Short Excerpt

“No. No, no, no, no.”

Twenty. Nineteen. The timer on the clock ticked off second by second.

The tendril of fear she’d carried all night contorted into outright fear. Alma shoved to her feet, the locket still in hand, and pumped her legs as hard as she could. Boulders and small rocks threatened to block her escape, but she couldn’t stop. Cold air burned down her throat, pressure building in her chest. She’d lost count of how many seconds had passed. Too few. The urn she’d nearly tripped over mere minutes ago stood stark against the uneven landscape, and she scooped it up as fast as she could. Slamming her hand over the lid, she tried to keep Greta’s husband inside as she raced up the incline.

Her boots lost grip in the loose dirt. She cascaded back down a few feet, and a sob escaped without her permission. She hadn’t survived her husband to die here. Not like this. Not tonight.

The explosion reverberated through the ground a split second before the blast knocked her forward. The urn slipped from her arms as she face-planted in the dirt. Heat and pain seared along her spine, and the world caught fire.