red hill - jamie mcguire

can off the shelf and looked up at him from under my brow. “We didn’t make it this long just to die of
radiation poisoning, right You weren’t just saying that to make us feel better”
Nathan shook his head and pulled me into his arms. “No, love. Skeeter’s right. What point would
there be to using a radioactive bomb Unless they had a specific reason to use it, I don’t think it
makes much sense.”
“Really”
“Really.”
I took a deep breath and squeezed him tight, and then followed him up the stairs. Even with his
promise, a suffocating sense of dread consumed me. Jenna and Elleny crawled to the window and
pulled back the blanket.
“Mom! Is that snow”
I stood up and walked over to the window, peeking through a crack between the boards. “No,” I
said softly, watching the fluffy, dark pieces float to the ground.
“That’s fallout, ain’t it” Skeeter asked.
Nathan leaned down to get a better look through the largest crack. “Fallout isn’t radioactive in
itself. It could just be dust and debris from the blast that was shot into the air.”
Everyone brought blankets and pillows to the basement that night, hoping that putting one more
level between us and the ash covering the grass outside would provide a little more protection. By
nightfall, enough of it had accumulated on the ground to look like a blanket of dirty wool.
After the children fell asleep, Skeeter and Nathan discussed what the fallout—radioactive or not—
might do to our water supply, and other frightening things, until Ashley asked them to stop. It was too
late, though; even after we settled in and tried to get some sleep, I found myself staring at the ceiling,
worrying.
Nathan kissed my temple. “I think it’s going to be okay, Scarlet. I really do.”
“But what if it’s not How can I save our kids from this”
Nathan didn’t answer, which scared me even more.
My eyes were just getting heavy enough to stay closed when Skeeter scrambled over to one of the
small windows that ran along the top of the east wall. He stood up on the tips of his toes, and could
barely get a glimpse.
“I’ll be damned,” he said softly.
“What” Nathan said. He wasn’t as tall as Skeeter, so he jumped once. They traded glances.
“What do you see” I said, sitting up on my elbows.
The men rushed to the stairs. Their footsteps only got faster when they crossed the kitchen and
living room. I scrambled from my pallet and followed them, gasping when I caught sight of what had
them so amazed. The ash was still falling from the sky, gray like a cloudy winter day.
“Is it going to storm” I said.
“No,” Nathan said, his eyes bouncing between the falling and accumulating ash. “The debris is in
the atmosphere.”
“How long will it stay this way” I asked.
Nathan shook his head. “I don’t know, honey.” He looked to me, for the first time real worry in his