Читать книгу The Barkuu - Lauren Wright - Страница 18

Kelly was holding Mika, stroking her hair. "My baby girl, my sweet baby girl," Kelly said. Mika sat on Kelly's lap with her eyes closed, asleep.

"GET OUT! GET OUT NOW!!!" A frantic voice came from the back, startling Kelly. "Don't just sit there; get up now! Go! Get up!"

The man was running around, grabbing people by the arm and pulling them up, "Go! There's a gas leak; this place can blow any second! I'm not kidding; get up!"

People began scrambling to their feet, grabbing whatever they could manage and started piling out of the shelter. Kelly was trying to wake Mika.

"Come on, baby girl; we have to go now. Come on, Mika, you have to get up."

Kelly was on her feet and trying to rush Mika along gently. "Come on, baby; we have to hurry. Grab what you can." Kelly smelled gas. She grabbed her bags and Mika's hand, and Mika grabbed her teddy bear.

A few minutes later, and they were rushing out of the shelter and down the hill. At the bottom of the hill, they began to gather, but nothing happened.

The murmurs began as the last of the people reached the crowd. "Get back, people!" The man was trying to get people to keep going, "This isn't far enough; go!" The people weren't listening. They all looked around, and no one else was moving back.

They started ignoring the man who kept pushing and shouting. The people were losing faith. The Cloud was coming, and they needed to make a decision. Kelly, seeing the frantic man telling them to get back, decided to listen and retreated further.

She was holding Mika, hurrying down the hill when she saw a large tree to shelter behind. From the crowd, she heard, "It's a false alarm!"

The people began crowding back in, but the insistent man pushed back. "STOP! It's not a false alarm. Get back!"

The second she reached the tree, Kelly could feel the tremors of the explosion welling up underground. She ducked behind the tree with Mika, pushing her head down.

The tree was massive, and the roots grew outward, creating a pocket. Kelly tried to shrink into the smallest ball possible, forming a shell around Mika in the pocket. "Cover your ears, baby girl."

The ground began to shake only a split second before the rage appeared from the hole. An intense blast erupted from the orifice and was followed by the six underground wings. The explosion began cascading outward, and the ground nearer the entrance exploded upward followed by a fiery inferno.

Air mobilized in all directions with an extreme vengeance; the concussive wave blew people off of their feet and flung them down the hill like they had been shot from a slingshot.

They were flailing and tumbling in wicked ways, bouncing off trees with sickening silence. All who stuck around were swept away like debris on a windy day. Even some who ran did so above the corridors and were blasted upward when the plumes of fire blossomed.

The ground on either side of the tree continued to explode down the hill. The concussive wave that had preceded the blast stripped the tree of its limbs and leaves.

All the cracking and popping, snapping, and splintering of wood was all rolled into one hateful roar as the blast intensified. More limbs ruptured, blasting sprays of wood that turned bright orange as they singed in the heat.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion, and in an instant, it was over. The remaining smoke clung to the air, and drifted around calmly, giving mood to the ringing in the ears.

Kelly slowly looked up; the tree had protected them, although it was destroyed in the process. They had pieces of wood in their hair but were unharmed. Kelly looked around to see bodies scattered about, and some survivors were staggering around confused.

Kelly wanted to go around helping people. But the Cloud was near, and she had about an hour to find shelter. They were now in the open, and there was nothing around for miles. She started heading down the hill toward the road, carrying Mika, and hoping to God she could get a ride somewhere.