HELEN takes JAMES’s hand and then HANK’s hand.
A bright light flashes across the sky.
JAMES, HELEN, and JACKSON turn away. HANK looks right into the flash and instantly becomes blind.
HANK screams.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“And cut!”
We cheered and jumped and celebrated. Sure, we were covered in dirt, and the sky was covered in ash and fire and dust, and it looked real—too real. But we celebrated.
“Skeet outdid himself,” Mr. Edman said, clapping. “Bravo. Bravo.”
Dylan kept filming. B-roll, or whatever it was called. The director went over to Tyson and took the walkie-talkie out of his hand.
Director: “Norman for Skeet. Copy?”
Silence.
Director: “Norman for Skeet. Copy?”
Silence.
Director: “Norman for Skeet. Copy? What’s your twenty?”
Silence.
Nothing. “Absolutely nothing.”
It was quiet. Really quiet. Too quiet. No animals were making noise. No vehicles were on the interstate, but the police had stopped them when Skeet set off the explosions for safety reasons.
Director: “Norman for Skeet. Copy?”
Skeet: “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”
Skeet: “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!”
Skeet: “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”
Skeet: “Run, run, run, run, go, go, go, go, go, go—”
Director: “Norman for Skeet. Copy?”
Nothing. Silence.
“Well, that was strange,” the director said, handing the walkie-talkie back to Tyson. “I wonder if he thought the explosion was going to be that big.”
-
The three of them witnessed the attacks on Pikesville. The citizens did not make it to their shelters in time. The planned government-issued Civil Defense drill across the nation failed. Unbeknownst to all, it was a surprise attack. “This might be a bomb” turned out to actually be one.
The sky to the northeast glowed brilliant in the midmorning sun. The damage was extensive, but the three who witnessed the atomic blast on the mountaintop did not know just how extensive.
Chapter Thirty-Five
We stood on the side of Crow Mountain and stared out at the horizon. There was a lot of smoke, and it reached high into the atmosphere. Fires were raging. Lots of them.
“This doesn’t look right,” the bus driver said.
“What doesn’t look right?” Tyson asked.
“Did your explosives guy just blow up half of Arkansas?”
“Nah,” Tyson said, shaking his head.
Owen stood off to the side, his eyes giving him a lot of problems. He still couldn’t see. How much solution had they given him to dilate his eyes? He had a handkerchief in his pocket and somehow twisted it and flipped it and wrapped it around his eyes and tied it behind his head. He leaned up against the bus and scooted himself down on the dirty, dusty ground.
The bus driver tried to get a better look. He stepped closer to the mountain’s edge and leaned forward. But he lost his footing and started to fall. Tyson ran over there to help. I screamed. He grabbed the bus driver’s waist, and they both fell back.
“What’s going on?” Owen asked. I stood beside him. He reached out for my arm but found my boob instead. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to touch that.”
“The bus driver almost went over the mountain—with Tyson,” I said.
“What?”
“The bus driver almost went over the mountain with Tyson,” I said again.
“We need to radio for help,” the bus driver said.
“Why?” Dylan asked.
“I dropped the keys.”
“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit,” the director repeated. “We’ll lose half the day, and we still have the girl’s death scene.”
Dylan grabbed the walkie-talkie out of the director’s back pants pocket and pushed down the button.
Dylan: “Dylan for Skeet. Copy?”
Nothing.
Dylan: “Dylan for Skeet. Copy?”
Still nothing.
Dylan: “Dylan for Skeet. Copy?”
Again, still nothing.
“They’re probably busy dealing with that,” Freddy said, pointing to the smoke in the distance.
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Maybe the explosives knocked out power,” Terrence said.
“That’s probably it,” the director said. “It was a big explosion. I bet it looked great on film.”
“Yeah, it looked great,” Dylan said through the camera lens.
Tyson and the bus driver slowly walked back over to where we were. They were still visibly shaken.
“You guys okay?” I asked.
“I will be—eventually,” Tyson said.
“I don’t know about him, but I need a clean pair of britches,” the bus driver said, and Tyson agreed.
“Well, Tyson, I’m glad you didn’t go over. A good assistant is really hard to find,” said the director as Tyson gave him a sidelong glance.
-
Communications were interrupted. The three did not know if the United States had counterattacked the Soviet Union. Was there time? And if so, did it have a similar devastating effect?
Chapter Thirty-Six
We were stuck on Crow Mountain. We were cold, dirty, thirsty, and hungry.
“There’s food on the bus,” Tyson said.
Terrence ran onto the bus and went down the aisle, looking at each seat until he got to the back of the bus.
“No food,” he said, crying. “There’s no food.”
“It’s only been a couple of hours,” Freddy said.
“Oh, the food’s in the van with Kitty and Raymond,” Tyson clarified.
“And where are they?” Freddy said, climbing off the bus.
“They have to be on their way,” Tyson said, taking the walkie-talkie and changing the station.
Tyson: “Tyson for Kitty. Copy that?”
Nothing.
Tyson: “Tyson for Kitty. Copy that?”
Still nothing.
Tyson: “Tyson for Kitty. Copy that?”
Again, nothing.
“Dead zone, remember?” Max said.
Tyson stuck the walkie-talkie in his back pocket.
“I’ve got some food,” Max said. “Crew left some last night, and I’ve got some left over from the party here a few weeks ago. Want some?”
“What kind of food?” Freddy asked.
“Junk.”
We followed him into the cave.
“We have nothing to drink, except…” Max said, smiling and winking.
“You’re freaking me out,” Freddy said.