almost too much to bear. The
scent of gas permeated the air along with the muck of smoke and debris. Water
spewed up from a broken fire hydrant, knocked it on its side by the delivery
truck now perched on top of it and I gasped at the sight of a bloodied man’s
head hanging out the window.
I wanted to be home
more than anything now. Did we even have a home? Were my mom and dad okay? The
twins? What about Big Blue? I fought back tears, trying to convince myself they
were all fine and probably wondering where I was. I squeezed my eyes shut to
picture my mom pacing the living room, worrying and telling my dad they needed
to find me.
All of a sudden, we stopped
running. I glanced up to see why and gaped with horror at the road in front of us.
The broken asphalt had buckled into a pile about twelve feet high, obstructing
Similar Books
