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before her knees could smack the pavement.
    As she straightened, she got a clear view of what had set off Zach’s panic, then shut her eyes against the fear threatening to knock her over. Concrete splintered and the horrific sound of twisting metal filled the air as cars were flipped out of the way like matchbox toys.
    Ahead of them, less than two blocks away, the highway was opening up, and Hell was beginning to breathe.

 
    Chapter Six
    8:44 p.m.
    3 hours and 16 minutes before the fall . . .
    S hanna lifted her shirt over her nose so she could breathe. From every direction, horns blared and cement dust rained down on them. Zach pulled her beyond the shoulder toward the off ramp, never turning to witness the horror of what was behind them.
    â€œRun!” he yelled. “Don’t stop, and no matter what you hear, don’t look back.”
    He didn’t give her a chance to argue or to question. He took off at a full sprint, dragging her behind him. The ground rumbled again. Chunks of asphalt gave way and a strange hissing noise muffled the chaotic sounds that had engulfed them.
    The hissing grew louder, following them as they raced down the off ramp. A loud roar built until it encompassed everything. It seemed to flow through her body, make her muscles spasm, and cause her blood to swoosh in tune with the chaos.
    She glanced back, trying to see what they were running from, but night hung too thickly around her to let her see clearly.
    â€œDon’t stop!” Zach screamed, his hand tightening on her arm.
    In front of them, the roar exploded outward sending huge chunks of concrete and dirt into the sky. The ground opened. They hit the road hard, rolling toward the grassy shoulder. She’d barely stopped tumbling before she was yanked to her feet and shoved forward.
    â€œRun!”
    She was too terrified not to obey. She kept her head down as slabs of roadway rained down on them, tried to focus on the sound of Zach’s breathing beside her and not on the panicked screams all around them.
    Debris pelted her body, but she refused to stop running, stumbling though she was over roots and holes hidden in the grass by both dust and blackness. She barely saw the huge metal rail that speared the grass two feet away. With a squeal she veered, but didn’t make it three feet before Zach tackled her. Her palms and knees scraped against gravel, and it was only quick instinct that kept her head from smacking stone.
    For a second, she couldn’t breathe. Zach shifted and she pulled in large gulps of air. She buried her face in his neck as the raining debris pummeled his back. She tried to block as much of him with her arms as she could, but he was too broad for her to do much good.
    Before she could make her tongue work in her parched mouth, he yanked her to her feet and pulled his sword from its sheath, ushering her toward a small clump of trees about thirty yards away.
    They huddled behind small palms, their gazes locked on the roadway. Bodies began crawling from the opening, eerily lit up by the red glow of brake lights from the vehicles that hadn’t been thrown. The smell of decay had Shanna gagging, but she couldn’t pull her gaze away from the sight of the creatures spilling out of the ground. Creatures—some bearing human-like features, some animalistic and blackened with soot—lifted their dirty faces to the night sky, sniffing the air. They scattered like roaches, closing in on the people still standing on the edge of the road in shock.
    â€œI thought you said we had until midnight!”
    â€œKeep your voice down,” Zach hissed. “And your head. You don’t want to see what’s about to happen.”
    She dropped her voice to a whisper, but panic wouldn’t allow her to box her questions in a cage. “It’s not time. We still had time!”
    â€œHell’s already opening,” he said. “But it won’t be completely open until