Grandfather

  We hopped in the car, claiming the same seats, but the driver didn’t move. We were all silent, and just as I was about to bring it up, Edgar reached forward to place a hand on Belladonna’s shoulder. “The arena is too risky.”

  She didn’t answer him. Edgar leaned back once Belladonna agreed. “Back to the mountain.”

  The driver spun the car around, speeding off.

  The traffic was the worst I had seen it, and I knew it had to be because of Cornelius’s public address at the arena. By the time we reached the city center, it was bumper-to-bumper, barely moving. Edgar cursed the other drivers, though it probably wasn’t their fault.

  Just as before, most pedestrians looked depressed and frightened, just wanting to know the truth about Grandfather. And again, I felt sorry for them. When we passed the Presidential Tower, people surrounded the entrance, shouting what I assumed to be demands for answers. Soldiers stood in front of the doorway, dressed in green uniforms, pointing guns at the crowd, preventing anybody from entering the building.

  “Chaos,” Belladonna said. “Just what I want.”

  “You’re right,” Edgar said. “We need this.”

  We left the city center, and thankfully, the traffic picked up.

  I just wanted to know how Cornelius was going to get out of this problem. What plan would he come up with? I really hoped there would always be people who didn’t trust him. That was our prediction. But it was very possible that if Cornelius could find a way out, everybody would go back to normal. Then everything we did wouldn’t matter.

  Would they still question the wall? I had no doubt Cornelius would continue arresting those who spoke against it.

  We made a turn down a road. The buildings became smaller and smaller the further away we got from the city center. The sidewalks were less busy, too.

  I think we had been in the car for about fifteen minutes. It was such a boring ride. Belladonna eventually turned the radio on, turning up some cool electronic song I got into. It was relaxing.

  That didn’t last long.

  As I was really getting into some techno song, the car jolted, causing my head to crash into the ceiling. I yelped, bending over and holding my head in pain.

  The others, including the driver, were rubbing their heads. I guess I wasn’t the only one who hit the ceiling.

  “What was that?” Edgar asked.

  “Pothole maybe,” Belladonna said, not sounding very confident in his answer.

  The car jolted again. This time, I heard a loud boom from somewhere off in the distance. At least I was pretty sure I heard something. Maybe it was just me. The other drivers around us were just as confused. People who had been walking on the streets stopped, spinning in every direction, looking for the source.

  The car jolted again. This time, the driver nearly lost control of the car. Other drivers nearly did too. Unfortunately, a truck wasn’t so lucky. Pedestrians jumped out of the way as the nice blue vehicle skid up onto the sidewalk and slammed into a shop’s windows, sending shards of glass flying in every direction.

  Our driver along with others nearby came to a stop, just in time for another large jolt. I ducked, making sure I didn’t hit the ceiling again.

  That’s when I heard the screaming.

  “What the hell is goin’ on?” Edgar said, glancing all around.

  “I don’t think it was a pothole,” the driver said quietly, speaking for the first time.

  Another jolt. This one was more severe than the others. Several alarms went off. I had never heard anything like it so, naturally, I was about to start freaking out.

  “What’s that?” Ashton asked, sounding as if he was about to lose it too.

  “Car alarms,” Edgar said.

  Another jolt.

  “That’s what I’m worried about,” he said.

  I think we all saw it at the same time. We all knew something like it was coming. We had proof that it was coming. But none of us even thought Cornelius would go through with it so soon, especially with everything going on.

  In the distance, I witnessed a massive explosion that sent vehicles and pieces of asphalt into the air. We saw another explosion, this one closer to us.

  “Out now!” Belladonna demanded after another jolt.

  We all jumped out of the car and joined the other panicked pedestrians and people abandoning their vehicles.

  There was another explosion, this one even closer. Cars, pedestrians, parts of nearby buildings, and concrete from the street shot into the air. I really hoped nobody was in those buildings, but that was stupid. Of course there were.

  “This whole damn road is gonna explode!” Edgar screamed. “The alley way!” He pointed at a nearby alley leading us away from the road. It seemed as if everybody had the same idea. We joined the frantic crowd in getting away from the street as quickly as possible. The driver stayed near Belladonna, grabbing her arm and pulling her up when she nearly tumbled to the ground.

  All I could think about was Grandfather. This had to be the explosion we had heard about. It was the only explanation. Cornelius had planted explosives under the street.

  I heard an explosion. Then another. And another. Then there was one straight behind us where our abandoned vehicle sat. I wasn’t so sure how far we had gotten, but I sure didn’t plan on glancing back.

