He laughed a little. “I can tell you what type of rock we’re lying on.” He picked up a three-inch-long piece. “It’s granite.” After dropping it, he continued. “But all this shooting and running isn’t in my wheelhouse. I hate to say this, but my only skill is hiding.”
Despite her misgivings about Asher at the start, she’d come to depend on him for support. He’d often done the saving in their relationship, such as when he’d found the extinct geyser pit. She hoped he’d come up with an equally brilliant plan as they sat there. Grace kept him from seeing her worry. “Well, then, all you need to do is figure out a way to hide us in plain sight. How can we get behind the train without exposing ourselves to the shooters?”
“Is not possible,” Misha interjected. “Only way is for one of us to shoot at them. Other two run behind train car. Then train drives away.”
She was surprised. “You’re talking about yourself, aren’t you?”
He nodded without putting strain on his neck. “Is not suicide. I will jump on train when it starts to move. It will give you two civilians best chance to live.”
Grace fought against a wave of guilt for wanting to let him do it. As she thought it over, she noticed a truck moving on a nearby residential street. There was another car far down the rail yard, crossing the tracks on a road. If they could hold off long enough, someone was bound to notice the gunplay. Someone in the town would call the police. Gunfire couldn’t be such a common occurrence no one would think to involve law enforcement, right?
If she were home, what would happen in a similar scenario? People shot guns around Kentucky Lake all the time. Neither she nor her parents ever raced to the phone to call the sheriff. Even people doing target practice on her street barely caught her notice, she suddenly remembered.
“It might be our only choice,” she finally agreed.
Misha smiled. “Can I have two guns? One for each hand?”
She didn’t think it would matter. Her job was to run. If he wanted two guns, it was no problem for her.
The hitman made sure her weapon was primed to fire. He shifted it to his left hand, adding it as a duplicate of the one in his right. She thought he looked like he was enjoying the moment a little too much.
That was when he pointed the guns at her.
Kansas City, MO
Ezra stood at the exit of the skyscraper. Prior to the asteroid, it was probably an elegant lobby with a fancy restaurant and conference area. Now it was filled with dried mud and a few pieces of driftwood, which had been forced inside when the water came through. There were also several chunks of rock from the more recent explosion. He picked up a shiny piece about the size of a baseball. “Does this look like gold to you?”
They all scanned the lobby. Many of the rocks shimmered. Those by the door reflected sunlight, making them more obvious.
Haley bent over to grab a few. “These all look like gold. It’s a…gold mine.”
Soon Butch joined in, scooping up an armful of it. “You’ve got the backpack, E-Z. Mind carrying my loot?”
He waved him off. “Wait a minute. I can’t carry rocks across the city. We have to find something else. The ammo is heavy enough.”
“Just one,” Butch joked, picking up a black-and-gold rock the size of a basketball.
The three of them shared a few moments of levity. The weight of the daring boat ride and dance between the bullets and fireworks fell away. The fear he’d never talk to Grace again. The disappointment of losing his boat. It all drained out of him, replaced by laughter and his newfound wealth.
“There’s more in here!” someone shouted from across the lobby.
A wave of people crowded themselves through the far door, led by a man in jeans and a dirty white T-shirt. He’d shoved a pistol into the front of his waistband. When the guy saw Ezra, he shouted. “You! Drop it! This is ours!” The man pulled out his pistol while moving closer.
Butch dropped the heavy rock, switching to his rifle in one smooth motion.
He and Haley also let their pieces fall.
“We don’t want any trouble,” Ezra called out, already retreating toward the main door.
It was the same crowd who’d been standing along the shore. They came in through the broken doors like the tide. Some were bloodied from being struck. A few already had bandaged extremities. All of them seemed angry. They broke out in shouts once the leader identified the three of them as interlopers.
“We’ve got to go!” he said to Butch and Haley.
Haley held a small chunk close to her body.
“She’s stealing it!” a woman screamed.
Haley was already through the door and outside, but she tossed the rock as soon as she heard the accusation. “I don’t want trouble,” she said to the man with the pistol, picking up her pace to a jog.
He ran with them, keeping his rifle at the ready.
The street was filled with abandoned and muddied cars, as if there’d been a traffic jam when the asteroid bounced into the river. It took a few extra seconds to get around them and across the street. Haley and Butch stayed ahead of him. When he touched the far sidewalk, someone shot at them from behind.
“Thieves!” T-shirt guy bellowed.
Haley held up her hands, showing they were empty.
A bearded guy lined up a shotgun.
“Run for it!” Ezra yelled, ducking behind the line of cars.
The boom of the scattergun was followed by an unknown number of pellets peppering the nearby vehicles. The tinkle of broken glass was mixed with the
