Gone

minor, nothing that Sam, like most Californians, hadn’t felt before.
    Everyone jumped to their feet, everyone knew what you did in an earthquake.
    But then came a rending sound, steel and wood twisting, and the crucifix separated from the wall. It ripped free of the bolts holding it in place, like an invisible giant had yanked it away.
    No one moved.
    A shower of plaster and pebbles fell on the altar.
    The crucifix toppled forward. It fell like a chainsawed tree.
    As it fell, Caine dropped his hands to his sides. His face was grim, hard, and angry.
    The crucifix, at least a dozen feet tall, slammed with shocking force down onto the front-row pew. The impact was as loud and sudden as a car wreck.
    Orc and Howard jumped aside. Cookie was too slow. The horizontal bar of the cross caught his right shoulder.
    He was on the ground and a red stain was spreading.
    It all happened in the space of a few heartbeats. So fast that the kids who’d leaped to their feet didn’t have the chance to bolt.
    “Help me, help me!” Cookie cried.
    He lay bellowing on the floor. Blood was seeping through the fabric of his T-shirt. It pooled on the tile floor.
    Elwood shoved the cross off him, and Cookie screamed.
    Caine had not moved. Drake Merwin kept his cold gaze on Orc, his arms still crossed, seemingly indifferent.
    Diana Ladris maintained her focus on Sam. The knowing smirk on her face didn’t waver.
    Astrid grabbed Sam’s arm and whispered, “Let’s get out of here. We have to talk.”
    Diana saw that as well.
    “Ahhh, ahhhh, help me, oh man, I’m hurt!” Cookie cried.
    Orc and Howard made no move to help their fallen comrade.
    Caine, perfectly calm, said, “This is terrible. Does anyone know first aid? Sam? Your mother was a nurse.”
    Little Pete, who had sat silent and still as a stone, began to rock faster and faster. His hands flapped as if he were warding off an attack of bees.
    “I have to get him out of here, he’s spiraling,” Astrid said, and bundled Little Pete away. “Window seat, Petey, window seat.”
    “I’m not a nurse,” Sam blurted. “I don’t know…”
    It was Dahra Baidoo who broke from her stunned trance to kneel beside the thrashing, bellowing Cookie. “I know some first aid. Elwood, help me.”
    “I guess we have our new nurse,” Caine said, sounding no more agitated or concerned than the school principal announcing a name for the honor roll.
    Diana turned away, drifted past Caine, and whispered something in his ear. Caine’s dark eyes swept across the shocked kids, seeming to size them up in turn. He formed a bare smile, and nodded imperceptibly to Diana.
    “This meeting is adjourned till we can help our wounded friend…what is his name? Cookie?”
    Cookie’s voice was even more urgent, demanding help, edging toward hysteria. “It really hurts, it really hurts bad, oh, God.”
    Caine led Drake and Diana down the aisle, past Sam, following Astrid and Little Pete from the church.
    Drake paused halfway, turned back, and spoke for the first time. In an amused voice he said, “Oh, um, Captain Orc? Have your people—the ones who aren’t injured—line up outside. We’ll work out your…um, duties.”
    With a grin that was almost a snarl, Drake added a cheerful, “Later.”

FIFTEEN
    251 HOURS , 32 MINUTES
    JACK WAS SLOW to realize that he should follow Caine and the rest out of the church. He jumped up too suddenly and banged into the pew, making a noise that drew the attention of the quiet boy Caine had called a hero.
    “Sorry,” Jack said.
    Jack walked quickly outside. At first he couldn’t see any of the other Coates kids. A lot of people were outside the church, milling around, talking about what had happened inside. Cookie’s cries of pain were only slightly muffled.
    Jack spotted the tall blond girl he’d seen inside, and her little brother.
    “Excuse me, do you know where Caine and everybody went?”
    The girl, he didn’t remember her name, looked him in the eye. “He’s in the town hall. Where else would our new leader be?”
    Jack often missed nuance when people talked. But he didn’t miss her cold sarcasm.
    “Sorry to bother you.” He pushed his glasses back up on his nose and tried to smile at the same time. He bobbed his head and looked around for the town hall.
    “It’s right there.” The girl pointed. Then she said, “My name is Astrid. Do you really think you can get the phones working?”
    “Sure. It will take time, though. Right now the signal