  The explosion was loud . . . very loud. I mean, as soon as it went off, I couldn’t hear anything but an annoying ringing noise. Everything seemed so . . . so muffled.

  We didn’t explode into pieces, obviously. I wouldn’t be writing this if so. But I swear, I thought it was the end. As soon as that explosion went off and I lost my hearing, I was lifted off the ground and flung what felt like ten yards away. It was hard to tell. All I saw was smoke, people shooting up into the air, and the brick walls of the building.

  My back slammed into one of the buildings, completely knocking the air out of me. My eyes watered as the pain coursed down my spine. I wheezed for air, just knowing I was going to die.

  My ears were still ringing. I couldn’t focus my eyes on anything. I closed them, not knowing if I couldn’t move because of shock or because I had broken something.

  I curled up, taking deep breaths until air filled my lungs again. Slowly, my hearing started returning.

  I wished it hadn’t.

  All I heard were terrifying screams and people begging for help. Everything seemed so jumbled. I tried focusing my eyes on anything, but I couldn’t. People were running, others were on the ground, trying to gain their focus again. The sound of crying and screeching pierced my ears. Suddenly, a man screamed for everybody to cover their face. I looked up to see debris falling our way. Quickly, I got into fetal position and covered my head as pieces of asphalt, building, and I-don’t-know-what rained down, clinging and banging on everything it hit. All I could do was hope something really large didn’t crush me, or anybody for that matter.

  There was just so much screaming. Another blast sounded in the distance. This one sounded a little further away. I was guessing the explosions were continuing down the road.

  I stayed in fetal position until there was no longer debris falling. Slowly, I opened my eyes. I was alive. I sat up and wiped the debris off of me. I took a few deep breaths and rubbed my eyes to get them focused. Then, I got my first clear look at what Grandfather had done.

  Buildings nearby the explosion were in flames. Smoke smothered the air to where I couldn’t even see the sky. Back toward the street, where the explosions started, I saw the worst. All I could do was think about how lucky we were to have gotten as far as we had. A hundred yards toward the street, which was now a large hole in the ground, were lifeless bodies . . . people injured. One man screamed in agony while holding his shoulder where an arm used to be. I had to turn away. I really felt like throwing up.

  A woman held her head, crying as blood ran down her cheeks, mixing with the tears. Another woman cried over a man’s body that didn’t move. I closed m
y eyes and opened them again, hoping it wasn’t real.

  “Help me!” a man scream. But everybody was too busy helping themselves and looking for their companions.

  “Please! Somebody help!” some woman screamed.

  I managed to stand up, my legs wobbling. I heard another explosion, this one even fainter.

  “Wake up mommy,” a little girl screamed at a motionless body.

  That’s when I almost lost it. I fell back down, placing my head between my knees.

  I threw up everywhere

  Anger and hatred toward Cornelius built up inside me like never before. I clenched my fists and teeth. My blood was boiling, ready to erupt like a volcano. People continued shouting others’ names. Some people who were alone stood up and ran away, not caring that others needed help. They wanted to get away. Thankfully, there were some that helped those who were trapped under pieces of debris.

  Then I remembered.

  Belladonna. Edgar. Ashton.

  I didn’t see them.

  My heart stopped.

  I heard another faint explosion. When would it end?

  “Ashton!” I screamed. “Edgar! Belladonna!” My eyes darted from person to person. I didn’t see them. I was starting to flip out. I screamed for them again, feeling like I was about to cry.

  Then, Edgar came into sight. He was helping somebody up. “Edgar!” I screamed, running toward him. He turned to face me. His nose was bleeding pretty badly. When I reached him, I realized it was Belladonna he was helping. She had a large cut from her elbow to her hand.

  “You’re okay,” Edgar said with relief. “But where’s Ashton?”

  We scanned the area. There were just so many people doing the same thing. It was so difficult to see anything.

  The worse scenario came to mind. What if we found him, and he wasn’t . . . I couldn’t even finish the thought.

  Just as I was about to lose hope, I heard somebody scream my name, followed by Edgar’s and Belladonna’s. They heard it too.

  I looked around, still not seeing him.

  “There,” Edgar finally said.

  I followed Edgar’s finger. Sitting against a dumpster with a piece of metal lying on his legs was Ashton. We rushed to him. Me and Edgar worked together to push the piece of metal up. It was heavy, but we did it, flipping it over. Ashton hissed in pain, trying to reach for his right ankle but was unable to. Edgar bent down to examine it.

