Chapter 171

• Meadow stays glued to the road with her foot pressed hard on the gas. The thuds at the rear persist, but their futile attempts at stopping or hitting us seem to push them to stop trying, well, at least tail off as more of them fall back the further we go. They become less frequent and less violent and more like small thuds that barely do anything other than shudder the walls for a second. It looks like they are bound to the homestead, and following us is not an option. We all hold our breaths and silently pray they give up as we carry forward at breakneck speed.
• “Thinner means it’s maybe not going to be much longer, right?” Carmen breaks the tense silence and leans forward as though she is peering outside to try and see any end to the smog, and I sigh listlessly.
• “I don’t know. The mountain is miles to the north, and it reached there. So, if it does thin, we have miles of it yet.” I point out in deflation and rest my head against the window frame, peering out into endless mist for miles.