CHAPTER 30
Sparky was utterly exhausted. He was panting, fatigued. His lungs, burning from exertion at every breath, filled with air that became hotter by the second. The Betty’s freight elevator was opening in front of them. When it touched the ground, raising a cloud of dust, G3EK merrily chirped.
“C’mon you piece of junk, one last push!”
Together they dragged Hope onto the platform. They made it. Sparky smiled, savoring salvation, but as soon as they detached the improvised harness around the woman, the ground started shaking and a deafening roar engulfed them.
He quickly turned to the horizon and his pupils contracted in a flash. The incoming sea of fire had risen into towering gurgling columns.
Reflected in his irises, earth and sky fused into a blinding pool of light. He raised
