by Bobby Akart
She continued her keystrokes. The third injection site was shut down. “Just one more. The new site at Cave Falls.”
Jake arrived by her side and stood over her, his arms holding onto the tops of the adjacent cubicles to give him support as the ground rumbled. “Please, Ashby, there’s no more time. The chopper will leave us if we don’t get back.”
“Almost,” she whispered, ignoring his pleas.
Jake reached into the cubicle for her arm when she slapped both of her hands on the top of the desk.
“Boom. Done. Let’s go!”
She pushed away and grabbed Jake’s hand as he pulled her out of the building. Minutes later, they were in the clearing where Rita and Dusty could be seen strapped into their seats. The copilot stood under the slowly rotating blades of the helicopter as the pilot began to fire the twin General Electric, nineteen-hundred-horsepower engines. He was waving for them to hurry.
However, Ashby suddenly stopped.
Chapter 65
Grant Village
Yellowstone
Ashby closed her eyes as her mind took her back to Mount Pinatubo. She remembered the ash as it began to fall like thick flakes of snow. Her overwrought parents had tried to get her to safety amidst the massive volcanic eruption. Over the years, she tried to conjure up the visuals, which were stashed away in the deepest part of her memories. She could only recall twirling in that rescue basket, swinging in circles, as her parents’ outstretched arms tried desperately to steady her. Then they were gone, swallowed in flames, as Ashby climbed helplessly into the sky. Now, for the first time in all these years, she remembered Pinatubo’s eruption. The shaking of the ground. The deafening roar as the pyroclastic cloud rose high into the sky. The heat of the inferno that engulfed her surroundings.
She could hear Jake yelling for her to move. Or was it her father? Ashby, it’s time to go. It’s time to go. Or was she recalling the words of her mother in her last journal entry. Her mind was filled with so many voices.
“It’s time to go!” shouted Jake as he gently shook her shoulders, bringing her back to the present.
“Jake, I have to see. Just a little—”
Jake turned her toward him. “No, Ashby. All you need to see is right here in front of you. Me. Look at me. That volcano is the past. I’m the future.”
Tears rolled down Ashby’s face as a combination of emotions overwhelmed her. Reliving the past broke her heart, but hearing Jake’s words gave her hope for something else—a new life. She smiled and nodded.
“Okay,” she whispered and began running toward the helicopter. They loaded up through the side door of the Sikorsky, and the copilot buckled them into their harnesses before closing the door. Within a minute, they were lifting off.
The group affixed their headsets as the two pilots went through their final preflight checks. Then the ground began to shake, but with far more intensity than any of the previous earthquakes. The helicopter was lifted upward at least six feet before being dropped down again on its three wheels.
Rita, who was riding in a seat directly behind the cockpit, pointed out the port-side windows.
Everyone turned their attention to the west side of Yellowstone. The sound they experienced was indescribable. It wasn’t just a roar or a rumble. There was no bang or boom. The earth exploded skyward with the strength and speed of a nuclear explosion.
“It’s started,” mumbled Ashby.
The pilots hastily brought the chopper’s rotors to a speed capable of liftoff. As they rose into the sky, so did the pyroclastic material from the volcanic eruption occurring at Cascade Corner.
“Dr. Donovan, which way?” asked the copilot.
Ashby closed her eyes and shook her head in anger. She knew it was coming, yet she hadn’t thought through an escape. Ashby’s delay caused Jake to speak out of turn.
“East! Go east away from the—” said Jake before being interrupted.
Ashby quickly overruled him. “No. North first, then west.”
“Yes, ma’am,” replied the pilot as he brought the Sikorsky to a thousand feet aboveground, turned it northward, and increased the rpms of the main rotor.
“Shouldn’t we be running away from it?”
“We are, sort of,” replied Ashby. “The stratosphere will be filled with ash, sulfuric acid, and other remnants of the eruptions. The jet stream and upper-level winds will circle the planet toward the east first. The worst fallout won’t reach our west coast for twelve to fourteen days.”
Jake apologized. “I’m sorry I spoke out of turn.”
“No worries,” said Rita with a slight chuckle. “Professionals on board.”
