especially after having to stop for Sam to relieve himself. Brenna didn’t feel too guilty since it wasn’t as if Mason hadn’t used the opportunity to top off on gas and go himself anyway. “I’m just saying you’re not to go around announcing we’re heading to a bunker that will sustain us for years in relative safety. You’d be making us a huge target.”
Brenna understood where Mason was going with his warning, but that didn’t mean she’d be able to leave a child stranded on the side of the road without losing her humanity. They were both adults and they both had the ability to gauge a situation as right or wrong. She wasn’t about to argue over something that hadn’t happened yet and might not. So far all they’d encountered were vehicles driving at breakneck speed going in the opposite direction. She was just a tad bit envious considering the visual lying in front of them.
“Didn’t that seem odd to you?” Brenna asked guardedly, casting a glance toward the green LED lights on the radio to keep track of the time. It was after six o’clock in the evening and they were fifty-five miles north of Billings, Montana, having just passed through Roundup on Interstate 87. To their southwest, a massive, grayish-black cloud descended unlike anything she’d ever seen before. It didn’t even appear to be real. It was like something out of a disaster movie and she kept waiting for someone to wake her up and tell her everything was going to be all right. She’d been trying to avoid looking at it, but that was getting harder and harder to do. “Those people back there were waiting for the ash as if the first Christmas snow of the season was arriving on their doorstep. It was…disturbing.”
“Some people refuse to understand. They think it can’t happen to them.” Mason rolled his left shoulder, almost as if he were in pain. Brenna wondered if it had anything to do with the raised scar she’d seen earlier underneath his shirt, but his next words caught her attention. “Some want the experience of an apocalypse and refuse to accept just how bad things will get. And then there are the ones who don’t want to live through this and see it as God’s wrath.”
“The will to survive is instinctive, though,” Brenna said, noticing that Sam had sat up in the backseat and was staring out the back windshield. The low whine he emitted caused her stomach to roll. She almost couldn’t bring herself to look behind them, but she couldn’t resist. “Mason…”
The ash cloud was suddenly rolling over them. There had been a flake or two a mile back, but this…this was like being overtaken by a sandstorm. Mason was suddenly muttering curses and braking the truck, immediately turning onto a side road that would take them farther west. It wouldn’t matter. They were about to be engulfed and their current means of transportation was about to eventually stall.
Brenna’s first thought was for the horses, afraid they would suffocate if the material Mason had used to cover the vents failed to keep the ash out. It would be a horrible death. She held her breath instinctively when Mason turned on the windshield wipers, only managing to smear the accumulated ash residue.
“Look for a farm, ranch, or someplace where we can have enough cover for the truck and trailer.” Mason was already pulling off the back road to turn onto a dirt road, making her realize he was gambling this path would lead them to a place with shelter. What did he think he was going to do? Just drive up to someone’s farm and ask for refuge? Ranchers in these parts didn’t take too kindly to strangers and the end of the world wasn’t likely to change their disposition for the better. The only saving grace now was that they probably wouldn’t be outside to intercept them. “Stay inside the truck when I do find something and keep that rifle in hand.”
Brenna shot Mason an annoyed look, wondering if he thought he was talking to some chick in the
Brenna understood where Mason was going with his warning, but that didn’t mean she’d be able to leave a child stranded on the side of the road without losing her humanity. They were both adults and they both had the ability to gauge a situation as right or wrong. She wasn’t about to argue over something that hadn’t happened yet and might not. So far all they’d encountered were vehicles driving at breakneck speed going in the opposite direction. She was just a tad bit envious considering the visual lying in front of them.
“Didn’t that seem odd to you?” Brenna asked guardedly, casting a glance toward the green LED lights on the radio to keep track of the time. It was after six o’clock in the evening and they were fifty-five miles north of Billings, Montana, having just passed through Roundup on Interstate 87. To their southwest, a massive, grayish-black cloud descended unlike anything she’d ever seen before. It didn’t even appear to be real. It was like something out of a disaster movie and she kept waiting for someone to wake her up and tell her everything was going to be all right. She’d been trying to avoid looking at it, but that was getting harder and harder to do. “Those people back there were waiting for the ash as if the first Christmas snow of the season was arriving on their doorstep. It was…disturbing.”
“Some people refuse to understand. They think it can’t happen to them.” Mason rolled his left shoulder, almost as if he were in pain. Brenna wondered if it had anything to do with the raised scar she’d seen earlier underneath his shirt, but his next words caught her attention. “Some want the experience of an apocalypse and refuse to accept just how bad things will get. And then there are the ones who don’t want to live through this and see it as God’s wrath.”
“The will to survive is instinctive, though,” Brenna said, noticing that Sam had sat up in the backseat and was staring out the back windshield. The low whine he emitted caused her stomach to roll. She almost couldn’t bring herself to look behind them, but she couldn’t resist. “Mason…”
The ash cloud was suddenly rolling over them. There had been a flake or two a mile back, but this…this was like being overtaken by a sandstorm. Mason was suddenly muttering curses and braking the truck, immediately turning onto a side road that would take them farther west. It wouldn’t matter. They were about to be engulfed and their current means of transportation was about to eventually stall.
Brenna’s first thought was for the horses, afraid they would suffocate if the material Mason had used to cover the vents failed to keep the ash out. It would be a horrible death. She held her breath instinctively when Mason turned on the windshield wipers, only managing to smear the accumulated ash residue.
“Look for a farm, ranch, or someplace where we can have enough cover for the truck and trailer.” Mason was already pulling off the back road to turn onto a dirt road, making her realize he was gambling this path would lead them to a place with shelter. What did he think he was going to do? Just drive up to someone’s farm and ask for refuge? Ranchers in these parts didn’t take too kindly to strangers and the end of the world wasn’t likely to change their disposition for the better. The only saving grace now was that they probably wouldn’t be outside to intercept them. “Stay inside the truck when I do find something and keep that rifle in hand.”
Brenna shot Mason an annoyed look, wondering if he thought he was talking to some chick in the
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