Page 57 of HaL

I nod toward the pass where the mammoths disappeared. “The mammoths do something different. They gather in the deepest passes and press together for warmth.”

Dawn’s expression softens.

“The mothers form an outer barrier, and the young are positioned in the middle. They use their own body heat to shield the calves from the worst of the cold.

“How cold does it get?”

I meet her eyes.

“Negative seventy, sometimes worse.”

Her mouth falls open. I turn my attention back toward the mountains.

“And that is when Hallister reminds everyone who truly rules this world. She only tolerates us if she wills it.”

Turning the cruiser back up the hill, I race out of the ravine, the engine growling beneath us. I barely make it a few yards before a deafening bellow erupts behind me. I glance over my shoulder and several of the mammoths are running. Not walking. Not lumbering. Running.

My stomach drops.

Just a tic ago, they had been moving lazily through the snow. Now they are charging uphill with pure panic in their eyes. I crest the hill and slam on the brakes.

My breath catches.

An avalanche.

Not some distant wall of snow creeping down the mountainside. This is a monstrous, living force, swallowing everything in its path. Snow, ice, trees, and enormous chunks of rock are barreling toward us in a deafening wave.

And it’s coming straight for us!

“Hold on!”

My hands and feet move before my mind catches up. I gun the cruiser, the engine screaming as I force it forward. Dawn doesn’t say a word. She simply grabs hold of whatever she can as the ground beneath us begins to tremble violently.

Then the mountain explodes.

Trees snap like twigs. Cliff faces crumble. Massive slabs of rock tear loose and tumble down the slope as the roar behind us grows louder and louder.

I jerk the cruiser left.

A tree crashes down inches from us.

I wrench the wheel the other way as a wall of rock tears across our path. The cruiser fishtails, the sleds fighting against every turn, and I barely manage to keep us upright.

Then—

SCREEECH!

The side of the cruiser slams against something solid. The entire vehicle shudders. I grit my teeth and keep going. Snow and ice begin hammering the roof so hard I can barely hear myself think. The sky disappears behind a blinding white wall. Every second we lose is another second the avalanche gains on us.

“Come on!” I snarl, stomping the throttle.

The engine howls. I push it harder. Faster.

The cruiser was never built to withstand this. It wasn’t designed to carry us through a mountain coming apart beneath its own weight.

But stopping means death.

My beast roars beneath me as I fight the controls, the sleds whipping wildly from side to side. The ground bucks beneath us. The cruiser lurches sideways, and Dawn cries out as I wrestle it back in line.