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HOW LONG? HOURS, MINUTES, or just seconds? Everything is still, much quieter than it should be I slowly pryto see The windshield of the Land Rover has shattered, the glass crisscrossed by hundreds of tiny, snaking cracks We&039;re straddling another wreck, and the nose of the car has been shunted up into the air Lying back in ry yellow-gray sky It&039;s the color of bile
Ellis moves I try to lean across and turn toward her, but e it, but I stop My skin feels moist, raw, and pliable Must have been burned Ellis shuffles again, and I try to twist around Then I freeze I feel my bladder loosen involuntarily
The force of what just happened h h the passengeris the singleI have ever seen Between here and what used to be the city, al flaround is scorched and black The city itself-my home, the place where I lived with ht-is gone A thick cliht up into the sky froine the sain, for the unmistakable shape of a er seat next to me Thank God I found her If I&039;d been any slower or any later or if I&039;d waited any longer she&039;d be gone now, vaporized in the blinking of an eye along with soThe apartment, Joseph Mallon, Julia Don&039;t knohy I&039; Is it shock, relief, or sorrow? Ellis looks at the explosion in the distance, then turns and watches me, her brown eyes locked onto mine I try to talk to her, but I can&039;t s feel like they&039;re filled with smoke Is she in shock, too? For the first time since I found her she&039;s quiet and subdued
"We&039;ll wait here till it&039;s safe," I tell her in a voice that doesn&039;t sound like mine "Then we&039;ll find somewhere better, okay?"
She looks at me but doesn&039;t react Then she looks at the broken windshield
"Snow," she says, the first proper word I&039;ve heard hter say ina few large gray clulass "It&039;s ash Dirty Poison Make you sick"
She slumps back in her seat, and beyond her I can see the ain Even now after all that&039;s happened, it&039;s a terrifying and huht The ultimate sy to find a house," I tell Ellis, still watching the cloud, not knohat I&039; to stay there together I know it&039;s hard to understand what happened with Mummy and Edward and Josh, but one day we&039;ll work it out, and e do you&039;ll-"
She springs up from her seat and throws herself across the inside of the Land Rover, leaning onher face hard against the glass I can&039;tso speed she juain, then scra over the soldiers&039; still-wet corpses She yanks at one of the door handles, trying to get out
"Don&039;t, sweetheart," I shout, trying to turnbody around and pull her back into the front I e to catch hold of her, but she wrestles herself free "You can&039;t go out there-"
She squeezes through the gap between the seats again, pushingfor the door I lean across and cover the lock She shakes the handle violently and screams with frustration
"Ellis, don&039;t," I plead "You have to stay here with unfire from somewhere close interrupts me I turn and look out of theat hway now Hundreds of theed soldiers ahters outnu theet past I wrap my heavy arms around her waist and try to pull her closer, but she kicks herself free I&039; She shoves ainst theHer constant, violent movements make the precariously balanced Land Rover shake and start to slip and lurch to one side
"Please" I say, cautiously trying to reach for her again She recoils froainst the windshield in frustration When the broken glass starts to bulge outward, she does it again And again I want to stop her, but I don&039;t have the energy There&039;s blood on her hands now, but she goes on thuet out Finally, with a grunt of effort and anger, she breaks through the windshield and scrambles out onto the hood of the Land Rover My door&039;s blocked by another crashed car, and all I can do is follow her out I crawl over the front of the vehicle, the lass grinding intowhen it&039;s farther to fall than I think I get up quickly, breathing hard The air out here is bone dry and foul s