topple over onto him. He feels the building swaying and the shelves moving and everything is black and violent.
Just as he begins to try to move forward Tommy feels something jam against his heel and he goes flying just likeall the lifeless books around him that are never going to be read. He lands on his side and feels something thick and unmovable.
That better not be what I think —
But his eyes tell him the truth.
It’s a body.
He jerks back and gets to his feet just as he hears someone to his side.
“He’s dead,” a female’s monotone voice says. “He won’t bite.”
Whoever’s talking isn’t Skylar.
Tommy stands up and tries to compose himself in front of whoever is there. The lights are still flickering, so Tommy can barely make out the girl in front of him. He spots black eyes. For a second, he thinks he’s seeing things, then figures out she’s wearing heavy eyeliner. It contrasts well with her short, spiky white-blonde hair.
“Name’s Sam,” the teenager says.
The world’s ending and I’m being rescued by a Goth girl.
“Uh, hi. I was kinda —”
Once again he’s interrupted, this time by Skylar herself. He spots her racing through an aisle and then heading down another without even noticing them. She clearly is looking for someone or something.
“Skylar, stop,” he yells as he starts to follow her.
He can hear shuffling behind him and realizes that Sam is following him.
“Is she wiggin’ out?” the Goth girl asks.
Tommy wants to tell her that nobody is “wiggin’ out” and please stop following him. But he’s too focused on following Skylar. She’s scanning the bookshelves —the ones that still have books on them —and obviously searching for something in particular.
This is crazy the world’s ending and she’s wanting to check out a book.
“What’s going on?” he asks. He glances behind him, and the girl is still there, looking like a lost puppy with black eyes. “Skylar?”
“There’s got to be a Bible in here,” she says to Tommy as she glances at him for a second. “I’ll prove to you what’s going on.”
He waits to see if she’s joking, but Skylar is very serious. She’s doing what she does best: taking control, trying to handle the situation.
No amount of anything’s going to prove anything about what’s happening.
“Two rows over,” Sam says in that same unemotional tone. “Religion.”
Skylar doesn’t stop to ask who the girl giving the answer is or how she happens to know where to look. Tommy stares at her for a moment, thinking about asking himself, when he hears a triumphant cry coming from Skylar.
Tommy and Sam both walk over to find her standing next to a pile of overturned books, thumbing through a Bible.
No longer triumphant, now she looks confused. “It’s not here. Where is it?”
Skylar is still in her wedding dress, still this vision of white in a shadowy place. Her makeup has started to run and her hair is flat but she seems to have forgotten about any of that. She’s looking for answers and thinks a Bible is going to provide some.
Dan appears by her side and asks her what she’s talking about.
“The Rapture. It’s not in here.”
A few hours ago Skylar and Dan were talking about their future and their honeymoon and all their wedding presents and all the love around them and now this. Now the world is shaking and Skylar’s thumbing through a Bible and talking about the Rapture.
She finds something. “Here.”
Dan doesn’t say anything and looks nothing like the confident, happy guy Tommy saw earlier in the day.
“Hail.” She looks at all of them to make sure they’re paying attention. “Listen —‘And there came hail and fire mixed with blood.’”
“That’s not helping, Skylar,” Tommy says.
She ignores Tommy and keeps reading silently. Then she closes the Bible and shakes her head.
“I don’t get this. I shouldn’t be here. I went to church. I did everything
Just as he begins to try to move forward Tommy feels something jam against his heel and he goes flying just likeall the lifeless books around him that are never going to be read. He lands on his side and feels something thick and unmovable.
That better not be what I think —
But his eyes tell him the truth.
It’s a body.
He jerks back and gets to his feet just as he hears someone to his side.
“He’s dead,” a female’s monotone voice says. “He won’t bite.”
Whoever’s talking isn’t Skylar.
Tommy stands up and tries to compose himself in front of whoever is there. The lights are still flickering, so Tommy can barely make out the girl in front of him. He spots black eyes. For a second, he thinks he’s seeing things, then figures out she’s wearing heavy eyeliner. It contrasts well with her short, spiky white-blonde hair.
“Name’s Sam,” the teenager says.
The world’s ending and I’m being rescued by a Goth girl.
“Uh, hi. I was kinda —”
Once again he’s interrupted, this time by Skylar herself. He spots her racing through an aisle and then heading down another without even noticing them. She clearly is looking for someone or something.
“Skylar, stop,” he yells as he starts to follow her.
He can hear shuffling behind him and realizes that Sam is following him.
“Is she wiggin’ out?” the Goth girl asks.
Tommy wants to tell her that nobody is “wiggin’ out” and please stop following him. But he’s too focused on following Skylar. She’s scanning the bookshelves —the ones that still have books on them —and obviously searching for something in particular.
This is crazy the world’s ending and she’s wanting to check out a book.
“What’s going on?” he asks. He glances behind him, and the girl is still there, looking like a lost puppy with black eyes. “Skylar?”
“There’s got to be a Bible in here,” she says to Tommy as she glances at him for a second. “I’ll prove to you what’s going on.”
He waits to see if she’s joking, but Skylar is very serious. She’s doing what she does best: taking control, trying to handle the situation.
No amount of anything’s going to prove anything about what’s happening.
“Two rows over,” Sam says in that same unemotional tone. “Religion.”
Skylar doesn’t stop to ask who the girl giving the answer is or how she happens to know where to look. Tommy stares at her for a moment, thinking about asking himself, when he hears a triumphant cry coming from Skylar.
Tommy and Sam both walk over to find her standing next to a pile of overturned books, thumbing through a Bible.
No longer triumphant, now she looks confused. “It’s not here. Where is it?”
Skylar is still in her wedding dress, still this vision of white in a shadowy place. Her makeup has started to run and her hair is flat but she seems to have forgotten about any of that. She’s looking for answers and thinks a Bible is going to provide some.
Dan appears by her side and asks her what she’s talking about.
“The Rapture. It’s not in here.”
A few hours ago Skylar and Dan were talking about their future and their honeymoon and all their wedding presents and all the love around them and now this. Now the world is shaking and Skylar’s thumbing through a Bible and talking about the Rapture.
She finds something. “Here.”
Dan doesn’t say anything and looks nothing like the confident, happy guy Tommy saw earlier in the day.
“Hail.” She looks at all of them to make sure they’re paying attention. “Listen —‘And there came hail and fire mixed with blood.’”
“That’s not helping, Skylar,” Tommy says.
She ignores Tommy and keeps reading silently. Then she closes the Bible and shakes her head.
“I don’t get this. I shouldn’t be here. I went to church. I did everything
Similar Books
