196

Moments after you reach the safety of the street, you turn to see the roof of the library collapse with a loud, splintering crack. Clouds of sparks whirl into the night, carried upward by the strong, gusting wind. Silently you look at Kate’s smoke-blackened face, and then at the blazing library, and you realize just how lucky you both are to have got out of that inferno alive.

By the time you have recovered fully from your ordeal and returned to your roadster, the storm has blown itself out. The eastern sky is lightening as dawn approaches and you decide to leave Bakersfield now, before the sun rises and the temperature becomes unbearable. Beyond the town, the freeway climbs steadily towards a distant line of mountains that shimmer on the horizon. You keep your speed as low as possible and cover forty miles with your fuel gauge nudging the zero mark. Then the silhouette of Fort Stockton appears on the road ahead and your hopes of finding some gas are rekindled.

The first thing you see upon entering the town is a gas station. Like everything else, the station appears deserted, but there is something about this building that makes your skin prickle with presentiment.

Turn to 75.