CHAPTER 22
Sometime just before dawn Suarez dozed and was revisited by his feverish dream. He reached again for the blanket that hid his baby’s face, feeling heart-stopping terror at what he might find. Maria was invisible in the darkness but her voice came to him calmly. “Everything’s okay Vic. They’re gone.”
The morning sun seemed to come from nowhere, lighting her face. She smiled and a breeze blew her long shining brown hair across her cheek. “They’re all gone, Vic. It’s time for you to get moving, too. Vic?” She grasped his arm and shook him. “Vic, wake up.”
He opened his eyes.
Maria wasn’t there in the tank of course. But the cool breeze was real. Late last night, after the mountain stopped rumbling, he had cracked his hatch to let in some air. Now it was gusting on his face, fresh and cool, and the morning sun had angled in to wake him. He sat up and peered out from under the hatch cover. The mountain was torn open at the base and still fuming. Last night’s miracle hadn’t been a dream. The battlefield was still littered with burnt scrap-metal, but one thing was very different: there wasn’t a single walking machine standing or moving anywhere.
His heart leaped inside him. “You’re right, Maria,” he whispered. “They’re gone.”
He threw open the hatch and thrust his head out into the glorious morning air. He looked left, looked right. Nothing. Back, front, nada. He smiled. Not a single Kra machine moving on the whole prairie. Nothing for miles around, except for a couple herds of dinosaurs peacefully grazing in the grasslands, making the scene look like a crazy mix of Jurassic Park and War of the Worlds.
He called down into the tank, “All right boys, rise and shine. We gotta get this ramblin’ wreck outta here.”
“Wha—?” Ed Vecchio mumbled sleepily.
“Come on Eddie, fire this rig up. We’re goin’ home!”