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Nothing.

Another crack splits through the ground nearby, and my stomach twists.

Malakai grabs my hand. “Move.”

This time, I don’t argue.

His fingers tighten around mine as he pulls me after him, and we run.

Ezra stays several feet ahead, clearing a path through the chaos. Everytime something tears through the surface, his knife comes down hard, slicing through it before it can reach us. Malakai keeps close behind him while people rush in every direction, crying, screaming, shoving past one another in their desperation to get away.

Some are still laughing.

Apparently, they’re drunk enough to believe the ground ripping itself apart is just one hell of an elaborate stunt.

One guy actually stops to film something writhing through the dirt. “Dude!” I shout. “RUN!”

He looks up from his phone and gives me a thumbs-up.

I stare at him.

Natural selection.

Malakai yanks me forward before I can witness Darwin collect his prize.

By the time we reach the barn, employees have thrown the massive doors open and are waving people inside.

I stumble after Malakai, lungs burning. “Why the fuck are we going into a building?” I yell.

“The foundation is stone,” Ezra calls over his shoulder.

“So?”

He reaches the entrance and turns back toward us. “They can’t get through it.”

I slow just enough to stare at him. “You sound very confident.”

Something tightens in his expression. But he says nothing.

Of course he doesn’t.

We cross the threshold.

The instant my boot hits the barn floor, something slams into the outside wall hard enough to shake the entire building.

A scream rips out of me before I can stop it.

People shout and duck as dust rains from the rafters, but Malakai barely reacts. He just tightens his grip on my hand and looks toward the wall like he knows exactly what’s on the other side.

My heart is trying to beat its way out of my chest.

I turn to Ezra. “Still think it’s a generator?”

His eyes meet mine. “No.”

“Great.”

Progress.