Jake looked to Ashby. “You said eruptions, plural. Does that mean—”
“More than one?” she finished his sentence. “Yes, most likely. What we’re witnessing at Cascade Corner is just the beginning of what will likely be a total eruption of Yellowstone.”
Chapter 66
Sikorsky UH-60Q
Above the Yellowstone Caldera
The drill site near Cave Falls was near the epicenter of the earthquake that opened up the Earth. Everyone strained to watch the eruption through the left side windows of the helicopter. At one point, Ashby attempted to remove her harnesses to take a better look, which earned her a stern rebuke from the copilot.
“Dr. Donovan, we are receiving readings from the NOAA satellites. Two earthquakes were recorded at the park. The epicenter for the first quake was in the vicinity of the Caribou-Targhee Forest and registered magnitude seven-point-seven. The second earthquake appeared to center at the north end of Yellowstone Lake and measured seven-point-nine.”
“It’s too early to assign a VEI factor,” said Dusty as he stretched to watch the spectacular eruption. “From what I can see, I’m guessing about a VEI 5. What do you think, Doc?”
She desperately wanted to remove her harnesses so she could view the eruption from eye level. Ashby tried to lift up in her seat to see better. “I can’t see as well as you can, Dusty. You and Rita managed to snag the best seats on the flight.”
Dusty laughed. “Early bird. Worms. You know the drill, Doc.”
“Seniority. Professor. F grade.” Ashby couldn’t help a lighthearted comeback. In the moment, she didn’t know what was in store for their lives, but she was on her way to safety where the four of them could figure things out.
They passed over Yellowstone Lake and were traveling directly toward the Norris Area. The continuous shaking of the ground caused more landslides, one emanating from Avalanche Peak on the east side of the lake.
They were able to catch a glimpse of the results of an enormous rockslide generated by the earthquake that destroyed the ridge where they’d stood just days before. On the other side of the chopper, they were witnessing a landslide that bulldozed past the Nine Mile Post trailhead before it crashed into Yellowstone Lake.
The resulting tsunami they’d experienced two weeks before was nothing in comparison. The water gained momentum as it approached West Thumb and Grant Village. Every building was destroyed, thrown around like matchsticks in the ocean’s surf. Where they had stood just ten minutes ago was now under water.
But that was nothing compared to the havoc being wrought at Cascade Corner. The pilot banked left over Norris and began heading in a westerly direction.
“Dr. Donovan,” the copilot had turned in his seat to address Ashby, “do you have a destination in mind?”
Ashby looked around the cabin. She was at a loss. Throughout the hectic days of research and dealing with Younger, the one thing that hadn’t crossed her mind was where to go. She looked to Jake, upset that she’d not discussed this with him previously.
He gave her a knowing smile. “Head for Arcata, California. I’ll try to guide you to our place when we arrive.”
“You have a place?” asked Ashby. “This is another interesting twist in your life, Jake. Do tell?”
“Let’s just say it’s the only fond memories I have of my childhood.”
“Wow,” Dusty exclaimed as the ash and debris spewed out of the eruption.
Frustrated because she couldn’t see, Ashby glanced at the pilots and then quickly began to unlock the harness buckles of her safety seat.
“Ashby, no,” warned Jake, but it was too late. She wiggled out and stood at the small window overlooking the eruption.
“That’s amazing,” she muttered. Mesmerized by the continuous blast from below, Ashby stared, ignoring everyone’s pleas to get back in her seat. She had to see.
Jake stretched and grabbed her arm. “Ashby! Ashby! Please, sit down. We’ve got a long—.”
Jake finished his sentence, but nobody heard him.
THANK YOU FOR READING YELLOWSTONE: HELLFIRE! Continue reading to catch a glimpse of Yellowstone: INFERNO, book two in the Yellowstone series.
Excerpt from Yellowstone: INFERNO
Chapter 1
Sikorsky UH-60Q Helicopter
Yellowstone
No mortal man can describe the indescribable. Futurists, scientists, and authors might have imagined what the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano looked like, but none knew because a cataclysmic eruption of this magnitude had never occurred in the history of modern mankind. The shear enormity of the Earth exploding could be recreated in the talented minds of those adept at digital technology and virtual reality. But none had actually seen the upheaval of the earth’s crust caused by a force as powerful as Yellowstone—until now.
