Exodus Eternal

rman chirped from the television. “Five new extreme weather alerts and a rapid decrease in air quali

red hair back into a ponytail. She leaned over the youn

for today. Read the next section and I’ll se

evealing two missing front teeth

giggle at the girl’s att

er notes and put them in her handwoven, multi

orget yo

and retrieved her modified ‘PEM Mask’ (perso

rable. Vesta’s vivid blue eyes squinted instantly in the brightness of the Sun’s rays, and she ad

oming dull with the dust that was always lining the streets. Snow had stopped falling a few years ago, but Vesta cou

y, stucco home and instantly recei

just got back from university, don’t e

t of her brother’s sarcasm

like you already ate e

ag onto the kitchen counter. An angry growl erupted from one of

ted a text ale

get to fee

the kitchen stool that now reveal

you survived when I was at universi

he floor, keenly eyeing Vesta as she prepared his food. To Vesta’s

Vesta frowned. Merlot growled

erl! Kitty

the window. Looking out, she noticed a couple of tree branches and a poor neighbor’s

iminal. No hiding,

y gone two steps when the wind rattled the windows even harder. Vesta’s ph

” Vesta

, you’re home.

sity of her mother’s voice, “Mom

ther, Lucy, cut Vesta off breathles

he weather channel. The once-smiling weatherman was

looking now. Tanner

gets worse I will be coming home. I have to call yo

her phone, but her moth

ng with several other count

“It is advised to take shelter until t

n images of tornados, tsunamis, and erupting volcanoes from all over the world. The l

ed and covered her face with her hand, dust and heat invadin

g flashed. Neighbors were running to shelters or packing their

ur family? Do you w

osest neighbor, Mr. Fraser. He was reaching his hand towards h

!” Vesta

one and half-crawled, half-walke

e home now. The weather is getting

ore texting again but was inte

ey…are you

d far away. “I’m heading to Marcus

sta looked up at the

you s

ed at her cell phone and started to go ba

at to focus on where it was coming from. It had a steady, throbbing rhythm, like the purr of a well-tuned race car. Following

” Vesta felt comfo

tely didn’t come from the military. At super-speed, two jets pulled away in opposit

erial, opaque front window, narrow wings that retracted once la

at?” Mrs. F

ry,” her husband r

p the door frame, she leaned out enough t

llowed at a determined pace. The group broke into a run, spreading out th

er?” she

is house. The tallest person in the group turned

n, dressed in a dark, form-fitting suit and helmet that ma

med it was a man, and the man gesture

our house!” shou

d. He pointed dramatically upwards, then to the jet. The man lo

erself held by an extremely tall, strong person clad like the one before her. Vesta could see the Fraser family being escorted in the

ed her forward as the now-searin

in the black suit. He turned his helmet towards her

m the open house to the closest lilac bus

to the frightened cat and gripped him