Free Eruption by Roland Smith

side of the junkyard bridge, but he was far from safe. The edge of the road was several feet above him. He would have to stand on the tilted truck hood, reach above his head, and pull himself up. He got to his feet very slowly, looking for something solid to grab on to if the pile started to go. The camper rocked back and forth. Pepe began struggling again.
    â€œCan’t have that.”
    He reached into his shirt and pulled him out.
    â€œSorry.”
    He tossed the poodle up over the ledge. Pepe landed with a soft thud and a whimper. A second later, his head appeared over the edge and he started barking indignantly.
    â€œNo need to thank me,” Chase said.
    He reached up and grabbed the overhang of broken road. Pepe licked his fingers.
    â€œThat’s not helpful.”
    He pulled himself up, relieved to have his feet off the unstable camper, and even happier to have climbed onto the road. He lay on his back, catching his breath, with Pepe perched on his chest.

Tomás pulled the truck over and Cindy got in. She told him about her broken conversation with John Masters. Tomás told her about the conversation he’d had with the broken-legged thief in back while changing the tire and repairing the undercarriage.
    The man had said that he and his friend were working in Lago when the earthquake hit in the middle of the night. There had been a great deal of damage to the houses, and people had been killed, but he didn’t know how many or who.
    Cindy looked at Tomás’s children smiling in the photos taped to the dash. Tomás wasn’t showing it, but she was certain he was sick with worry.
    Tomás explained that the village priest had returned to Lago just after the earthquake with a van full of orphans, three circus clowns, a dozen performing dogs, and two very small women.
    â€œMrs. Rossi and Nicole’s sister, Leah,” Cindy said.
    Tomás nodded.
    Mrs. Rossi, Leah, and two of the clowns had been badly injured. A few miles from Lago the road had opened up,swallowing the Rossis’ camper and the other vehicle. The priest and orphans had been right in front of them and had missed falling into the enormous crack by inches. Because that road was the only way in or out, Lago was completely cut off. The two men had decided to head out on foot. They were both from Puebla and wanted to find out how their families were. They were surprised to see Chase drive up on the quad. The man with the broken leg claimed he had no idea that his friend was going to hit Chase in the head and take the quad.
    â€œDo you believe him?” Cindy asked.
    Tomás shrugged.
    Neither of the men had ever driven a quad. When they reached the landslide, his friend took the quad off-road and it flipped. The man in back crawled up the bank because he didn’t know what else to do. He had been expecting to die there.
    â€œHe may yet die,” Tomás concluded in English, “if Chase is unwell.”
    Cindy took her phone out, hoping to reach Nicole with the news about her mother and sister. The signal was gone again.
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    John drove the truck up the mountainside at an impossible angle.
    Mark was holding on to his precious camera with white knuckles. “You know,” he said, “these tires don’t have suction cups.”
    â€œBut we do have a roll bar,” John said. “If we flip, we should be okay.”
    â€œComforting,” Mark said.
    â€œDo we have a signal yet?” John asked.
    Nicole tore her eyes away from the tops of the trees and glanced at the satellite phone she was carrying. “No.”
    â€œMaybe it will get better when we get above the tree line.”
    â€œ If we get to the tree line,” Mark said. “Where did you learn to drive?”
    â€œIn the Navy.”
    â€œFigures.”
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    â€œLago de la Montaña,” Chase said. Pepe looked up at him. “I’m not sure how you say it in poodle, but in English it means ‘Lake