George ran down the hallway, into the front yard, and onto the road.
Beeper was running down the hill in the direction of the mall, already a tiny blurred silhouette in the dust fog.
Mr Carey was in his front yard. ‘Over there!’ he growled, pointing furiously in the direction of the stadium.
George ignored him and sprinted after his brother.
As he ran, he spotted Emily’s misty shape further down the hill. She was about fifty metres ahead of Beeper. But Beeper was fast. He was closing the gap.
The outside world was quiet, George’s breath unusually loud. His feet hit the sand with noisy thuds.
‘Beeper! Beeper!’ he yelled. Twenty or thirty more steps, and George would catch him. They had covered a lot of ground quickly.
The temperature was dropping. George couldn’t catch his breath, so he stopped to cough and spit. He looked down and realised his arms were covered in goosebumps.
George slowly turned around. Something was emerging from the fog. It was a blaster, rearing darkly over the crest of the hill, reaching for the sky. That’s what Mr Carey had been pointing to. And it was moments away from engulfing their house and everything else behind them.
‘Beeper! Stop!’ George yelled.
Beeper kept running but Emily spun around. She glanced up at the billowing wall of dust and debris.
‘No, Beeper!’ she screamed and began running back up the hill.
George arrived first, grabbing his brother’s arm tightly. Emily was there a second later. The blaster had engulfed the crest of the hill. It would reach them in less than a minute.
The three stood motionless for a moment in the middle of the road, as dirt was flung into the air by the gusts moving ahead of the blaster. George pointed to a nearby house. It had no windows or doors, and only parts of its roof were in place. But any protection was better than none. ‘This one!’ he called out: ‘Go! Go! Go!’
Beeper didn’t move. He just stared at the blaster, rolling down the hill towards them like a black tsunami.
George hoisted his brother onto his shoulder and staggered towards the house. Emily ran behind as the blaster sucked up the sound, the light, the air.
They almost made it to the doorway, but were knocked to the ground by the swirling volleys of wind. Beeper was first to scramble to his feet. In a panic, he ran the wrong way. George gripped his shirt. Hauled him back over his shoulder. The blaster was thirty seconds from hitting them.
Emily pushed at George’s back, herding him and Beeper into the house as the wind tried to fling them to the ground.
George stumbled through the doorway. He checked that Emily was following. She grabbed each side of the door frame to steady herself.
The front door led directly into a small room. There was an old fireplace on the wall to the right, with deep, heavy bookshelves on each side of it. These were the only shelter in sight. George pushed Beeper underneath the shelves closest to the door and squeezed in himself. Emily, a few steps behind, ran to the other side of the fireplace.
George peered around the fireplace and saw that there was junk underneath Emily’s shelves. There wasn’t enough room for her to fully squeeze in and cover herself. She stared at George, her eyes wide with fear.
The noise of the wind escalated into a roar. George leapt to his feet and beckoned for Emily to join them on their side of the fireplace. George wanted her to be safe. He wanted more than that. In those one or two seconds, he knew he wanted Emily to be with them. And not just through this blaster. Not just through these hard times. George wanted Emily with them even if Dad came home. Even when Dad came home.
Emily hesitated then gave a small, lopsided grin. She slid out from beneath her shelf and stood up. George crawled back in beside Beeper. Space was going to be tight, but he pushed his brother further along to make more room as she came towards them.
George kept one eye on the blaster through the empty window. Debris bounced and spun across its roiling face. He saw a thick wooden beam tipping and lurching among the raging dirt.
For a moment the beam was lost among the other rubble. Then it fell to the ground and cartwheeled towards the house. It kicked up again, and was spat forth, ahead of the blaster. It clipped the top of the wall of the room, smashing the upper row of bricks as it burst in.
Emily, now only three or four steps from the boys, tried to duck as it passed. The beam pounded against the shelves behind her. She fixed her gaze on George but she didn’t take another step.
‘Emily!’ George screamed.
Then the blaster hit and everything went dark.