  “Where’s our driver?” I asked, remembering he was with us.

  Edgar just shook his head. “Didn’t make it. I’m sorry, Belladonna.”

  “I’ll be fine,” she said.

  There was another explosion. Like the others, this one was somewhere up the road. But unlike the others, it sounded a lot bigger. The screaming near us grew even louder. Something had changed, and I was afraid to see what it was. My heartbeat grew faster and faster as I forced myself to look around. Edgar and Belladonna did the same. The ground was shaking like an earthquake. I followed a man’s finger pointing toward a tall building, probably a couple of blocks away. It was nearly thirty stories high, and like all the others, it was shiny and had the green infinity sign on it.

  There was only one problem. It looked as if it was moving. I squinted to get a better look. Oh yeah, it was definitely moving. And it seemed to be moving in our direction. It looked as if somebody had simply tipped it over. Like a domino.

  “The building’s falling!” a man screamed, confirming my fears. He picked up a woman beside him, trying to run without any success. He tripped and she tumbled to the ground, crying in pain. People hurried to their feet, running further down the alley.

  Edgar picked Ashton up. “The top’s gonna hit us!” he screamed.

  Edgar was very agile, which was shocking. He was a pretty big guy, not to mention he was carrying Ashton. I guess adrenaline and fear can get anybody moving.

  I wasn’t complaining. Belladonna and I kept up with him, seconds feeling like minutes. Finally, I couldn’t help myself. I glanced over my shoulder. The tip of the building was getting closer and closer. We were too close.

  We had run out of time.

  “Take cover!” somebody screamed.

  Edgar knew what that meant. Immediately, he stopped by another dumpster and practically threw Ashton, who yelped in pain, onto the ground.

  I threw myself on the ground and covered my face as I heard a sound like thunder fill the air. My body vibrated and my teeth chattered as the earth shook. I heard the tall buildings slam into the smaller ones nearby, demolishing them like they were nothing. I peeked to see dust and smoke rolling in all directions. Just before the dust and smoke reached us, I closed my eyes again and buried my head in the corner between the building and the dumpster, hoping to trap oxygen there so I’d still be able to breathe.

  I could just smell the smoke and dust smothering me. I was too afraid to open my eyes again. The crashing noise seemed as if it would last forever. Thankfully it didn’t. The ground stopped shaking and the thundering was replaced with screaming and crying. I opened my eyes, and all I saw was thick, gray smoke. It was as if I was in the middle of a cloud. I covered myself back up and breathed, feeling the lack of oxygen. I stayed bundled up for a few more minutes, breathing as best as I could and listening to people nearby gasping for clean air.

  I just knew that we were all going to suffocate right then and there. I hoped Edgar, Belladonna, and Ashton were fine. I knew they wouldn’t be if we didn’t find somewhere else to go.

  That’s when I felt somebody grab my elbow. “Come on,” it said, coughing.

  It was Edgar. I opened my eyes and turned to barely see his shadow picking another up. Another shadow joined me, asking if I was okay.

  It was Belladonna.

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t dead, but I definitely wasn’t okay. I didn’t know what I was.

  I took a breath, my lungs burning. I held my chest in pain. It was worse than slamming into the brick wall. Belladonna grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in the direction Edgar was running. The smoke burned my eyes, but I forced them to stay open so that I didn’t lose Edgar. I still refused to take a breath. That worked for a while. But, inevitably, my lungs ached for air. I tried to make it, but I just couldn’t. I gasped for air, barely getting any oxygen. I soon joined everybody else in coughing uncontrollably.

  I could barely make out others running to what I hoped to be safety. But who knew how long this cloud went for.

  We weren’t going to make it. The smoke would never end and we would suffocate. Becoming light-headed made things worse, too. My head ached, and I was sure that I was going to pass out.

  I was about to just give up and let my legs give, but we got lucky. Edgar led us to some glass door. I didn’t know what it led too, and I didn’t care. Edgar opened it and we ran inside quickly in order to let as little smoke and dust in as possible. Finally, the door was shut, which helped block off some of the painful noises coming from outside.

  We gasped for air with others who had found the shop too.

