Jess opened her eyes, but she couldn’t see.

She brushed the dirt from her eyes and blinked, but there was still only darkness.

Was it night?

Had she gone blind?

Jess sat up, gasping at the searing pain that raked across her back. She’d been badly burned, she could tell.

It took a moment for her mind to clear. And slowly she grasped the full horror of what was happening.

St. Helens was erupting.

The smoke had turned the day black.

The pyroclastic surge had exploded over them.

Somehow they were still alive in this hole in the ground.

“Sam?” she choked. “Eddie?”

A voice rasped from somewhere close.

“I’m here,” Sam said softly. “Eddie’s hurt.”

Jess inched over, groping in the darkness until her fingers brushed their faces. She felt tears.

Jess fought back her own tears and took a deep breath.

She tried to stand, but the fallen tree imprisoned them in the hole. It would be impossible to try to climb out in the dark. They’d have to wait here until the sky lightened.

But when would that be?

The mountain roared. Every few minutes, there was a new explosion that rattled Jess’s bones. Jess couldn’t control her fear. She finally started to cry, but luckily the mountain drowned out the sound.

Jess felt something falling on her head, warm flakes.

Ash, she realized.

It began as a few sprinkles, falling lightly like hot snow. And then, suddenly, they were in an ash blizzard. The warm flakes swirled up Jess’s nose and into her mouth. She covered her face, but it did no good. The flakes completely filled the air.

The ash tasted disgusting, like dirt mixed with chalk. It clogged up her nose and blocked off her throat. She coughed hard and blew her nose and spit out mouthfuls. But it was coming down too quickly. She couldn’t clear her nose and mouth fast enough.

The boys hacked and gagged, too.

They would all suffocate if this kept up.

Then Jess had an idea.

“Pull your shirt over your face!” she cried.

Jess reached below her red sweatshirt for her T-shirt. She pulled it up over her face. It worked! The shirt became a mask that filtered out the ash.

She could breathe again.

They sat in the pit with their faces covered for a long time, waiting for the blizzard to stop. The mountain growled and boomed.

Jess huddled close to the boys.

She realized that there could be only one thing worse than being in the middle of this horror.

Being here alone, without the twins.