Lightning (34 page)

She glanced around. “Where are Mother and Dane and Treva?” she yelled over the sounds of the AirWagon and the rumbling of the Mountain. She suddenly felt panic. Did they get left behind?

Mojica worked at pressing the machine higher and faster than Selah had ever seen one travel. “They're safe with Taraji and the rest of my people. They had enough of a head start to reach the high point of the mountain range.”

Selah looked down at the land passing by at a dizzying speed. She could see the road into Stone Braide. Off to the left, a steam vent opened between two scraggly, dead bushes. A huge jet of steam shot toward the sky with a rushing hiss loud enough to be heard over the rumbling. A burst of white vapor billowed over the road like sea foam.

Mojica had both hands on the stick, fighting the jerky movements caused by the increasing percussion of explosions on the mountain range. Selah was transfixed looking back at the mountain range. All along its length, small stones and pebbles bounced and danced down the slopes. They turned into an onslaught of larger rocks and boulders rolling down the side with waves of dirt and debris. Trees tipped over and were carried down the hillside. The vibrations slowly increased to an urgent pounding as the eruption grew closer to the surface. The boulders bounced with the pounding, making it almost seem surreal. One boulder crashed into an evergreen, shearing it off. The tree continued down the slope with the rest of the debris.

The pounding turned into an earthquake. The ground they flew over shook with great jerking movements, dislodging everything possible. Trees were falling, and on the ground she could see animals running up the hill. All sorts of animals. Ones that an hour ago would have been trying to kill each other were now running together to save themselves. But from what, Selah wasn't sure.

The tallest peak on the range collapsed in on itself, sucking in all the rocks and trees in a fifty-foot circle, as well as any living thing that hadn't gotten out of the way fast enough. The sunken center rose again. A gray-colored peak formed and split in the center. For a few seconds only steam escaped from the crevasse. The earthquake stopped.

Selah tapped Bodhi and he turned to look, as did Mari. They were about two miles away now, but as they rose on another mountain range, it afforded them a perfect view of the event.

The top of the gray peak expanded and contracted several times like it was puckering up for a kiss. The last time, in slow motion, it continued to expand.

When it blew, almost an eighth square mile of Mountain and what looked like ash exploded into the air. The gas accompanying the explosion was hot enough to melt any remaining minerals in the soil and incinerate any living thing in the area.

The percussion of the explosion rocked the AirWagon, throwing Selah, Bodhi, and Mari from their seats and into a pile on the floor. Mojica wrestled with the stick, trying to get more speed.

Selah grabbed the seat and pulled herself up. The explosion was still climbing high into the air as they flew away from it. A black column of dust and chemicals rose out of the breached opening. Sprays of lightning from the friction of the escaping particles shot out in all directions.

The dark, ominous cloud at the top of the column billowed and rolled as it expanded to the east of the eruption. As Selah watched, it seemed to circle around the top of the mountain range and head toward them.

“Mojica, that cloud is coming after us!” Selah yelled.

Mojica slapped more circuits, trying to boost output, but the faster speed made the magnojets suck in more air. The black cloud enveloped them. Mojica fought with the stick as the AirWagon bucked and lurched. One of the magnos sputtered and cut off. The AirWagon listed to the right. She tried for more altitude. The dragging side clipped an ancient pine tree that would not yield its dominion to a piece of metal.

The AirWagon spun flat out into a large grouping of trees where it balanced precariously about twenty feet from the ground. Over their heads, lightning shot across the sky as though from a hundred directions at once. The air changed. Selah tasted it before she saw it. Ozone.

The darkened sky raged with a light show. First a large plop of rain landed on Selah's upturned face, then another great splash on her arm.

Mojica recovered from the impact and looked over the side, then up at the sky. “We need to get on the ground.” As though the world agreed with her, the sky opened up and
it started to rain. Not soft pattering rain, but hard, pelting, stinging rain.

Mari climbed over the side of the AirWagon. “Follow me!”

Selah didn't think it the least bit odd, but Bodhi and Mojica both stared over the side at her as she began climbing down the tree with Mari. “You better come on before that fills with water and pulls itself out of the tree,” she yelled up to them.

