Behind us, we hear and feel another massive explosion. As I look toward where the mountain should be, I see only a thick cloud of smoke and ash.
“Are you okay?” I crawl over to Aerin and place my hand on her shoulder.
“Mostly,” she replies. She rolls over with a groan. There’s a gash on her temple, but it doesn’t look too deep.
“Can you walk?” I ask.
Aerin stands, wobbling a bit, and then nods.
“Look over there,” I say, nodding toward the mountain.
“I can barely see anything,” she says. “There’s too much smoke.”
“I don’t think there’s anything left to see. The blast destroyed the mountaintop.”
“If that much rock fell, it would have covered Plastictown, Hilltop, and practically the whole valley. We barely escaped the blast range.”
We gather up the supplies as rocks continue to fall. The earth shakes again as we each take one of the poles and start dragging the travois along the bank of the river.
As we get farther away from the mountain, the ground vibrates less and less. We hear two more explosions in the distance before the sun disappears behind the pillar of smoke, and we stop to camp for the night.
“The river is slowing,” Aerin says.
“Why?” I look over to the trickling water. She’s right. The current has slowed to a trickle.
“Best guess, the debris created a dam. Whatever is left will flood.”
“The whole mountain and valley…” I shake my head, trying to picture in my mind what the devastation must look like. “Would anyone make it out alive?”
“In the valley, no. The transport might have been fast enough though.”
I wonder if she’s sure of that or just wants to believe it for her mother’s sake.
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Aerin says quietly as she gets a fire going. “I mean, I saw him on the ground, but I didn’t check.
“Yes, he is.”
“Did you use that poison?”
“Yes.”
Aerin stares into the flames. I reach out and touch the back of her hand, relieved when she turns it palm up and entwines her fingers with mine.
“Do you think someone will come after us?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” I say with a shrug. “Maybe they’ll decide the president died from a virus.”
Chapter 25
Every single part of my body hurts.
My shoulder throbs from the rock that hit it. My leg stings from the bullet that hit it. My arms, legs, and back ache with fatigue from the running, the fighting, and the dragging of the heavy travois through the mountain terrain.
Aerin isn’t in much better shape.
The punch she received from the guard has left her dizzy, and I’m pretty sure she has a concussion. Her cheek is bruised; there is a gash on her temple and a cut on her lip.
“You look awful,” Aerin says.