I turned to look behind us. Sloan was a distant figure down the street, but he was making steady progress. "Get out, we'll run."

We both bailed out of the truck and hit the ground running. I grabbed Aden's shirt sleeve and tugged her onto the sidewalk, yelling, "Don't step on the road! Over here! We need to stay out of the range of the wires or we'll be electrocuted. You don't want to step in a puddle or you'll end up like that guy."

"Pray Sloan doesn't know that," she said.

I pictured Sloan being electrocuted; frying his stupid suit and knocking the smile right off his face. I desperately wished he wouldn't know any better and step in one of the massive puddles of murky water on the road. My lungs burned as I gasped in smog, legs pumping as we sprinted down the uneven sidewalk. It was hard to keep running over the piles of sliding plaster and wood, and I grabbed Aden's hand to study her as she nearly pitched forward. I dared a look back over my shoulder and my stomach lurched in panic. Sloan was running now, his long legs taking him over the distance with astonishing speed.

"He's catching up."

"Then run faster!"

The road was a little clearer ahead, mainly because the buildings that had been there were smaller, and there was less debris in our path. I must have been panting too hard to hear the rattle of the oncoming engine, because when the rickety Volkswagen beetle screeched to a stop beside us I nearly had a heart attack.

"Get in!" Morgan was half hanging out the window, her yellow curls streaming behind her, and she nearly decapitated herself when she slammed on the brakes. I seized the door handle and yanked the back door open with a rusty creak. As Aden and I threw ourselves onto the sticky vinyl seating we could hear Sloan cursing.

"Go!" Aden cried. "He's almost here!"

I had a moment of pure pee-your-pants terror as something slammed into the outside of the door. Sloan, eyes wide and angry, was clawing at the door handle. Then Morgan stomped on the gas and his figure on the sidewalk grew smaller as we raced into town. It must have been my imagination, but I swear I could hear him laughing faintly as we sped away.

"He looks pissed, or crazy – possibly both." I tried to keep my voice cool, as if I hadn't just screamed like a little girl. 

Aden groaned and let her head thump back against the head rest. "That was too close. What took you so damn long? He almost caught us!"

"I went to check if he'd descended – which he obviously has - and it's chaos over there. Sloan has taken a dozen or so Malake and the rest are all sort of hiding. They don't want to cross him, but it's so obvious he's gone way too far. They don't know what to do. Siding with the wrong leader could turn out very badly."

"Well, he doesn't have anyone with him right now. He must have been messing with us. Hopefully he didn't get a good look at you when you drove up here. It's clear who you've allied yourself with," Aden said. "And that's great and all, but aren't you worried about what he might do to you?"

Morgan shrugged, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. "Sometimes you have to live a little. Break the rules, you know?"

Aden shook her head. "You're nuts, but we appreciate the rescue."

"So now we're going to my house?" I said, "to complete my mother's heart attack?"

"Yup."

I finally had the presence of mind to find my seat belt and fasten myself in. Morgan's driving was making me nervous. Not because she couldn't drive, but because she was maneuvering around gaping black cracks in the road, multiple abandoned cars and large chunks of buildings, and all at a breakneck pace. 

I told myself to pretend it was NASCAR...with obstacles...and dead people. 

I quickly looked away from the poor smuck who'd been walking under a giant wooden sign when the quake hit. Man, a massive natural disaster, and you get taken out by an advertisement for a plumbing company in the shape of a toilet. 

Shitty...

I grasped the "holy-hell-I'm-going-to-die" handle and shut my eyes all the way until the car shuddered to a halt and Morgan said brightly," We made it!"

I opened my eyes to see we'd come to a halt in front of my little white and green shoe box of a house. Astonishingly enough it was one of the only houses on the block that hadn't suffered damage in the quake. Parked in my driveway behind my mother's minivan were two black SUVs.

"Your friends?" I said, and Aden nodded and swung her door open,

"Yup, let's go inside, I'm sure they must be itching to get going."

"I'm sure my mother is keeping them plenty occupied," I muttered, trailing after the girls, reluctant to discover what sort of state she might be in.

When we walked through the front door I was astonished to see my mother sitting at the kitchen table having tea with four burly men in suits.

"Lucas!" she crashed her tea cup down into her saucer and practically leapt across the room to catch me in a bear hug."Oh praise God! They told me you were alright, but I couldn't relax until I saw you!"

I patted her awkwardly on the arm. "I'm okay," I wheezed. "Although I think you may be damaging some ribs."

She let me go and cast a backwards glance at the bored men at her kitchen table, her expression doubtful. "These men say they're police officers and they're making sure everyone gets home safely." 

My mother was a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one."I would think the police would be awfully busy right now." She glanced back again, one of the men was taking a sip from a flowered china tea cup that looked ridiculously tiny in his huge hands."Lucas, what's going on?" Her expression was confused, and a little frustrated. "Have you got mixed up in something funny?"

The question made me want to burst into hysterical laughter. Had I got mixed in something funny? Before I could say anything my mother noticed the girls.

"You!" She rounded on Morgan. "I knew there was something strange about you. Have you dragged my boy into something? Some kind of trouble?"

Morgan opened her mouth to say something but I interrupted, letting the loopy feeling control my tongue. In retrospect, not a good idea."Mom, be nice to Morgan, she's an angel." I snickered, and my mother looked affronted.

"What? Are you dating her? You know we agreed you wouldn't date until you're nineteen."

"No," I interrupted her, annoyed at the amused look Aden was suddenly giving me. "We did not agree on that. And no, we're not dating. Morgan is and angel and Aden is an angel of death and they're here because God is trying to kill me."

My mother stared at me, her mouth forming a perfect "oh".. It was almost comical, until her expression changed to pure rage.

"Lucas Andrew Roland! Do you think that's funny?" Her hands flew to her hips, "How dare you bring these people into my home and make fun of me and my faith. You have no respect! Ever since Sarah died you've mocked everything sacred and true. I don't even know you anymore." She turned and stormed up the stairs. I heard her stomp down the hall, a door banged and then there was silence.

"You reckon she knows we kept the house from falling down around her ears?" One of the suited men said.

The man in the chair next to him put down his tea cup carefully and stood up. "Guess not. You ready to go, kid? You better pack some stuff."

I glanced at Morgan and Aden nervously. "Where are we going exactly?"

"Church on the Hill," Aden said. "It's up island. There's more of us there and it's fortified." She glanced out the kitchen window, peeking around the curtains. "He has to know we're here."

"He's waiting for something," one of the men muttered.

"Get a bag packed and we'll go." Aden nudged me into action.

"Okay, I'll be right back."