Earthshaker

Chapter 23

Chapter 23I moved Owen all the way to the base of the canyon wall, using my power to raise him up by the flash-baked ash and mud of his shroud. I noticed, when I did it, that I felt stronger than before. The power flowed out of me more easily, keeping Owen's body suspended in midair and moving forward with hardly any effort on my part. Made me wonder if the power surge I'd gotten underground had left something behind.

At the canyon wall, I opened a crevice in the rock big enough for the body. Briar made me wait while he scraped a sample of Owen's shell into an evidence envelope, and then I sent the body inside. Closed the crevice and moved a pile of rockfall in front of it for good measure. For all the strain it took to do this, I might as well have been moving around a pile of cotton balls.

We finished and got on the trail, under cover of trees, just in time. A helicopter chopped in from somewhere and circled the blast zone. I liked the circling hawks better.

As we hiked toward the rim, the canyon filled with the noise of engines, radios, and voices. Two more helicopters joined the first, and an airplane crisscrossed above them.

At the rim, we decided to follow a different route out, avoiding the main trail. Turned out to be a smart move; we'd only gone a little way when we heard quads and bikes ripping toward the rim from that direction. Lots of voices. The stampede had begun.

Thankfully, we didn't have to deal with anyone till we got to the road. We were backtracking to the Highlander, which we'd parked at the trailhead, when a state policeman pulled up alongside us in a cruiser.

It was a good thing Briar was in uniform. "Hey." He took the initiative and marched right up to the car.

The trooper was a beefy kid in his twenties. He looked pissed off. "What're you doing out here?"

"Gathering up hikers." Briar jabbed a thumb in our direction. "Clearing the perimeter."

The trooper stared at us for a moment, then spit a gob of chewing tobacco out the window. "They're setting up a command post down the pavilion. Get 'em over there right now. Feds want to see everybody."

"Will do." Briar rapped the roof of the car and stepped away. The trooper roared off without another word. "Come on." Briar started jogging and waved for us to follow.

When we got to the Highlander, Briar took the wheel. As soon as the doors shut, he peeled out like a race-car driver out of a pit stop.

"You're not taking us to the command post, are you?" I knew the answer but asked anyway.

"Hell no." A half-mile on, he whipped the Highlander hard left up a side road and gunned her through some wicked curves. "We're getting as far away from here as possible."

"I guess you know your way around here?" His driving was so wild, I grabbed hold of the dashboard.

"Not really." He shot me a look. "But I'll figure it out."

The tension in his voice and face told the tale. I knew we were skating on the edge of some deep s**t, and he was fighting to run us away from it.

I needed to let him concentrate. Leaning back, I closed my eyes and braced myself against the seat and door. Listened to my pulse thundering along with the SUV's engine.

Remembered the vision of myself rising up from the earth, so much more. Wondered if I would live long enough to find out what it had meant.