Maya wouldn’t sleep if she stayed at the station, and she knew everyone in the place would be watching the news and talking about the day’s events. If she was going to take a break, she was going to take a break.
She smiled. “Let’s get out of here.”
Open 24/7 and nestled between St. Thomas Midtown Hospital and Nashville Fire Station #19, Café Coco was usually filled with college students and hipsters, but doctors, nurses, and emergency services workers also came in and out of the place during all three shifts. Reno had thought the place might be closed due to the earthquake and had suggested calling to see if it was open, but Maya had wanted to walk, to get fresh air and not have to drive again just yet.
Upon arriving, Maya saw the usual stream of steady customers. The only time Maya had seen the place dark was during the Nashville flood of 2010. She’d thought the earthquake might have knocked out its power, but she’d been wrong.
People were going in empty-handed and leaving the café with their favorite caffeinated, black fuel. Not many grabbed a table, and so Maya and Reno took one towards the back. Maya loved one cream and one sugar in her coffee, but she opted for a straight black brew this time. Reno followed her to their table, and Maya sipped her coffee as she texted her mother and waited for their food.
“Everything cool with your kids?” Reno asked.
Maya nodded. “They’re with my mom.”
“Good. You know if Gerald went to your mom’s house?”
“I called him back and left a voicemail. Sent him a couple of texts. He hasn’t replied to anything.”
“He probably wasn’t serious.”
You don’t know him like I do.
A waiter approached their table carrying two plates.
“Americano Panini?”
Maya raised her hand, thanking the hipster as he set the sandwich down in front of her.
“And a Caesar salad with no meat for you, sir.”
“Thanks,” Reno said.
“Enjoy.”
Maya grinned as she looked at Reno’s plate.
“What?” Reno asked.
“I don’t know how you can go through what we went through today and just eat a salad. Don’t you want some protein or something?”
“You’ve been making me have lunch at that damn Jamaica Way too much lately. You know I can’t resist their jerk chicken. I gotta keep my waistline under control. Besides, plants have protein, too. You don’t want to be stuck with Raymond as a partner if I call in sick, do you?”
Maya laughed. In truth, she didn’t want to be stuck with anyone else as a partner. She loved Reno’s company. Not only was he fantastic at his job, but he was kind.
The two ate without pausing for conversation. Like her, Maya assumed Reno didn’t want to talk about the earthquake. Everyone in the café was chatting about it, but Maya blocked them out. She enjoyed her panini and swapped a few texts with her daughter.
“You know,” Reno said, “You can make fun of me all you want about this salad, but this thing is—”
The table shook. Maya watched her coffee splash from side to side before the mug fell off the table and shattered on the floor. Maya looked around at the worried faces in the restaurant, then at Reno.
They both shot to their feet.
“Everyone, outside!” Maya yelled.
“Now!” Reno said, grabbing people by their arms and dragging them out of their seats.
Maya led everyone into the middle of the street, away from tall trees or buildings. The ground continued to shake.
“Is everyone out?” Maya asked.
“The café’s clear,” Reno said.
“All right,” Maya said. “Everyone just stay—”
An explosion cut Maya off, throwing her to the ground. She covered her head while the people around her screamed. The ground shook again.
When it stopped, she stood and glanced in the direction where she thought the blast had originated, thinking that maybe an aftershock had ruptured a gas line.
Her eyes went wide as Reno got up and stood beside her.
“Oh my God,” Maya said. “What is that?”
10
Maya sprinted toward the smoke. It filled the near horizon above the Nashville skyline, whatever had caused it was less than a mile or two away.
Others who had fled the surrounding buildings ran with her. As did Reno. She stopped after she’d gone two blocks. The massive oaks surrounding Centennial Park blocked her view of the fire, and the night sky made it even more difficult to see anything else.
“That’s coming from the direction of the Parthenon,” Reno said.
Another loud crash rattled Maya’s teeth. People screamed, as the ground trembled enough to knock her off balance. A split second later, she saw a second cloud of debris billowing toward them. Maya thought about the old church and the limestone dust that had been created when it collapsed.
“We should get back to the station,” Reno said, his voice shaking. “Or least see if we can get closer in the rig.”
Maya looked at him and saw a bead of sweat on his top lip. Reno stood, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
“No. We need to keep following that smoke. If buildings are collapsing, we can help people out.”
“We don’t have any of our gear with us. And we’re not equipped to put out fires.”
“It doesn’t matter. People need help, now.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Maya. We need to—”
Maya ran again, ignoring Reno’s pleas to return to the station. She felt a flutter in her stomach. Why would smoke be coming from the Parthenon, one of Nashville’s oldest and most treasured landmarks? It was the centerpiece of Nashville’s stunning Centennial Park and had enthralled citizens and tourists alike for decades. She was no scientist, but Maya knew the structure was made of concrete—and concrete didn’t burn.
Pushing aside the question, Maya pumped her arms and legs faster, leaping over trash in the road.
Cars had stopped on 25th Avenue, the drivers standing beside them, looking around and pointing in several directions at once. Maya shot past them and ran up the short hill and into the park. Reno called after her, but she kept moving.
She pushed through the trees and came to the wide-open field that stretched two hundred yards from the West End neighborhood she’d exited right up to the steps of the Parthenon. She stopped in the middle of the field, fifty yards away from the structure, and stared. Her jaw dropped, and her heart sank.
It hadn’t been smoke after all. It was dust.
It appeared as though a giant hand had squeezed the Parthenon until nothing but hunks of concrete and white dust had trickled to the ground. The giant columns had been pulverized, and the art gallery inside the structure had to have been obliterated into electrical wires and shards of glass beneath the mass of debris.
A few people stumbled away from what was left of the structure. White dust coated their bodies except for where blood streaked their faces. She could smell natural gas and raw earth even from here. Some of the trees had been uprooted and tossed to the side like used toothpicks.
And above the pile of rubble rose a pointed stone obelisk from beneath the surface… thinner, but similar in proportion to the Washington Monument. It slowly climbed into the sky like a rocket lifting off of a launch pad. Dirt, pipes, and people flew in every direction as the obelisk continued to rise.
People ran in every direction, clamoring to escape from the strange object that had apparently grown out of the Parthenon’s rubble. Maya blinked and shook her head, waving people toward her even though she wasn’t quite sure what she would do with them. The Parthenon hadn’t been open at this time of night, and Maya thanked God for that. If more than the maintenance staff and security guards had been in the underground museum when this thing had emerged from the ground, they’d be dealing with dozens, possibly hundreds of injuries.