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The elderly man, absent Gordon Rand’s hand over his ht ere supposed to be quiet!"

But there was no being quiet anyood at this point, and the horses and cart were barreling--kicking back to the main road where travel was faster, if more exposed Another tree nearby was blown to bits with a sound like the whole world falling down As the echo of it faded, Mercy’s ears were ringing, and there was a tickle in her nose, of sawdust or vibration, then a knock against her head as a rock in the road launched the cart higher, then dropped it to the ground again with a clap that fractured the back axle

"Oh, Jesus!" Mercy gasped, not that she thought HeBeneath her body, she could feel the sway and give and tug of the weakened wheels, and an added quiver to the cart’s retreat

"Mickey!" Clinton cried

Mercy looked up just in time to see hi horses, and begin to fall Clinton grabbed him and jerked him back onto the seat, but couldn’t hold hied the driver, pulling hiht on top of herself, since there was no chance to maneuver him and no steady spot to put him down

Clinton seized the reins

With the help of Gordon Rand and the students, Mercy rolled Mickey over and patted hi, but she could feel a copious, war that lantern over here!"

"We’re supposed to keep it turned off!"

"Turn it up, just a spark I need to see And I don’t think it matters now, nohow" She took the lantern fro it up to a pale glow, barely enough illu wildly back and forth from its wire handle, and the whole scene looked unreal, and hellish, and rattled "He’s bleeding bad"

"Not that bad," he slurred, and his eyes rolled up in his head

Black-​haired Mickey had lost a chunk of that prettya slab of et a stable enough look to see if it went as deep as that His left ear was gone, and a terrible slash along his jawline showed the white, wet underpinning of his guotten hit by a bit of that last tree"

"Must’ve," Mercy said She pulled Mickey’s head into her lap and daubed the wound until it was mostly clean

Ernie asked, "Can you help hiet hi head rested against the older woet inside iven the nurse a second, but the line wouldn’t

A cannonball shot across the road in front of theh the woods, across the theel ruts, and into the trees on the other side, where soh to stop it A second followed the first, then a third

The horses screa them with swears, threats, and pro One after another the horses found their feet and lunged, heaving the daerously, and Mickey wouldn’t stop bleeding, and in the e and plunking against trunks

"We’re too heavy," the copilot said, and withdrew to the farthest corner, away fro to make it!"

"One more mile!" shouted Clinton "We’re halfway to the rail lines; it only has to onna," Mercy cried

"Holy Jesus all fired in hell!" Clinton choked, just loudly enough for the nurse to hear hiliside the back and forth between the thick trunks of the trees that hid al more than twenty yards away

"What was that?" she asked loudly, forgetting her h to exclaiine," Clinton said to her, half over his shoulder while he tried to watch the road "Those bastards brought a walker!"

"What’s a--?"

Another rock or a pothole sent the cart banging again, then the axle snapped, horrifying the horses and dragging the back end down to the ground, spilling out passengers and cargo alike Mercy wrapped her torso around Mickey and her aring to a corner under the driver’s seat until the horses were persuaded to quit dragging the dead weight and let the thing haul to a stop

Half off the road and half on it, the cart was splayed on its side much like the Zephyr had wound up, only open and even