That seemed to register with both of them, and they came over the side in the same manner. As they reached the grass, they heard a cracking sound, and Bodhi had just enough time to rush everyone out of range before the AirWagon crashed to the ground.

They stood there in the pouring rain looking at the wreck.

“That could have been us,” Bodhi said loudly enough to be heard over the roar of the rain.

“But it wasn't, is the important part,” Mari said. She brushed the wet hair out of her eyes and crawled over the seat wreckage closest to her.

Selah looked at Mojica. “What's she doing?”

Mojica shrugged.

They were beginning to resemble the litter of puppies that Mother had saved when the creek flooded their barn.

Mari crawled out of the wreckage hauling the leather bag. “I figured since Father entrusted it to me, I'd better not lose it,” Mari said.

Selah hugged her. She still felt guilty about yelling at Mari earlier. After all, the woman was her sister.

“We need to get to higher ground,” Mojica yelled.

“Can't we just find some shelter from this rain and let it blow itself out?” Bodhi asked.

Mojica shook her head. “This isn't going to blow itself out. It's going to run itself out.”

“What does that mean?” Mari asked.

“Flood. This is going to end in a massive flood,” Mojica said. “What you saw blow from that Mountain was five thousand tons of chemicals.” She directed them up the side of a hill. Selah was glad it wasn't too steep. Her legs were throbbing with muscle aches that hadn't recuperated yet, and her hip was still not quite right.

“What are the chemicals for?” Bodhi must have seen Selah favoring her hip and put himself on that side for support.

“Seeding the clouds to make it rain.” Mojica slung the leather bag over her shoulder so Mari could climb the hill.

Selah shut her eyes and let the rain wash her face for a minute. “If it's going to end in a flood, how much good can the rain be?”

T
he rain is going to create a specific and engineered flood that will wash away the ash from the mountain pass to the West,” Mojica said.

Selah stopped and stared at Mojica like she'd stared when the farmer next door had a two-headed calf. It just didn't register in her consciousness what the woman had said.

“When Treva mentioned that before, I thought she was exaggerating, but you're saying this water event is real?” Selah leaned on Bodhi and traipsed across the ridge. “How is something like that even possible? It's been raining for 150 years and it hasn't washed away the ash.”

Mojica hoisted the leather bag higher. “I'm sure your copy of the Keepers' journals will tell you how the chemicals would work on the ash. I'm not scientifically interested enough to remember all of those extensive words. But yes, this flood will cut through the ash.”

Bodhi helped Selah over a fallen tree. She sat on the trunk. “So does that mean we're going to go to the West?”

Mojica turned back. “You won't be going anywhere if you don't come on. Remember—flood. We need to get to higher ground, much higher ground.”

Bodhi looked back down the slight hill. He lifted Selah off the thick log. “You mean it's going to fill in those hills?”

Mojica snorted a little. “It's going to cover all of here.”

This time Mari stopped too. Mojica turned around to the three of them and threw her arms out to her sides. “Come on, folks. We don't have time to dawdle.”

Selah touched Mari's back. She knew the story of WoodHaven, but Bodhi didn't. It made them kindred of sorts besides being sisters. A flood had been in her ancient past, and another one would be part of her future. “How are you feeling about this coincidence?”

Mari smiled and dropped back to walk next to Selah. “Father used to say there are no such things as coincidences. That everything happens for a reason, and it all works together for a future.”

“After all the things I've been through since I got here, I have to agree with that,” Bodhi said.

Selah nodded. “How much higher do we have to go?” Her hip was starting to sting.

“I don't know, but I'd say if we got from this hill to that part of the mountain range over there, we'd have plenty far up that we could go to escape water,” Mojica said.

Selah slipped on the soggy, wet leaves and Bodhi caught her in his arms. For a second she closed her eyes. The rain
pelted her upturned face, but she wished for this moment of peace always. She hopped up and trudged on.

They made it to the base of the mountain. Just looking up made Selah wince. This angle was much steeper than the slight hills they'd been on.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a crash. Maybe an explosion. They stopped and looked back down the hill.

Mari saw it first. “Look at the valley, over there on that side.” She pointed at a natural canyon between two hillsides. Water had started running between them. Enough water that it could be seen from where they were standing on the mountain. It turned into a major torrent faster than Selah anticipated.

