The fast-moving bike hit the bottom, and Kendle clung to him as they shot upward, very close to tipping over. They evened out onto a rocky path that led gradually up a tall hill dotted with heavily-swaying banyan trees. Rain pelting their faces, wind stealing her breath in little, painful gusts each time he rounded a curve, Kendle held on tight, and waited for it to be over.

Blindingly vivid lightning flashed overhead abruptly, moving toward them at thousands of miles per hour, and their ears were filled with a roaring thunder as it slammed into the ground, exploding in a ball of vivid red and white light.

Ccrraaacckkk!

There was no way to avoid the flaming, bushy tree that crashed to the ground across their path, and the bike tire hit the thick log at full speed, flipping them into the air.

Arm still deadlocked around his waist, Kendle screamed, and then the breath was knocked out of her as they hit the mud and slid toward the edge of the steep hill.

Kendle sucked in air to scream again, hands clawing for purchase as she felt herself start to go over, and the small breath shot out in another piercing shout as she started to fall.

Luke snagged her slick wrist, pulling it out of its socket for a second of awful pain, before hauling her up and into his arms. "You all right, Darlin?"

She buried her head against his chest and Luke held her close as he got to his feet. Moving back to the muddy path that he had no trouble seeing in the dark, Luke had a brief, horribly real flash of trying to carry each villager out of ground zero and shook it away. Now was not the time.

The rain fell harder, washing away some of the mud on their hands and faces, and Luke didn't stop to look at the bike, but carried her to a dark hillside before setting her gently on her feet.

"Hang on a minute, little girl, and we'll be inside."

Kendle saw nothing that resembled a shelter, and her eyes widened when he pulled aside a large patch of grass like it was a carpet, revealing a wide, steel door set into the earth.

Realizing carpet was right, she watched him twist the combination lock into place. When he disappeared inside, she followed with only a little hesitation. She had that unnerving sense of wrongness as she went in, but it wasn't as bad as it had been previously and she guessed that was one of the few wounds that might heal completely with enough time. She had been back on land for a little over three weeks, but a lot of the horror was still there, lurking just under the surface of her polite smiles and casual words.




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