Yield (77 page)

“
Ow!
”
Sierra cries. She pulls her left hand protectively to her chest.

“
Come on!
”
Devin yells. The fireman scoops the girl up and starts to run. His eyes lock on the sanctuary of the overpass, now less than a hundred yards away.

Their feet splash in milky puddles. Warm liquid jumps up onto their pants and shoes, instantly beginning to eat away the materials
’
color.

Chris pushes Terra and Isabel forward, driving them faster than their own feet can move. The women almost float above the cracked pavement. His legs churn and force them on, struggling to keep up with Devin and Jacob.

Chris grimaces. The drops pierce like bee stings, over and over on top of his head and neck.

The overpass is still sixty feet away. Automotive paint streaks down the side of a fire truck they pass. The acid rain eats through the paint and into the metal itself, creating streams of blood along the ground.

Fifteen feet. Ten
…

Devin lunges under the safety of the concrete overhang just as the rains become a monsoon.

The storm dumps its dangerous payload down without remorse onto the vulnerable flesh below. Survivors scattered along the interstate dive for cover. Some break into vehicles; others dart under anything they can find. A desperate few run around in confusion. They scream out below the burning shower, their confused eyes searching helplessly for shelter.

“
Over here!
”
Jacob booms. He waves his arms to draw the attention of a young couple moving from locked car to locked car. Their exposed hands look bright pink as the rain continues pounding into them. They glance up toward the voice of safety, but the woman suddenly goes down. Her foot twists awkwardly inside a pothole.

“
Chris!
”
Devin yells. The fireman jumps back out into the blistering downpour.

Terra tightens her grip on Chris
’
s waist. Her terrified eyes refuse to let him go.

“
I
’
ll be okay,
”
he says, prying himself loose.

She pleads silently up at him. But the couple
’
s screams echo back across the wasteland, freezing her blood.
“
Be careful,
”
she whispers.

Chris turns and in an instant his long legs catch and stride past Devin, picking up more speed as they blur. Squinting, the athlete tips his head forward to keep the burning drops from hitting his face. They splash and tingle on the top of his scalp, deepening into a throbbing pain.

He moves through wall after wall of toxic water. Finally, Chris
’
s basketball shoes skid to a stop. His hand shoots out and pulls the woman quickly to her feet, but she buckles again under the pain.

In a single motion, the fireman slides and hoists her up onto his shoulder.
“
Come on, love,
”
the redhead grunts. He pushes off, jumping back into a full sprint with surprising grace.

Just behind them, Chris pulls the man into a frenzied scramble back across the void.

The drops continue down relentlessly. They coat the top of the basketball player
’
s head with liquid fire. He wipes at it, wincing as the pain shoots across his scalp.

The uneven roadway feels like a treadmill moving backwards with every rough step. Foot by foot, their safety approaches, wavering in the distance.

The burning is almost unbearable, every raindrop biting and burrowing into the skin.

Chris and Devin both crumble under the overpass. Their bodies steam inside the shadows.

“
Here!
”
Isabel shouts. She tosses a bottle of water to Terra, pointing down at Chris. The pregnant flight attendant quickly cracks open another and pours it onto Devin
’
s face, trying to wash the acid off his skin.

The water feels like glacial ice, instantly quieting the flames.

“
Bloody hell,
”
Devin gasps,
“
That was a bad idea.
”
His jaw clenches in pain. The frigid sensation all over his face turns into a dull ache. He touches gingerly at his forehead, testing the extent of his burns.

“
Thank you,
”
the woman he rescued says. Gratitude streams down her face.

“
Are you alright?
”

“
Just a sprained ankle, I think.
”
She rubs at the side of her right foot.

“
Let me see,
”
Jacob says. He takes the woman
’
s pink hands and pours water over them. Faint white spots show through her skin, the blisters slowly rising to the surface.
“
Those are going to hurt a bit, miss.
”

“
I
’
ll be okay,
”
the brunette says, turning back to her husband.

Devin claps Chris on the shoulder.
“
You are blooming fast, mate. Awfully glad you
’
re on our side.
”

“
Just don
’
t piss me off again,
”
Chris smiles,
“
or you
’
ll never even see me coming.
”

“
You guys okay?
”
Jacob asks. There
’
s a note of respect in his gravelly voice.

“
Just peachy,
”
Devin says. He looks down at the birth of blisters on his own hands.
“
We
’
ve got a bit of history together, Chris and I. Not all whiskey and giggles. But we
’
re getting through it. Aren
’
t we, mate?
”

“
Peachy,
”
Chris echoes.