“That crashing sound must have been the dam breaking upstream from here. That would explain such a rush of water at one time,” Mojica said.

Bodhi pointed. “What explains that water?”

In the opposite direction, a second flood was doing battle to converge with the first.

“I'd guess that when those two meet up, they're going to come this way,” Selah said.

“You would be correct on that. I was just calculating how fast I think it's going to get to this spot,” Mari said.

“You mean here where we're standing?” Bodhi asked.

“Probably above where we are. We'd better get going,” Mari said.

Selah sucked in a breath and started walking faster. The stabbing in her hip brought tears to her eyes, but she couldn't stop. A thundering sounded behind them. She turned just
in time to shout a warning as a herd of deer fled up the mountainside.

Rabbits, bobcats, and smaller creatures were all streaming away from the water. It had taken over the valley. It was a river of swiftly moving water, churning and destroying everything in its path. The sound was coming closer.

Bodhi now was practically carrying Selah along by her arm. Her hip had become almost useless with the stabbing pains. Mari propped up her other side. Mojica's strength would have been ideal, but her height difference made it awkward for her to lend Selah a shoulder. But she was strong enough to carry the leather bag that had to weigh at least thirty pounds.

“We need to go faster,” Mari said. “At the rate it's rising, the water will overtake us before we get another four hundred feet. This just isn't steep enough.” She stopped, looking around.

“We really need to keep moving,” Mojica said, a sense of urgency in her voice.

Selah raised a hand to stop her. “Hold on a minute. I think I know what she's thinking.”

Mari turned and smiled.

“Okay, ladies, we need to go somewhere, and soon,” Bodhi said.

Mari and Selah pointed together. “Up!”

Bodhi raised a hand to his forehead. Rain poured down his face, making him furrow his brow, or Selah was sure his eyes would be as wide open as her mother's saucers.

“Up? You mean like in climb a tree, up?” Bodhi said.

Mari nodded.

“Yes! That's exactly how Mari's people survived the tsunami during the Sorrows. They climbed the ancient trees in their forest.”

“That could work!” Mojica smiled. “Brilliant! That could work.”

Bodhi looked at her as though she'd just called him a girl. “Are you serious about this idea?”

“Up is the perfect way to go. Most of the trees in this part of the forest are from before the Sorrows. They will surely hold a couple of people and hold back the water.”

Bodhi shook his head. “I guess I don't have a choice, and rather than argue and waste time, let's get up there. Mari, which ones?”

Mari and Mojica conferred on their best options. Nearby were two huge trees that you could drive an AirWagon through if they'd had holes. Bodhi and Selah went up one, and Mari and Mojica went up the other one.

The pain each time Selah stepped up was excruciating. “I need to stop. I can't keep going.” She looked down at Bodhi below her. For the first time she could see water lapping below them. Her hands kept slipping. Her foot slipped once, but Bodhi was there to catch it flailing in midair and direct it back to a nearby branch.

“Can you see the water over there?” Mojica asked.

“Yes,” Bodhi said. “I admit, you ladies were correct about this. Can we make it high enough?” He and Selah were about four or five feet below where Mojica and Mari had climbed. They were moving up the tree like a pair of squirrels.

Selah felt like crying. Maybe she was already. So much
water was running down her face that she had to keep her nose pointed down or she'd sniff in liquid. If she could just rest a minute, the needle pains might stop. She was shaking from the sharp, pointed pain, and it kept causing her hands to tremble and miss the branches.
Climb, Selah.

Mari and Mojica were now ten feet higher.

“Why don't you climb past me and get to the top. I need a little rest,” Selah said to Bodhi. She leaned her head against the rough bark. Water slid between her and the tree.

“Do you really think I'd leave you now, after all I've gone through to be with you?”

“My hip hurts too much. It's been less than twenty-four hours, but it hasn't healed properly. The blood loss must be weakening my system.” Water was lapping at the tree, all around. She looked up to call out to Mari. They were at least fifteen feet higher.

“Come on, firefly, you can do this, please.” Bodhi pulled himself up to Selah. She reached out a trembling hand and touched his hair. He lifted her left foot. It was easier not needing to flex the muscle, but she cried out in pain from the distance he had to push it for her to reach another branch.

