Free Genesis Plague by Sam Best Page A

but Mike and Grayson gave it a wide
berth.
    I turned back to
Xander. “Sure you don’t want to take a closer look?”
    “After you, doctor,” he
said.
    “The cave is only
several hundred feet from the start of the fissure,” said Renfield. “If you’ll
step this way, I think you’ll find—”
    His next words were
lost in a sharp crack of rock splitting. Everyone jumped back from the fissure
as a thin ring of black sand shot up into the air, outlining a section of the
ground breaking off from the whole.
    The only person still
in danger was Maria. The expanding crack surrounded her as she ran away from
the fissure. A five-foot section of the ground beneath her feet dropped down
and splashed into the river of lava.
    The force of the impact
slammed her to her knees. She crawled to the edge of her small, floating island,
her eyes wide with terror as it began to sink.
     

 
     

     
     
     
    “S omebody do something!” shouted Levino.
    He stood there, staring
at Maria with his mouth open, as her floating chunk of rock sunk lower into the
river of steaming lava. One end of her platform was sinking faster than the
other. It would only be a matter of seconds before the rock flipped over,
spilling her to a torturous death.
    “Charge the wolf,
Paul,” said Xander, standing calmly a safe distance away.
    I dropped my gear and
ran to the expanding edge of the fissure. More chunks of rock were breaking
free from the wall and sinking into the lava.
    “Don’t!” yelled Flint,
but I was already running.
    My feet left the ground
as I jumped through the air and smacked into the side of the large chunk of
floating rock.
    “ Paul! ”
screeched Maria.
    The rocky island was
halfway tilted between flat and vertical, with Maria on what used to be the
top, and me on what would soon become the top. She grabbed for my hands,
her manicured nails digging painfully into my skin.
    “We have to wait until
my side is almost flat,” I said.
    Fortunately, it was
mostly a clean break from the fissure wall, and there was just enough room to
get a running start once the side I was clinging to became the top of the
island.
    Maria nodded furiously
and tightened her grip. The island continued to roll over as it sank faster.
Maria scooted up and over the edge, then rested next to me. The side she was
on, the piece of flat ground, was now almost vertical, sinking straight down
into the lava.
    I stood unsteadily and
pulled Maria to her feet. Our small island lurched to one side, nearly throwing
us off. I looked at Maria after we regained our balance, and she nodded back at
me as she inched closer to the edge of the fissure.
    “We only get one shot
at this,” I said.
    “I’m ready,” she said,
her voice quaking.
    I led her as far back
on the sinking island as I dared to go, then ran like hell toward the edge,
pulling her behind me. When I hit the end, I jumped, throwing my body with full
force toward the edge of the fissure.
    Maria was with me the
whole way, holding my hand. I yanked her past me in mid-air, hoping to add more
momentum.
    She hit Cassidy full
force and tumbled with her to the ground.
    My chest smacked into
the fissure wall, my arms and head the only things above the surface. My hands
scratched for purchase on the loose ground, but my fingertips only scraped
rough sand and small rocks.
    I caught one final
glimpse of Cass and Maria, intertwined on the ground as they rolled to a stop,
before my hands slipped and I fell off the edge.
    My arm was nearly
pulled out of socket as I stopped violently in mid-air, ten feet over the river
of lava.
    Mike Pahalo strained as
he held onto my wrist with both hands. He was lying right at the edge, reaching
over, his jaws clenched, sweat dripping from his forehead. Suddenly Flint
popped his head over the side and reached down for me. I grasped for him with
my free hand, and he took it firmly in his. Together, he and Mike hauled me up
over the edge.
    We collapsed on the
ground, panting. My face was