red hill - jamie mcguire

kissed Halle’s cheek. “I’ll walk you, baby doll.” Nathan glanced up at me and winked, and then
followed Elleny and Jenna to the open field.
I glanced around the perimeter, checking hard to see places through my scope, and then turned to
watch my happy family marching to the place Skeeter had set up for the challenge.
Ashley had stayed behind, standing over the graves of her father, her sister, Bryce, and Cooper.
She stared at the crosses she had painstakingly made for them, mouthing words I couldn’t hear.
Finally, the front door slammed and Skeeter appeared. He walked up behind Ashley and put his arm
tenderly around her waist. They stood there for a moment, with Ashley leaning back against his chest.
Skeeter leaned forward to kiss her cheek and then took her hand, leading her away.
Skeeter and Ashley had leaned on each other for support for a long time after we lost everyone.
Their friendship turning into something more wasn’t really a surprise, but it was interesting watching
them love each other while still mourning and loving Jill and Cooper. We lived in a strange new
world, where even relationships required a new understanding.
As everyone I loved walked hand in hand or in someone’s arms, a familiar and yet strange sound
echoed in the distance. As soon as I heard the sound, I knew what it was, but it had been so long since
we’d heard or even seen an airplane, it was easy to believe it could be my imagination.
I stood up on the roof, trying to discern from which direction the muted, swirling sound of air was
coming from. I turned, holding my hand over my eyes to block out the glaring sun. The sound of the
planes’ engines was present, but the planes themselves were not. Nathan, the girls, Ashley, and
Skeeter stood in the field, every one of their faces tilted to the sky.
The sound grew closer, and just before it was on top of us, two fighter jets soared over side by
side, heading northeast.
Instinctively, I called out to Jenna, and also instinctively, she pulled Halle from Nathan’s arms and
ran toward the house. Everyone hurried toward the porch, talking at the same time in excited tones.
“Where do you think they’re going” Ashley asked loudly, most likely directed at me.
“Wichita, looks like. It’s about an hour and a half that way, right” I answered.
Jenna encouraged Halle up the ladder, where they both sat close to me. The planes were out of
sight, but we kept our eyes on the horizon.
Nathan set Zoe on her feet. “At those speeds, you’d think they’d be there by now.”
Just as Nathan finished his sentence, a bright light outshone the sun, and then a mushroom cloud
formed, climbing miles into the sky. Every one of us stared in disbelief. I remembered seeing
mushroom clouds on television, but in person . . . it didn’t seem real.
“What is that” Halle asked, finally breaking the silence.
“Is that a nuclear bomb” Ashley said, her tone signaling her impending panic.
“’Bout how far away are we from Wichita In miles.” Skeeter asked.
Nathan shrugged. “Right at seventy, I bet.”
“We should get inside. I don’t know what kind of bomb that is, but . . .”
“Oh my God,” I said, seeing a wave of dust rising above the horizon. It was heading our way. “Go,
Jenna! Go!”
Nathan and I helped the girls climb down the ladder, and I climbed down a few rungs, jumping the