Stella met her gaze. “No. It’s absolutely not safe here. Actually, we need to bundle up whoever we find and get the hell outta here ASAP.”
“Agreed,” Mercury said. “I have a crawly feeling in the back of my neck.”
“Yep, intensify that by one hundred, and that’s how I feel.” She gestured at the snow-covered forest. “Don’t let all of this silence fool you. Mack’s buddies are close.”
Mercury shivered and nodded.
They followed the small tracks to the wide porch that framed the front of the spacious cabin. As Mercury and Stella reached the porch, the sobbing stopped like someone had pressed “Mute.” On the swing, held aloft from the ceiling of the porch by spotless, well-oiled chains, was a mound of blankets. In the center of the blankets three little faces peered at them. Each face was blotchy and tear-stained, and the children stared at the two women with wide-eyed fear.
“Hi.” Mercury stopped at the bottom of the porch stairs. “I’m Mercury and this is my best friend, Stella.” Beside her Stella lifted her hand and waved hello. “We were driving by on that road out there, but our truck couldn’t go any farther because trees blocked us. When we got out to see if we could get past the trees, we heard someone—and thought we’d follow the sound and see if we could help.”
“Yeah, we’re teachers, so we’re used to helping kids,” added Stella. “What’s your name?” she asked the center face, a girl who sat up higher and looked older than the other two children.
The girl cleared her throat and used the blanket to wipe her eyes and nose. “My name is Georgiana, but everyone calls me Georgie. These are my brothers, Jayden and Cayden. They’re twins.”
“How old are y’all?” asked Mercury.
“I’m eleven. Jaden and Cayden are six.” The twins looked up at her, and Georgie sighed before she added. “Okay, yeah. I’m almost eleven. Are you really teachers?”
“Yep,” said Mercury. “All the way from Tulsa, Oklahoma.”
Georgie lifted her chin. “That’s like, in the Wild, Wild West, right?”
A smile tugged at Stella’s lips. “Right,” she said.
“What grade do you teach?” asked Georgie. The boys remained completely silent, but their bright little eyes had returned to looking back and forth from Mercury to Stella.
“High school,” said Stella. “I’m an art teacher and Mercury is a science teacher.”
“Shouldn’t I call you by your last names, like Mrs. Someone or Miss Someone, if you’re teachers?” said Georgie.
“Normally, yes,” said Mercury. “But we’re not at school right now, so it’s okay to call us by our first names. Georgie, are your mom and dad home?”
The two little boys, one on either side of Georgie, jolted like Mercury had hit them. Silently, tears started to leak down their cheeks. Georgie lifted the blanket so that she could tuck it more securely around her brothers. She kept her arms draped over their narrow shoulders, like her touch was all that held them together. She met Mercury’s gaze without flinching.
“Yes. They’re in our car over there.” She moved the fingers of one hand off her brother’s shoulder long enough to point at the wrecked Subaru. “They’ve been there since Sunday morning when the bad things started happening.” She paused and chewed her lip before she continued. “The twins found them. We—we couldn’t get them out of the car ’cause it was burning real, real hot.”
“Georgie,” Mercury said, “you couldn’t have saved them even if you could’ve gotten them out of there.”
“Yeah, I know. Mommy and Daddy went out to get our Sunday morning donuts. They—they didn’t really come back.”
“Sure they did,” Mercury said softly. “They couldn’t help what happened, but they absolutely came back to you three.” She paused and then added, “There are just three of you?”
Georgie nodded and sniffed.
“Where were you and your brothers when all the bad stuff happened?” Stella asked.
“Upstairs in our bedrooms.” Georgie caught Stella’s gaze.
“Did you see any green fog-like stuff?” Mercury asked.
Georgie nodded. “Yeah, at first. It was outside, but it didn’t get to the upstairs into the house. Then it earthquaked. That was really scary. When everything stopped shaking, the green stuff was gone. That’s when we saw our car on fire and ran out to try to help Mommy and Daddy.” She paused and had to wipe at her face again. “There were bombs, right? You can tell me the truth. Jayden, Cayden, and I can take it.”
“Of course you can. I can already tell how strong the three of you are. And yes, there were bombs. I’m not going to lie to you. Neither is Mercury. Is there anything else you want to ask us?” Stella said.
The little girl nodded slowly. “Is almost everyone out there dead?”
Stella breathed out a long sigh. “Well, a lot of people have died, that’s for sure. We can’t tell exactly how many because most communication is down.”