Cade released me, stumbling forward as he staggered toward the wall containing
the scuba gear. Give me a hand! he yelled at Bret.
Bret and Aiden lurched forward. They helped Cade to tear the equipment from the walls. I seized hold of one of the boxes containing an assortment of floaties and tubes. The contents scattered across the floor as I hurriedly dumped them out. I tossed the box to Aiden, searching for another one as they began to fill it.
Another explosion shook the earth; I could barely breathe through the terror filling me. My ears were ringing from the continuous onslaught of noise. The ground beneath my feet was vibrating. I jumped slightly as a hand wrapped around my arm, Bret pulled me against his side. This way Bethany! he shouted above the noise.
I searched for Aiden and Cade, but they were struggling to carry the equipment and the box. We have to help them! I gasped, struggling against his hold on me.
We have to get out of here! he snapped back.
Wait I struggled to break free of him, but he would not let me go. Cade.
Cades head whipped around, his eyes narrowed upon us as his lips clamped tight. Get her out of here! he snarled with such ferocity that even I was stunned. Now! Get her out now !
Bret tugged on my arm, and this time I relented to him. Abby was already by the back door, holding it open for us. Bret pulled me rapidly forward; I nearly tripped over my own feet as I struggled to keep up with him. I was stiff, braced for further explosions, but no more rent the air. I staggered out the door, inhaling giant gulps of air that was nowhere near as fresh as I had hoped it would be. It smelled rancid, it tasted foul. There was a bitterness to it that caused me to recoil. My lungs burned from the tainted air, my nose hairs were singed as the horrendous smell and intense heat burned into my nostrils.
For a brief, entirely disorienting moment, I thought that it was snowing. But it couldnt be snowing, not in August anyway, could it? Then again, far stranger things had happened over the past few days, snow in August didnt seem entirely impossible at the moment. I reached my hand up, blinking against the fine particles coating my eyelashes, falling across my face, and turning the night sky completely black as they blocked out the stars and moon. The fine particles were pungent against my lips, bitter on my tongue. It took me a long moment to realize that it was not in fact snow, but fine, flowing ash .
I turned to the right, the building blocked some of my view but the sky behind the building was a vivid red orange hue. Whereas the night around us was as dark as midnight, it was as bright as the sun over there. And it looked angry, malevolent, and deadly. We all stood, staring in silent awe at the glowing, malicious sky. We had been so eager to flee the building, but now I found that my feet would not move. I didnt want to see what the building hid, what was sheltered from our view.
Awful, Abby breathed.
What is that? Molly croaked out.
Flames from the bridge must have spread, Bret said softly.
The gas station, I whispered.
And the other buildings close to it. Those were the explosions. The fire is going to keep spreading. It will reach other propane tanks, gas tanks, oil tanks. We need to go before it reaches us. I dropped my hands, dismayed by the coating of soot that clung to them. We have no choice but to swim now.
He tugged me back a few steps. For a moment I was frozen, and then self preservation kicked in. Brets hand slipped away as we hurried down the hill, struggling to stay on our feet in the rough, dark terrain. I had to keep wiping the ashes from my eyes; they stuck heavily to my lashes making it even more difficult to see. The hill became slick with the material coating it, I slipped and slid, waiting for the inevitable moment when I lost my balance.
Surprisingly, I was not the first one to go down. Instead, Molly let out a small cry as she lost her footing. Her arms pin wheeled in a useless attempt to keep her balance as her feet flew out from beneath her. I winced for her as she landed hard on her butt, bounced a few times before doing a complete ass over teakettle somersault.
Bret and Abby made an attempt to grab hold of her, but she quickly catapulted out of their reach. Molly let out a soft cry of pain, but remained terrifyingly quiet as she plummeted out of view. Molly! Abby cried.
Hush! Bret hissed sharply.
But
Shut up Abby, Molly did.
Abby grew quiet but I could almost hear her tears. My heart hammered in true panic. Was Molly ok? Had she been hurt in the fall? I had no way of knowing what the hell was at the bottom of the damn hill; I could barely see a foot in front of me due to the inescapable
blackness. Were there rocks down there? Was the damn ocean down there?
I chanced a glance over my shoulder; I could barely make out Cade and Aiden struggling down the hill behind us. Their breathing was loud in the oppressive air, but then, so was mine. My lungs labored, my throat burned. It could not be good to be inhaling this crap, but there was little I could do about that now. Little that any of us could do.