Sky on Fire Read Online Free PDF

lungs.
    Niko rooted around in the plastic storage tub of medicines and found a bottle of Children’s Benadryl.
    He broke the seal and chugged straight from the bottle.
    â€œCan’t drive,” he gasped. “We’ll rest. Ten minutes.”
    He slumped in a seat and bowed his head, trying to breathe.
    â€œCan we take our masks off?” Max asked.
    â€œNO!” Sahalia and I both shouted at once.
    â€œOnly people who are type B can take their masks off,” Sahalia said.
    â€œWho’s that again?” asked Batiste.
    â€œYou and me and Alex,” Sahalia said, rolling her eyes.
    I shrugged and took off my mask.
    The air had a taste to it. A stingy taste.
    But it was much easier to talk, easier to see, and also, in a way, easier to think because you didn’t have to listen to your scary breathing right in your ears.
    Batiste took his off sheepishly. Max and Ulysses muttered together about fairness.
    â€œWhat do we do now?” Sahalia asked, her hands on her hips.
    â€œI guess we just wait,” I said. “Niko, you tell us when you can drive, okay?”
    Niko’s head was lolled back on the seat.
    I went up to him and put my head on his shoulder.
    â€œNiko? Niko!” I called.
    And then I heard him snore.
    â€œOh, this is perfect!” Sahalia complained.
    â€œNiko, we need to get going,” I said. “Niko, wake up.”
    Niko sat up and looked around, as if confused.
    â€œJust let me sleep for a few minutes,” he muttered. “I’m so tired.”
    He hadn’t slept in … well, in more than 24 hours, maybe as long as 36 hours. But still.
    It was murder, waiting. We gave him 10 good minutes.
    â€œOkay, Niko. Time to get up!” I shook him.
    â€œI can drive,” Sahalia said.
    â€œWhat? No, you can’t!”
    â€œMy stepdad lets me drive all the time,” she insisted.
    â€œThat’s a horrible idea. This is a bus. A big school bus.”
    â€œ I can drive ,” Sahalia shouted.
    â€œLet her drive,” mumbled Niko. And he fell back asleep.
    *   *   *
    Okay, well, Sahalia wasn’t terrible at driving the bus. She went maybe a little faster than Niko, but I didn’t care. Josie was sedated. The kids were terrified and Niko had drugged himself into oblivion with Benadryl—the faster we got to DIA the better.
    We were passing a burned-up commuter bus when a masked figure lurched out in front of us.
    Sahalia braked but she hit the guy. His head cracked on the side of the bus and then he was gone.
    Sahalia wrenched the steering wheel too far to the right and suddenly we were lurching down the embankment.
    The terrain near the highway was fairly sparse—not a lot of trees or vegetation. Rolling hills with some dead underbrush. The underbrush slowed the roll of the bus, I think.
    It didn’t crash, just slowed to a stop. Sahalia was basically standing on the brake, too.
    The kids were crying.
    Niko staggered up from where he’d been sitting.
    â€œWhat happened?” he shouted.
    â€œSahalia drove the bus off the road,” I said. Then, when she gave me a look that would kill, I added, “By accident.”
    â€œOkay,” he said. He seemed pretty wobbly on his feet.
    He coughed and more blood appeared on the inside of his mask.
    He looked out at the area. It seemed pretty deserted.
    â€œI think we’re safe enough!”
    I nodded. I knew what he meant.
    Niko meant we were safe enough to sleep for a while.
    *   *   *
    â€œWe’re hungry,” Max complained to me.
    They had said they were hungry before, but that was when we thought we were going to be in Denver in a few hours. Now it looked like we were staying put for the night.
    â€œSo eat,” I told him. “The food’s over there.”
    I pointed out an open bin filled with food.
    Why did the kids need my help to rip open a bag of trail mix?
    â€œYou guys have to take