Page 36 of Into the Mist

“I think we need to fill one of those giant metal bowls with greens for salad,” Stella said as she turned the enormous pot of stew to simmer. “They’re not going to last, and I can made a quick dressing for it, plus greens equal healthy.”

“I’m going to look at the potatoes,” said Mercury. “I can’t wait any longer.”

“Well, it only took a few minutes before—if that’s what happened,” said Stella.

“We’ll all look,” said Imani. Jenny and Karen, who had been putting plates of sandwiches and fries on trays for the people in the foyer, quit what they were doing and joined Mercury at the counter.

Mercury hadn’t realized she’d held her breath until it escaped from her in a gasp as she lifted the bowl and stared down into it.

“Fuck me,” said Stella.

Imani shook her head from side to side. “It’s completely insane.”

“I’m glad I was here when it happened. I’d never believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself, and I have a goddamn master’s in botany.” Jenny spoke breathlessly.

“It’s a miracle,” said Karen in a hushed church voice.

Mercury lifted the two potatoes. Through the spots of her dried blood, big green sprouts burst from the skin of both as if they reached up toward an imaginary sun.

CHAPTER

11

NONE OF THEfive spoke of it. They continued as they had begun—finished making sandwiches, fries, and salad for dinner. They helped Stella put everything together for tomorrow’s stew, then served the food to the wounded along with Dr. Hilary, Gemma, Sadie, Ken, Tyler, and three of the lodge’s housekeepers, who made up the only Timberline staff who were still alive. By that time it was only a little after six o’clock in the evening, but outside it was fully dark.

Inside the lodge the enormous hearth was burning brightly. Pots of candles merged with the flicking firelight and perfumed the big foyer-turned-infirmary with a cheerful, piney scent. Tyler and Ken had taken a page out of Stella’s book of experience and used plastic cling wrap and aluminum foil to cover broken windows—and then they’d nailed blankets and strips of whatever flat wood they could scavenge over them. One of the wounded guests had produced a pretty good-sized stash of marijuana-infused edibles—all Indica—which Dr. Hilary, an open-minded naturopath, had happily administered to her patients. Now that everyone was post-dinner and post-pot, the lodge felt warm and surprisingly safe.

Mercury and Stella had pulled a coffee table over to a corner of the room, which is where they, plus Imani, Jenny and Karen, sat on the floor and used the squat piece of rustic furniture as a dinner table.

They shared looks. All five women were mulling in their minds what they had just discovered about Mercury—but no one saidanything about it. Not yet. Not in public. Mercury had just stood to begin gathering the dinner dishes when Dr. Hilary and Gemma joined them.

“Dinner was delicious. Thank you for that,” said Hilary.

“These fries are freaking fantastic!” Gemma sounded like a teenager, even though she’d worked beside Dr. Hilary with a maturity well beyond her years.

“I do love me a good thick-cut fry,” said Stella. “Wait until tomorrow. Imani’s making biscuits to go with the stew.”

“Yum!” said Gemma.

Imani’s lips tilted up slightly. “I hope you like them. They’re my great auntie’s recipe. No one for generations has been able to resist them.”

“Well, I’m not gonna even try.” Gemma grinned at her.

The doctor cleared her throat. “Ladies, Gemma tells me you saw the explosions.”

Stella nodded. “Bombs. Yeah, we saw them.”

“It was quite horrible.” Karen shook her head sadly. “And all the dead people.” She shuddered. “I will remember it as long as I draw breath.”

“Me too,” said Jenny softly.

Hilary lowered her voice so that it didn’t carry to the patients or the staff who were sitting together talking quietly across the room. “Bombs.I can hardly think the word. Saying it sounds like something out of a horror movie.”

Mercury snorted. “That’s what we’ve been saying too.”

“The truth—is Portland gone?” Hilary asked.

“We can’t know for certain, but from what we saw… completely,” said Stella. “Is that where you’re from?”