“Oh.” I feel tiny and exposed all of a sudden.
Madeline sighs and faces the McDonald’s. The kid moves a rug and mops up under it. He works, then sets the mop up against the drink machine. In a few minutes, he’ll be on the ground along with the rest of the employees in there.
“How many more do you need?” I ask.
Madeline plays with the lock on the door. “I was hoping to get them all tonight and end it. I’m not sure how many it’s going to want to turn tonight to avoid losing its patience. The Deathwind’s so angry right now, I’m having trouble getting it to talk to me. And if the Deathwind unleashes its full power in the morning, there may not be enough survivors here to call this a town anymore. And it won’t stop here. It’ll go to the next town, and the next one.”
God.
I think of Mom and Dad. Tommy. Even Bethany. They won’t leave town without me. Well, Bethany might, but that depends on what her parents do.
If my parents die…
If Tommy dies…
I’m defeated. Hollowed out inside. “Then I’m not going to stand in the way. But only turn as many people as you need tonight. And no one I know. Please. If that’s enough to stop the Deathwind in the morning, I’ll live with that.” I’m begging. She has no reason to want to make me happy.
Madeline ignores me. She couldn’t care less what I think. She closes her eyes. Her lips move, but no sound comes out. I know what she’s doing, and this time I’m not going to try stopping her.
I feel dirty. Guilty.
McDonald’s darkens inside. The light flickers. Storm clouds stretch across the ceiling. They’re even worse in the light. The Deathwind’s darker than I remember. Stronger. More menacing. Madeline’s right. It looks ready to blow up.
A chair flies off a table. Then another. The kid looks up. His shirt flaps against him. He backs against the counter, hitting the register. Opens his mouth and screams. It’s silent.
I duck down. Look at the floor.
I can’t watch.
Silence stretches out. At last, Uncle Cassius speaks. “It’s over, Allie.”
I look up. McDonald’s glows inside again, but chairs are off the tables. There’s a leg sticking out from behind the trash can.
Madeline shifts. “Kyle, we need to leave. I think the other employees are running. They’ll be calling the authorities.”
Kyle puts the van in drive and swings past the drive-thru menu. Two figures run into the trees and beyond, one with a phone open and glowing. Someone shouts. Their coworker lies on the floor of McDonald’s now, where he’ll wake up hours from now, life changed forever.
Eleven more to go.
Madeline cranes her neck, looking for the escapees. “I don’t know where they are now,” she says. “There’s too many places they could have run. We need to move on.”
We circle around. More cars rush past the parking lot entrance. Word’s spreading. So is panic. A few hundred people saw the Deathwind. They’re not going to stay quiet. A lot of people are leaving.
“Try the gas station,” Uncle Cassius says. “Some of them will have to stop there before they leave.”
The gas station.
More victims.
Kyle pulls out of McDonald’s after waiting for a long line of cars. Nothing but taillights glow ahead of us. We’re in a river of metal and lights. Kyle makes another turn and heads for the expressway. The Sunoco glows ahead of us. I’ve never seen so many cars here. Every pump’s taken and there’s a line, too, even though the price is forty cents higher than it was this morning. Nobody cares about that now. All they care about is the swirling force that’s going around impaling people.
Was this what Mobley was like on the day that Dorian had to evacuate? I feel like I’m in his memory. Like we’re linked in some kind of time hole together.
“This will work. Pull to the side,” Madeline says. “We’re not going to get in there.”
Kyle does. The van lurches as he rolls over the curb. We stop on the grass. Vehicles rush past us. I lean forward to see, to make sure that no one I know is filling up. I think that might be Coach Langer who does football at the high school, but he’s got his back turned. And I never really talked to him.
My parents’ car isn’t there. They’ve got to be searching for me. They’re still in town somewhere. Still in the target zone for the apocalypse. I can’t ask to be taken back to them. Madeline will turn them if I do. And Tommy…
Madeline closes her eyes. I wait, heart pounding. I hate this. I hate that there’s nothing I can do. I hate that I’m the bad guy without even trying.
The Deathwind forms like a black fog, eating the overhang of the gas station. It blocks out the light. Darkness falls over everyone at the pumps. They’re shadows, frozen, looking up. A car backs away, hunting for an exit, any exit. People scream. Make mad dashes across pavement, across grass, into the road. Some rush into the building, stampeding over each other. Coach Langer trips over someone. Falls and grabs at the sidewalk. The Deathwind goes in, spitting out the overhang and leaving it behind. The funnel forms. Drives its way down into him, shortening.
Ten to go.
I’m numb. I’m in a nightmare. It’ll end soon. It has to. I’ll wake up and--
Someone rear-ends a truck trying to pull out of the gas station. Another car drives over the grass. But nobody stops. Nobody cares. It’s all panic now.
The Deathwind vanishes, leaving Coach Langer on the ground.
And explodes over the rear-ended truck. The driver’s boxed in on all sides. There’s no escape.
I’ve had enough.
“Let me out,” I demand. “I don’t want to see this anymore. I won’t tell the cops anything.” I want to run away. I have to. But Madeline’s blocking me in, not paying attention. Uncle Cassius sits on the other side of me, watching. Neither of them move. I’m stuck.
The Deathwind drives down through the roof of the truck, going right through it like a ghostly funnel. The driver side door opens, but the hand pushing it goes limp and hangs there.
Nine more.
The Deathwind disappears again…and Madeline’s staring at the gas station building itself.
Darkness spreads inside. She’s sent it in.
“I mean it. Let me out. I don’t want to be a part of this!” I reach over her to the door handle.
Madeline swats me away. Her face contorts and she scowls at me. “You are a part of this, Allie, no matter how much you don’t want to be.”
“Madeline, my niece is upset. I’m not very happy with the way this turned out, either.” Uncle Cassius pulls me away from her.
I turn to face him. “Then you shouldn’t have suggested our town as the lucky winner. This didn’t even work right.” I turn to Madeline. It’s got to be said. “I know why you chose my town!”
It’s as if she hasn’t heard me. She’s watching the building. “Cassius. Go hold the door shut. Don’t let them out!”
Uncle Cassius starts to climb out of the van, but it’s too late. People pour out of the gas station building, shrieking. The door stays open from the rushing flood of bodies like an open, screaming mouth. Inside, black and gray clouds swirl, hiding the ceiling. There’s at least two more bodies on the floor.
Kyle leans forward, staring at the road ahead. He turns to face us, eyes wide. The last time he gave us that look, my vacation was taking its turn for the worse.
“Could you all stop arguing back there?” he asks. “I think we’re about to have some trouble. It looks like they’ve connected your van with the attacks.”
He lifts a finger and points at the road.
Red and blue lights flash, growing closer. Sirens blare.
Police cars.
Lots of them.
And behind them, a rolling black box that looks like it contains a bomb squad. Or a swat team. Or the military.
I’m not sure.
Uncle Cassius curses. “Kyle, get us out of here.”
But we’re blocked in now by the traffic jam surrounding us. There’s no escaping.
Kyle looks back at us, pale. “Abandon the van.”
Chapter Twenty-Five