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"Helpfro, I’"

He tried to pull her free by her feet, but she began to shriek in agony There was no other way; he’d have to an to twist A groan and then a pop and it broke away fro in pain Grey knew he shouldn’tthe bench beneath the open door, he hoisted her to his shoulder, stepped up, and laid her gently on the roof He followed, clie, circled back, and reached up to receive her, easing her body down the side of the helicopter

"Oh, God Please, don’t let me lose her Don’t let round, which was streith rubble froirders, concrete blasted into chunks, shards of glass He eeping, too It was too late, he knew; the baby was gone Gouts of blood, clotted with black, were spilling fros, an unstoppable flow In another moment she would follow her baby into darkness A childhood prayer found Grey’s lips and he began to ain, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen"

Save her, Grey

You knohat to do

He did; he knew The answer had been inside hinacio and the Ho before

Do you see, Grey?

He lifted his face to behold the from the darkness and fla hi before them, his face streaked with tears He felt no fear, only astonishive to you

-Yes They aresharp His hands searched the ground, lighting upon a sliver of metal, soht inches long, the edges ragged as a saw Positioning it lengthwise across his wrist, he closed his eyes and slashed a deep gash into his flesh The blood spurted forth, a wide, dark river, filling his palht, Fa Any breath uishing huainst her lips, tenderly, like aher breast to the mouth of a newborn babe

"Drink," he said

Grey never even saw it: the chunk of concrete, thirty-four pounds of solid rock, that Guilder, with all the strength he could muster, hoisted into the air above Grey’s head and then brought down upon hio as the sun was setting, filling the sky with a golden light First the outer ring of suburbs, e before them like a promise, the shape of the city The lone survivors, their lives joined by the mysterious bond of their survival: they traveled in silence, drearuine, the hypnotic whoosh of asphalt beneath their wheels Ghosts sat beside them, the people they had lost

As the city came into focus, Pastor Don bent forward fro over the city, buzzing ah above, the contrails of aircraft cast ribbons of color against the deepening blue A zone of safety, it seemed, but this couldn’t last In their hearts they knew there was none

"Let’s pull off a minute"

Danny drew the bus to the side of the roadway Pastor Don rose to address the group The decision was upon them Should they stop or continue? They had the bus, water, food, fuel No one knehat lay ahead Take a reement, then a show of hands The verdict was unanimous

"Okay, Danny"

They circled the city to the south and continued east on a rural blacktop Night fell like a do down on the earth By daybreak they were somewhere in Ohio A landscape of pure anonymity; they could have been anywhere Time had slowed to a crawl Fields, trees, houses,by, the horizon always unreachable, rolling away In the small towns, a seo, what to do The highways, it was said, were jammed At a lancing out theat the bus, asked, Can I go with you? On the wall behind her head, a television screen showed a city in flames She spoke in a hushed tone so as not to be overheard She didn’t ask where they were going; their destination was simply away A quick phone call andby the bus, holding suitcases

Others joined thehith a rifle over his shoulder An elderly couple, dressed as if for church, their car expired on the side of the road with its hood standing open, stea from its cracked radiator A pair of cyclists, French across the country when the crisis began Whole faratitude as they took their places Like fish joining a school, they were absorbed into the whole Cities were bypassed, one after the other: Coluun to feel historical, like cities of a lost e the town Some questions were asked but not others Have you heard about Salt Lake, Tulsa, St Louis? Do they knohat it is yet, have they discovered the answer? Only in ht with peril For a tihetti," "A Hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall"