9
“No!” she screamed as a cloud of dust billowed up and swallowed her and all her surroundings.
Allie climbed to her feet and limped forward with one arm covering her mouth. She blinked hard against the dust as her eyes welled up.
“Drifter?” she shouted as she waved away the dust with her arm. “Drifter!”
A soft groan emerged from the cloud. Allie stumbled across the rough ground and loose rocks. The dust lifted and she glimpsed a shadow on the ground. The hulking shadow of the excavator lay nearby.
Allie rushed forward and dropped to her knees beside Drifter’s still body. His face was covered in a thick layer of dust and one of his legs disappeared under the arm of the machine. Blood soiled the front of his coveralls and climbed up the leg she couldn’t see. His glasses were as
