Earthshaker

Chapter 22

Chapter 22The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Briar's face, looking down at me. An expression of grave concern etched into his features.

"Gaia?" He gently slapped my cheek. "Can you hear me?" When I nodded, his expression went from grave concern to great relief. I could tell he cared; maybe he always had, maybe I'd noticed before without really paying attention. "Thank God. I thought you were dead."

"Where's Laurel?" I was lying on the ground, and I looked right and left but didn't see her. "Is she all right?" My whole body ached as I hoisted myself up on my elbows. I spotted Laurel ten feet behind me, sprawled over a tumble of tree trunks...and then I looked beyond her, and I couldn't help gasping.

Before I'd gone underground, the heart of Cousin Canyon had been wrecked—a deadfall of broken and tangled trees. Now, I couldn't see a tree still standing for what had to be at least a mile in any direction. Except for the deadfall at the heart, the floor of the canyon had been covered in thick forest; now, that forest was flattened. Obliterated.

"What happened?" I rolled over and struggled to my feet. "What the hell happened?"

"You tell me." Briar stayed close by my side, ready to catch me if I fell. "It started while you were down there." He pointed at the ground. "Got worse after Laurel went in after you."

Laurel. I shook off my daze and ran to her, dropped down beside her. "Laurel? Laurel?" Lowered my cheek to her mouth, feeling for breath. Thought there wasn't any at first. "Laurel, wake up." Then, I felt the softest hint of exhalation. "Can you hear me, Laurel?"

Briar dropped down on the other side of her and gently shook her shoulder. "Come on back, Laurel." Gave her cheek a light slap, then shook her again. "Wake up now."

Suddenly, she inhaled deeply. Then coughed, and her eyes shot open.

"She's alive." I let out a huge sigh of relief. "She's all right."

Briar didn't look thrilled. "Laurel?" He leaned close, locking eyes with her. "Where is he? Where's Owen?"

Laurel frowned. She forced out words between coughs. "Isn't...he...here?"

"He went in after you!" said Briar. "Didn't you see him down there?"

Laurel's eyes flew wide open with panic. She shook her head fast and scrambled to sit up.

We all found Owen at the same time. His body was slung over a fallen tree about thirty yards away, motionless. Thrown there, I guessed, by the same force that had blown down the forest.

Laurel got to her feet, but Briar had to help her through the deadfall. I went on ahead of them both, my heartbeat thundering in my ears. Dread swelling in my throat.

I knew what I was going to find before I reached him. It didn't take a genius to figure out. He'd gone underground after Laurel and me, but I hadn't seen him down there even once. Now his body was slung over a tree, completely still.

Sure enough, when I got to him, I felt no pulse in his throat. No breath from his mouth or nose. There was nobody home.

"Is he...?" Laurel was on the verge of hysterics. "Is he...?" She reached for him, then pulled back. Clamped her hands over her mouth.

I shook my head, but that didn't stop Briar from trying to bring him out of it. He rolled Owen over and laid his matchstick body on the ground. Called his name, slapped his face, shook him. Even did CPR for a few minutes for good measure.

Finally, drenched in sweat, he leaned back. Swiped the back of his hand across his forehead and looked up at us. "He's gone." I could tell there were tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry."

Laurel slumped against me, crying...eyes fixed on the terrible sight. "He shouldn't have gone!" She said it through her hands. "I didn't want him to go!"

"You were both gone for so long," said Briar. "And then everything started coming down." He gestured at the toppled forest around us. "He said he had to do something."

"Oh my God." Laurel turned her face against my shoulder and wept. "Oh, Owen..."

Briar gave Owen a final pat on the chest and got to his feet. "I got to talk to him a good bit last night, when he was staying at my place." He sighed and shook his head. "Hell of a nice guy."

"I wish I'd known he was down there," I said. "Maybe I could've helped him."

"Don't...do that." Laurel said it into my shoulder between sobs. "Don't...blame...yourself. He's been...dying...for months."

Suddenly, I heard a hissing sound from Owen's body. When I looked, there was nothing different about him...for a moment.

Then, all at once, his body burst into flame.

Shielding Laurel, I hauled her away from the heat. Dragged her through the deadfall and threw us both down behind a huge, splintered stump.

I looked around the stump, peering back at the fire for a sign of Briar, but I didn't see him. Just the yellow flames blazing away in the shape of a man...suddenly flaring to blinding white like burning phosphorus, forcing me to look away.

The heat was so intense, I could feel it from behind the stump. Then there was a flash of light, brighter than lightning, and a sound like thunder. I ducked, pulling Laurel down with me, as a shockwave slammed past with the force of a speeding freight train.

And then it was over. The blinding white light and the heat suddenly ended. Daylight returned to the ruined canyon.

When I looked back this time, I saw a familiar sight. Owen's body had been encased in a shell of flash-baked ash and mud, just like Aggie's. Just like her neighbor's cat's.

"Briar?" I got up from behind the stump, looking everywhere, seeing him nowhere. "Briar?" Starting to panic. Feeling it shoot through me like a dagger of ice, freezing me from the inside.

But then I heard his voice. "Over here!" Looking toward it, I saw him get up on his hands and knees from the dirt. "Are you okay?"

Reaching down, I helped Laurel to her feet. Dusted her off. "We will be."

Briar got to his feet and walked over to stare down at Owen's flash-baked corpse. "Was that really necessary?"

"He signed his work again," I said. "He's laughing at us."

"Whoever this guy is," said Briar, "he's a real asshole."

I took a good look at Owen, then turned away with Laurel to keep her from seeing him. "What next? What do we do now?" I felt lost, wanted someone else to do the driving.

Briar was quiet a moment. Then stared into my eyes, dead serious. "I'm sorry, but we need to bury him."

"What?" I looked at Owen, then back at Briar. "Why?"

"The blast was huge." Briar looked around at the ruined forest and nodded grimly. "It knocked down most of the woods in the canyon. This place is about to be crawling with people—staties, EMS, feds, whackos, you name it. They're probably moving in already. All of 'em looking to find out if it was a plane crash or a meteor or a terrorist attack or what have you." Briar nodded at Owen. "He's the one thing we can't explain."

I knew he was right, but I didn't like it. "The staties saw Aggie. The world didn't end."

"Put the body together with the phenomenon that caused this..." He gestured at the surrounding wreckage. "...and it turns into the X-Files. Trust me, you do not want to go there."

Laurel pushed away from me. "Let's get started. They'll be here soon."

"We can't bury him right here," I said. "They'll find him too easily."

"Let's carry him away from ground zero," said Briar. "Maybe bury him at the bottom of the canyon wall."

"Come on." Laurel headed for the body. "We need to do this now."

I rushed over and cut her off. "Not you," I said. "You're not carrying him."

"I'll be fine." She tried to push past me.

But I wouldn't let her. "No," I said. "I'll get him. I'll do it."

She glared at me, rage and anguish mixing in her eyes. "Just don't hurt him." Her voice shook when she said it. "Don't hurt him."