Terra kneels next to him, lifting his hands into her much smaller palms. She looks them over carefully.

“
You don
’
t have to do that,
”
Chris says.
“
I
’
ll live.
”

Her sapphire eyes find his. A look of admiration warms her pale face. Without a word, she runs a dampened cloth over the top of his head. Chris closes his eyes. The rag feels like a breeze whistling across a hot summer meadow.
“
Thank you.
”

“
So, do you always act before thinking?
”
Jacob asks the fireman.

“
I told you,
”
Devin winks.
“
Old habits are a tad hard to get away from.
”

“
Won
’
t be much good to your family if you go and get yourself killed,
”
Jacob says. He stands at attention over the two men, like a drill sergeant giving lessons to his platoon.
“
Like you said, you
’
ve gotta pick your battles, son.
”

“
This from the guy concerned I was being rude to the ladies in my company?
”
Devin asks.
“
I don
’
t get you, mate. Leaving those two out to cook wouldn
’
t have been very polite either.
”

“
It
’
s not about manners, Devin,
”
Jacob says. He drops to a knee in front of them. The general
’
s steely blue eyes settle on the firefighter.
“
I knew a lot of brave young soldiers who thought they knew the right thing to do, too. Heroism trumps planning for guys like that every time. They rush into situations first because they
’
re always compelled to help. Didn
’
t matter who or what. They were never afraid of the consequences.
”

The general
’
s eyes drift back out to the rain pounding over the faded roadway. Crimson paint from the fire truck streaks down towards them, creating murderous rivers that glisten in the light.
“
I attended a lot of their funerals over the years, too.
”
He looks hard at both men. Jacob
’
s face is etched with the scars of every battle he
’
s endured.
“
Sooner or later, you won
’
t be
able
to save them all.
”

Sunlight arcs through the clouds above. Mile after endless mile creeps under the survivors
’
feet.

Emerging from the ruins, Devin and the others move past more intact signs of civilization farther south. Thousands of bodies pour onto the freeway. The migrating desperate seem to swarm out of whatever holes they found to weather the storm.

The sun briefly peeks out while they walk. It teases them with warmth before fading back into the strangely colored rain clouds overhead. Their deep burgundy flickers with searing edges of white. Something about them makes the hair on the back of Devin
’
s neck stand on end.

Water begins down in sporadic waves. The drops tingle, growing hot when their toxic bite touches skin.

“
Let
’
s try to quicken our pace some,
”
Devin says. He lifts his torn navy suit coat over Sierra
’
s head. A leg from her teddy bear drags behind the little girl along the asphalt. The bear
’
s arm looks frayed and ragged in her grip.
“
I don
’
t think we want to linger out in this weather.
”

“
It
’
s acidic,
”
Jacob says, flipping the collar of his jean shirt up. There
’
s a solemnness in his steely blue eyes that
’
s chilling.

“
The rain?
”
Chris asks. He wipes the drops quickly off his shaved head.

“
Unfortunately, yes,
”
Jacob says.
“
Radioactive particles get blown out for miles after a nuclear blast. They get into the water supply, the air, even the clouds and weather systems. It
’
s what we call an ECE,
”
he continues. All grandfatherly warmth is gone from his face.
“
An Environmental Changing Event.
”

“
Changed. Like forever?
”
Chris asks. He looks back at the city he grew up in. Most of the buildings are intact this far south, but they
’
re uninhabited. The absence of life is eerie. Foreign somehow.

“
Basically,
”
Jacob says.
“
It will take hundreds if not thousands of years before this region is able to fully sustain life again.
”

“
Will we
…
”
Isabel asks, unable to finish her question.

“
That depends on how much exposure we get,
”
Jacob says. His gravelly voice drops to a whisper.
“
Being out in this rain doesn
’
t help our chances.
”

Steaming drops continue down onto rows and rows of the damned. The caravan of survivors strides on,
unaware under a venomous sky. Through sheets of rain, the water dances like a mirage in the desert. The growing heat causes the air itself to distort and bend.

Devin and his group move faster toward the dark shape of an overpass. Rain falls thicker all around them. The drops splash and splatter, sizzling from the tops of cars still stranded on the interstate. A wakening concern on the faces closest to them spreads as the rain now begins to burn with each strike.

“
Ow!
”
Sierra cries. She pulls her left hand protectively to her chest.