  I managed to look around, noticing candy everywhere. It was a candy shop. Everybody’s nice clothes and perfectly made hair were covered in dust. They had never experienced anything like this. Even us outside of the wall hadn’t. I grew dizzier. Edgar was messing around with Ashton’s ankle. Belladonna stared out of the window, watching the thick white smoke in disbelief. It was painful to see the beautiful Belladonna who was always so happy and understanding look so lost and petrified. I tried calling her name, but she didn’t notice. I called out for Edgar. He didn’t budge. I wasn’t even sure if I was actually saying anything. The room kept spinning, so I was sure I was about to pass out.

  No, I couldn’t do that. Edgar already had Ashton to take care of. I held my head down between my knees, my eyes closed, taking slow deep breaths.

  This went on for another few minutes before I finally lifted my head. The room didn’t spin. But I still had an inebri
ated feeling. The twenty people in the shop had now caught their breath. They all glanced at each other, but nobody said anything. I guess there wasn’t much to say. We were all in shock.

  Several jars of candy had fallen onto the floor, leaving pieces of glass scattered. There were two girls in red uniforms standing behind the counter, crying.

  Outside, the smoke and dust was just as thick as before. Belladonna stayed in the same place, still not looking away from the smoke. I wondered what she was thinking. Ashton was still on the floor in pain. Edgar looked around the room. “You okay?” he asked when he saw me.

  I nodded my head slowly. My mind replayed everything that had just happened. So much screaming. So much . . . so much blood . . . scattered body parts everywhere. The girl who was trying to get her mom to wake up. Oh no. I hoped somebody got her out of the way before the building fell.

  “This is Grandfather,” a man whispered behind me. I turned to see him holding a woman tightly. She didn’t appear injured, but was very startled as the rest of us.

  I had no doubt that Cornelius was probably watching the scene take place, smiling. It had never crossed my mind that the explosion would come this quickly. How was it helping him? I certainly didn’t think the explosions would be so big. I didn’t even want to imagine the number of people killed. I thought of the people inside the falling building and what it must’ve been like. The thought ran shivers down my spine. I tried thinking of something else, but couldn’t. I guess that’s impossible when you’re surrounded by disaster.

  “Is everybody okay?” a woman to my right asked. She was carrying a medicine bag that matched her white uniform. “I’m a nurse. Is everybody okay? Does anybody need my help?”

  Everybody in the room had minor cuts, but that was it. Nothing too serious. The nurse took out a damp cloth of some sort and began wiping my face. I didn’t resist. I saw blood on it as she threw it away. When did I get cut? I guess I didn’t feel it because of the shock.

  “Boy’s done something to his ankle,” Edgar told the nurse. The nurse ran to Ashton and gently touched his ankle. He hissed in pain.

  “Broken?” Edgar asked.

  The nurse shook her head. “No,” she said. “Just twisted pretty badly.”

  Edgar let out a breath of relief. “How long’s it gonna take to heal?”

  “Three to seven days,” the nurse said. She opened up her briefcase and took out a thin, square piece of . . . I don’t know what it was. It looked like a really thick piece of blue plastic. “Put this in your mouth and let it dissolve.”

  Ashton did so. “What is it?” he asked after it had completely dissolved.

  “Speeds up the healing process,” she said. “The tab can heal a cut over night. If you ask me, it’s the best invention in the past fifteen years.”

  Ashton had a weird sour look. “The after taste is terrible.”

  The nurse chuckled. “Didn’t say it taste the best.” She stood up and glanced at the others. “Anybody else?” she asked. One of the older ladies had the nurse look at a cut on her arm. It wasn’t bad, but the nurse put a small bandage on it. Edgar walked over to Belladonna and placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “Grandfather,” he said, watching the smoke with her. It had thinned out a little but not enough for me to see anything that was going on outside. All we had to go by were the noises, which were gone. No screaming, no crying for help. Nothing

  “If we don’t act quick,” Belladonna whispered, “we may not get another chance.”

  Edgar agreed. “Let’s hope Robert gets back soon with reinforcement.”

  “He will,” Belladonna said with confidence. “He’ll be back.”

  Edgar was quiet for a second.

  “When can we leave?” a young man asked.

  “Well, obviously not right now,” the nurse replied. “We’re going to wait for the smoke to clear, and then we’ll look for survivors.” She gave the older woman she had been nursing one of the tabs Ashton had taken.

  “The news was right,” the same man said. “Grandfather was planning an explosion.”

  “This is terrible,” another woman joined, sobbing quietly. “Everything was fine two days ago.”

  I ignored her. Nothing was fine two days ago. She was just ignorant then. The explosion had been planned for a while.

  We all sat around, quiet for the most part. Every once in a while, somebody would mention how many people they thought were outside and what Cornelius would say at the arena.

