Chapter 76

An hour and five miles later, the evacuees walked under the steamed underground with only little lanterns to brighten up their pathway, the tunnel’s main emergency exit led to a trapdoor in the floor of the barn. At least tweeny people had already used this exit by the time Tommy came up the stairs carrying Cavin, on his back, and Damian, carrying Lanah, and on their back was Lady Aya carrying a basket of food and herbs and different bottled mixture. The barn, although wide, could hold no more than fifteen people; the rest had spilled into the barnyard. Men and women lay on the barn’s surface, where Aya dealt with the wounded and prepared doses of herbal mixture. But almost all of them halted what they were doing and glanced at Tommy as he brought in Cavin and Damian brought in Alanah and rested them on the floor.

He trudged backward while three women crowded around their unconscious bodies. One local man stripped off Cavin's tunic and slid a vile concoction down her throat. The woman