“I'm trying.” Selah's pain turned to shivers. In the cold rain she could barely breathe. Bodhi lifted the other foot for her. She clung to the tree. From above, she could hear Mari and Mojica calling to her, telling her she could make it. She raised her bad leg. At the place where the pain became unbearable, she stopped. Bodhi pushed her foot the rest of the way up. She scrambled, clutching at the rough bark. Her hands had bloodied, but the rain kept washing the evidence away.

She looked down. The water was climbing the tree. It would reach Bodhi soon. She forced every muscle in her body to move. She screamed at herself. She screamed at her hip. She screamed at Varro, because it gave her strength.

One foot after the other. She looked up. Mari and Mojica had reached as far as they could go. The treetop swung lazily back and forth as they tried not to move. She was still at least fifteen feet below them. The water was almost to Bodhi's feet.

“I've got an idea,” Bodhi said. “Let me come up under you, and you sit on my shoulders.”

“No, no.” Selah shook her head. “You can't. I'm too heavy. You won't be able to climb.”

“I'm not climbing at the moment anyway, and it's getting a little wet down here,” Bodhi said.

Selah tried to raise her leg. Pain shot through her hip as though she had just been hit with a weapon. She screamed, and Bodhi slipped up under her, seating her firmly on his shoulders.

Selah grabbed for the tree and hung on. “You're crazy. We're going to fall off and die.”

Bodhi climbed one step at a time, but much faster than they'd been going. “Better to die moving than sitting still waiting for it.” He grabbed the next branch and hoisted them up as Selah clung to the tree for stability.

She dared to look down. Bodhi was in water up to his ankles. He'd step up and the water would be higher by the time he moved.

“Let me off your shoulders. You could get up there much
faster without me,” Selah said. “Please, I love you. I don't want you to die.”

Bodhi pushed up faster. They covered two steps that time. “But I'd die without you. So if you're going, I'm going with you.”

Tears and water filled Selah's eyes. “Mari! Tell my mother and brother that I love them.” She pulled up as hard as she could, willing her arms to move faster to pull Bodhi from the water.

“Selah? What's the matter?” Mari yelled.

“Selah, I can see you. Keep climbing. Just a little farther,” Mojica called out.

Her voice was nearly drowned out by the pounding rain. Selah looked down again. The water was up to Bodhi's waist. He was struggling to get footholds on the waterlogged branches in the swift current.

She screamed and clawed at the tree, trying to reach a branch to help Bodhi pull up. When she could take her weight off his shoulders, he could climb. The water was up to her own feet now, passing Bodhi's waist.

“Climb, firefly, climb,” Bodhi said.

He was exhausted. Selah could tell by the heaving in his chest. She stretched her fingertips to reach the next branch. The water was lapping at her thighs, near his head.

“I can't reach it!” Selah shouted. “It's too far away!”

She felt Bodhi's hands under her legs. With a burst of strength he thrust her up in the air. Selah passed the branch she had been reaching for and went two above that. She found footholds and pulled herself up another three steps. Sitting
on his shoulders had reset the socket and she got four more steps up.

“That was wonderful. You gave me just the right—” Selah looked down. The water lapped at her feet. Bodhi wasn't there.

“Bodhi!” she screamed.

She tried going back down. Her hip popped out of joint. She froze in place. She yelled at the water lapping at her feet. She kicked at it. Pain shot up her leg. She held the tree and screamed.

“Selah, I can see you. Where's Bodhi?” Mojica shouted just across from her. She'd come back down her tree.

“Go back up. Go back up. My hip won't make it.”

“You can do it. Think of Dane and your mother. They need you,” Mojica said.

“I can't. I tried to go back down and my hip popped. The leg is useless. I can't move.”

The water was rising up her calves. She knew she was going to die, and she was ready. After all, she had seen three members of her family die today. Bodhi was the last one. She couldn't take anymore. The heart pain and physical pain were too much.

The cold, swirling water was reaching her hips now.
Let go. Just
let go of the tree and let the water take
hold.

She wasn't shivering.

She wasn't scared.

Selah let go of the tree.