  “We need to get to the arena,” Belladonna told Edgar.

  He, of course, wasn’t too happy by that. But he didn’t argue. “We need to help her look for survivors, like she said.”

  Belladonna didn’t look too happy about that. She probably wanted to get as far away as possible from the mess. So, I kind of understood. But there would be people who’d need our help.

  The smoke continued to thin out. Soon, it revealed yet another horrific site. People in the shop gasped. Some of them moved closer to get a better look. I didn’t want a better look.

  I squinted, vaguely being able to make out everything. Then, I saw the alleyway covered in inches of dust. It was like snow. On the ground were bodies of men and women of all different ages, all covered in dust. There was no sign of movement. None. I started to count the bodies but realized there were just too many to count. I knew I was, unfortunately, seeing a small fraction of Cornelius’s work. Somehow, he was going to use the explosion toward his advantage. I just wasn’t sure as to how yet.

  The nurse had us wait another fifteen minutes before the dust was thin enough to walk through without causing us to suffocate. Belladonna didn’t move from where she was sitting. Edgar told her to stay with Ashton. “Me and Carsyn will go out and help.”

  Edgar stood beside me. The nurse walked out first, slowly followed by others. I took a deep breath as I exited the shop. The air wasn’t pleasant to breath, but it was definitely better than earlier. The air smelled of fire, which I knew came from the buildings close to the road. I heard sirens in the distance.

  We all stopped and glanced around. Bodies were scattered everywhere. And at the end of the alley was a huge mound of rubble. That had to be where the top of the falling skyscraper landed. Man, we barely got out of its way.

  In the opposite direction, other survivors walked toward the rubble. When they reached us, a man asked if we would help look for survivors.

  I walked amongst the bodies, hoping to find somebody moving. But none of them did. They had all suffocated. I looked at the faces of all types of different people. There was an older man with an older lady wrapped in his arms. Her eyes were frozen open. I looked deep into the lifeless pupils. Another dead man had his phone gripped in his hand. I wondered who he was calling.

  Then, I saw a familiar face. I walked to her, knelt down, and lost my breath.

  It was the girl who had been looking for her mom. Nobody had helped her. My chest and head ached. I stood up, turned away quickly, and started to run, wanting to get as far away as possible.

  I didn’t get far. I ran straight into Edgar. I saw his gloomy eyes and started crying. Now, I must mention that I never cried. I’m sure I did when I was little, but I don’t remember crying at the orphanage more than once. I mean, there was no point in crying over things there. It wasn’t going to solve anything. But this . . . this was too much for me to handle. Surprisingly, Edgar was comforting and hugged me tightly. I actually let him. Here I was, knowing the man for only a few weeks, and letting him hug me. And it was actually helping. He never said anything. He just stood there, in silence, letting me get it all out.

  “Cornelius,” I said, moving away from him and wiping my eyes. “He has to pay for this.”

  Edgar nodded and said through his teeth, “He best be ready.”

  “I want to know what he says,” I said. “I want to go to the arena. Please, Edgar. People won’t recognize me.”

  I don’t think he could’ve said
no to me if he tried. In my mind, everybody would be too focused on the explosions and wouldn’t be paying attention to others, so I was pretty sure I’d be safe at the arena. At least that was what I was telling myself. I just really wanted to go.

  Soon, rescue teams in the hundreds came flooding into the area, demanding us to get out of the way. Edgar offered to help, but a man said it was best if we left them alone to follow protocol. It kind of didn’t make sense to me. I mean, wouldn’t they want as many people as possible to help?

  “What if we have somebody injured?” Edgar asked one of them. A man on the rescue squad pointed behind us. We turned around to see several doctors running into the area with stretchers and suitcases similar to the nurse’s. Edgar rushed to one of them. “Got a boy who’s twisted an ankle,” he told them.

  “Take me to him,” one of the female doctors said, unable to take her eyes off of the scattered bodies. “Hurry,” she then said. ”Others with more serious injuries will need my help in a few minutes.”

  Edgar was quick in taking her to the candy shop. I followed them. We walked in to find Belladonna and Ashton in the same place we had left them. Belladonna’s facial expression hadn’t changed. I was glad she didn’t have to see what I saw. The doctor walked to Ashton and felt his ankle.

  She immediately opened her briefcase and took out a roll of white fabric of some sort. She unrolled a large piece and squirted some sort of gel all the way down it. She then proceeded to wrap up the ankle. Edgar told the doctor about the tab the nurse had given him.

