The Survivor Chronicles (Book 2): The Divide by Erica Stevens

her feet. The hair on her arms rose, she wondered if the hair on her head was beginning to stand on end as was Bobby's.
    More lightning slashed across the sky in a cloud to cloud pattern that lit up the massive black clouds as a deluge of rain pounded against the earth. Mary Ellen pressed closer to the building as more lightning zipped into the ground and sparks flew into the air. Smoke billowed up as something went up in flames.
    "I uh…" Bobby broke off. "I'm going to find Xander."
    "I think you should," she agreed.
    He scrambled away from the wall and she listened as he slid into the classroom. She heard him calling Xander's name, but she couldn't bring herself to look away from the mammoth storm as she chewed on her nails. Her mother would be absolutely irate with her right now.
    A loud clap of thunder caused her to jump and a startled cry escaped as she spun toward the window. Peering inside, she searched for Bobby amongst the shadows but couldn't see him. The sound of something skidding across the floor sounded before Bobby began to curse. The dull thud of rubber, or something like it sounded and she realized that he was jumping around, probably hopping.
    "You ok?"
    Bobby let loose a string of curses that would have made a trucker blush before he finally answered her. "Yes."
    Mary Ellen had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as she listened to him shuffle forward while calling Xander's name. She glanced nervously over her shoulder. The clouds continued to spread sideways over the towns, but they didn't appear to be coming toward them. She didn't know what she would do if that storm started coming their way.
    "Hurry," she whispered, though there was no one to hear her.
    "Xander!" Mary Ellen flinched at Bobby's loud shout, but she supposed it didn't matter. "Xander!"
    She lowered her head to the window again as the ground once more vibrated with the force of the lightning. Her forehead furrowed, her hand clenched on the wall as she waited for the loud clap of thunder, but it didn't follow. Sitting up, Mary Ellen chewed on her nail as she turned back to the ominous clouds on the horizon. Lightning continued to streak across the sky, it wasn't hitting the ground but the earth continued to rumble beneath her.
    Her heart plummeted into her stomach. The hair on her neck now standing on end had nothing to do with the electrical charge in the air as the rumbling increased. "Aftershock," she whispered seconds before the earth heaved and lurched. She threw her arms up as dirt and rocks shot up around her. Her cheek smacked off of a brick as she fell to the ground, but she managed to bite back a cry as she covered her head with her arms.
    She struggled for breath as the ground settled around her again. She didn't want to lift her head as tears began to burn her eyes and a small sob escaped her. Gradually, she regained enough control of herself to take in her surroundings again. Though there was a new fracture a hundred feet away from the car, this quake didn't seem to have created the same kind of destruction that its predecessors had.
    "Bobby?" The word came out as no more than a strangled croak. She tried to get her shaking under control as a single tear slid down her cheek. "Bobby!" Her voice was louder as it carried further into the shadowed interior. "Bobby!"
    "Here." The word was small and barely discernible.
    "Are you ok?"
    There was a brief hesitation before he finally answered her. "I'm fine. Was that the storm?"
    "Aftershock."
    "Freaking wonderful."
    "Do you hear him?"
    "No." She listened as he made his way through the room again. "I think I found the doorway."
    "Maybe you shouldn't go through there." She was fairly convinced that whoever went through that door wouldn't come back. She pressed her forehead against the cool brick as she waited for his response.
    "I won't go far."
    "If there's another tremor…" her voice trailed off. They both knew what could happen if there was another tremor.
    "I won't