!" Martha, Mike's mother, pushed through th

voice flat. "He took the bus,

an Mike had "rescued" from the desert three months ago.

belief turning to a familiar, sharp anger.

ured, a chorus of fe

hed my arm, her knuckles white. "Th

d maybe a dozen hunting rifles, old ones, and not en

ept

out before I fully formed the thought. "It's not m

le, a relic from a forgotten silver rush. Bu

uickly! And blankets! Anything warm!" I yelled

ed, a flurry of p

tanding alone, her face pale and tear

my voice softer

ldn't listen. I heard the alarm. I tried to tell him,

did he

ou were filling my head with nonsense because

r. Mike had always be

and not ruin Lila's speci

was louder now. Def

id, grabbing Chloe's ha

t hid the entrance to the Peterson mine. It was a narrow, dark

started to cry, sca

Emily coo to her little boy. "

o

r growing colder, the ligh

ing the older women, her earlier ang

artially closed over the entrance. It wouldn't stop

g flashlights. The sounds from outside were muffled,

were

ed the cramped space. Children whi

laughing with Lila, oblivious. Or maybe

boot, his face,

I survived,