  “Good,” she said. “This gel will speed up the healing process, too. It’ll take away the pain too.” The doctor placed everything back in her medicine bag and stood up. She looked at Ashton. “You’re lucky. Fifteen years ago, you would’ve had to wait weeks to heal. You still won’t be able to walk.” She turned to look at Edgar. “When you get out of here, go to the nearest hospital and get some crutches.”

  “Okay,” Edgar said.

  “But I’m warning you,” the doctor said, rushing toward the door as several people outside were yelling out for some doctors. She looked outside at the doctors running by. Glancing at Edgar one last time, she said, “The hospitals are going to be rather crowded.”

  Edgar nodded and the doctor rushed outside to join the others.

  “Let’s go,” Edgar said, helping Ashton up.

  “It hurt?” I asked as he wrapped his arm around Edgar’s shoulders.

  “Nah,” he said. “That gel and tab works well.”

  “Yeah,” Edgar said. “They won’t last forever though. Pain will come back.”

  Ashton didn’t look happy to hear that.

  “I know you don’t want to hear this, Belladonna,” Edgar started. “But I don’t think we can make it to the arena.”

  “No,” Ashton said immediately, not allowing time for Belladonna to argue back. “After this, I want to see what Cornelius has to say about this explosion,”

  “Ya can’t make it,” Edgar argued. “Look at ya.”

  “Don’t tell me that,” Ashton snapped back. “I can make it. We’re going.”

  Belladonna smiled at him. “He’s a tough one,” she said.

  “Hell, how we gonna get there? It’ll be a damn task to get a cab right now.”

  “We have to try, Edgar,” Belladonna said. She looked down at her dress and wiped some of the dust off. Once realizing that was an impossible task, she said, “Let’s go.”

  There was nothing else Edgar could say. He wasn’t going to be able to change anybody’s mind. I just wanted to get there, hope nobody recognized me, and get out of the city. Every time I went into the city, something bad happened. It had to be a sign to stay out.

  “Let’s go,” Edgar said. “Help me, Carsyn.” I walked beside Ashton who placed his other arm around my shoulder. He limped in between us as we left the shop. Belladonna followed.

  “Good thing I can’t feel a thing,” Ashton said.

  “Yeah,” Edgar said. “I’m worried that you’re gonna twist the damn thing even more. Don’t move it too much.”

  “Okay,” Ashton said.

  The bandage the doctor had wrapped around his ankle was pretty thick. I’m sure it cut off a lot of mobility in his foot, which was good because it would prevent him from twisting the ankle even more. I felt really bad for him. But hey, it could’ve been a lot worse. The bodies in the alley proved that.

  We walked away from the disaster site, trying our best to ignore the bodies lying everywhere. Soon, we exited the alley, entering another street. Crowds of people had abandoned their vehicles, looking up at the smoke in the air in awe. Many of them were on their phones, recounting everything they had seen to whomever they were talking to. Some were probably making sure their family and friends weren’t in the explosion. Most of the people were quiet, not knowing what to say. Then, there were some who ran to those covered in dust, making sure they were okay. One man in particular ran to us. “Need help?” he asked.

  “We just need a cab,” Belladonna said.

  The man looked around. “It’s going to be hard,” he said. He looked back at us and at Ashton’s ankle. “Stay here.” He ran down the road and turned onto another, leaving our sight.

  Edgar and I sat Ashton down onto the ground. For ten minutes, I listened to the people nearby talking about the explosions. Grandfather’s name came up, of course, and a lot of them talked about how they planned on going to the arena.

  “I heard everybody is headed over there now,” a younger lady told a random man. I knew she was probably right. Everybody was probably just learning what had just happened to their city, and they’d all want to attend Cornelius’s announcement to see what he had to say.

  Finally, the young man returned to us, out of breath. “I found you a cab,” he said. “Luck.”

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Belladonna said as Edgar and I got Ashton back up. We followed the man to where the cab was. He was patient with us and was sure to walk slowly so that we could keep up. We finally reached the cab where we put Ashton in the front seat so that he had more legroom. I took the middle seat in the back. The man in the driver’s seat looked at us with dull eyes.

  “Thanks a lot, bud,” Edgar told the man who had gotten us the cab.

  “No problem,” he said.

  Wow, he was actually sincere. I didn’t think that the rich people knew anything about sincerity. But I guess when disaster strikes, people tend to come together.

  Chapter Sixteen