DEATH IN THE CEMETERY

The blast from the bomb swept across the cemetery, flattening shrubs and ancient gravestones. It rushed around tombs and battered the side of the church and the building we had used for cover.

If we had stayed behind the tomb closer to the road, we would surely have died. The shock waves alone would have crushed us.

Behind the stone building, the air was sucked from my lungs in one violent rush, and then more streamed in, hot and heavy with dust. My ears popped, my eyes bulged, my joints screamed in pain, and the cemetery was smothered in a cloud of destruction.

Dirt and branches and pieces of Wolff’s car battered the side of the outbuilding like a hurricane. The tiles blew off the roof above us, breaking into pieces as they disappeared into the storm like a thousand deadly knives. Wreckage smashed against the side of the church, shattering the stained glass windows and bouncing back from the walls, filling the night with a whirlwind of debris.

For that moment, there was nothing but noise and pressure and violence and madness.

It was difficult to tell exactly when the effects of the bomb subsided.

I couldn’t think straight, I couldn’t breathe properly, I couldn’t hear, and my whole body hurt.

Dust swirled in the air and my mouth felt gritty, so that when I opened and closed it, I could feel the crunch between my teeth.

The first thing I knew was that someone was shaking me. I was sitting with my back to the wall, hunched into a ball.

The shaking came again and I turned to look at Lisa.

I had to think hard about moving my head. The effort of it was massive. My mind was numb and empty, and when I looked at her, I blinked hard.

She was leaning close and saying something, but all I could hear was a muffled noise and a high-pitched whining. No words. If I hadn’t been so stunned, I might have been afraid that I had lost my hearing, but I was too dazed to think much of anything at all.

Lisa leaned closer and shouted in my ear.

‘… alive?’

I stared at her and focused my thoughts. I wiped my eyes and shook my head.

Lisa spoke again and this time the words were clearer.

‘Are we still alive?’

I nodded and reached out to touch her shoulder, then turned to look at Stefan.

My brother was lying face down on the ground, not moving.

I stared at his body, then shifted forward and crawled towards him.

‘Stefan,’ I tried to say, but my mouth would hardly work. ‘Stefan.’

My arms gave way when I came to him, and I fell forward, pressing my face to his shoulder.

‘Karl?’

I stopped, not sure if I’d actually heard it. My ears were ringing and it might have been my imagination.

‘Karl. You’re hurting me.’

In one sudden movement, I sat back and an overwhelming sense of relief swept over me. ‘Stefan? You’re all right.’

My brother rolled onto his back and looked at me. ‘What the hell just happened?’