Ashby Donovan was the first, and last, to see Yellowstone explode. In those few seconds, with her face pressed against the glass of the helicopter that was rushing them to safety, she watched the caldera sink into the earth as if someone had pulled the drain plug out of a sink full of water. As this happened, the sounds of gas burst out of the Norris Area were deafening, happening in rapid succession like hundreds of fireworks detonating, except with the force of nuclear missiles.
Then, lightning surrounded them, providing a psychedelic light show unrivaled by any Super Bowl halftime show. However, it was the sudden rush of wind, exceeding speeds of two-hundred miles per hour. surpassing any recorded hurricane known to man, that forced the Sikorsky upward, bending the helicopter’s blades unnaturally, only to be knocked back down towards the violently erupting supervolcano.
Everyone let out a primal scream in fear—pilots and passengers alike. The sudden jolt of the helicopter didn’t necessarily trigger the reaction, but the sheer power and the massive change in pressure below them was terrifying.
Ashby was tossed about the cabin like a rag doll. Her screams of fear turned to one of pain as the helicopter suddenly dropped causing her shoulder and head to crash violently against the door. Dazed, she tried to crawl toward her seat, only to slide across the steel floor toward the rear of the helicopter as the seasoned pilots regained their composure and steadied the Sikorsky.
Jake Wheeler scrambled to remove himself from the Martin Baker Mission Seat specially designed to protect passengers in the event of a crash. He nervously attempted to release the five-point harness system in order to help Ashby. Just as he freed himself, another blast of wind overtook them, forcing the helicopter to lurch forward. Jake and Ashby became entangled and rolled across the floor toward the front of the cabin.
Ashby, writhing in pain, begged the pilots, “Please. Go fast! As fast as you can!”
“Roger that, ma’am,” the pilot yelled back as both men frantically made adjustments to maintain the helicopter’s stability.
Jake found his footing and carefully lifted Ashby off the floor. “Let’s get you strapped in.”
Tears were streaming down Ashby’s face as she attempted to reach for her right shoulder. “Jake, I think it’s broken. And my head. It’s pounding.”
Her voice trailed off as her body went limp in Jake’s arms. He quickly got her seated and buckled up. He then scrambled to his seat to get secured for the ride. Thus far, the young scientists whom Ashby had taken under her wings, Rita Charles and Dusty Holder, sat motionless, eyes wide and mouth open with fear.
“Based upon our weight, our max speed will be one-hundred-eighty miles per hour,” the co-pilot could be heard through the internal communications system. Jake adjusted his headset to get a better listen. “If we push it, we might be able to get two-hundred. At two-two-two, we fall apart.”
“Roger that,” replied the pilot. “Let’s set cruise for one-eighty. Another ten or twenty won’t make a hill of beans difference based upon what I just saw.”
Jake reached over to Ashby and tried to steady her head in the seat as it bounced around from the helicopter’s tossing and wobbling. He turned his attention to Dusty and Rita.
“Are you guys okay?”
“I peed myself a little,” replied Rita dryly. Jake immediately wondered if she was having an acute stress reaction to the blast. He tried to look into her eyes, but the sky was beginning to darken and visibility inside the cabin was poor.
“Dusty? How about you?” asked Jake.
“Peachy,” he replied. Dusty reached over to Rita who extended her hand back. They were only able to touch one another’s fingers, a rare showing of affection between the two. The moment drew them closer together.
“Jake,” mumbled Ashby, who was suddenly awake from her momentary spell of unconsciousness. “They have to go faster. It will catch us. It always does. They have to go faster.”
Jake continued to hold her head in place to avoid injury. She hadn’t lost her motor functions, although she was somewhat incoherent. He immediately became worried she’d suffered a minor concussion.
Jake turned to the other volcanologist on the team. He hoped he could bring Rita out of her mental angst.
“Rita. You guys mentioned a cloud of debris. How soon will it come out and how fast?”
She responded quickly, and coherently. A good sign. “It’s already out and blasting upward into the stratosphere. The pyroclastic flow of gas, vaporized rock, and volcanic glass is surging in all directions from Yellowstone. After that, heavier material, flows of lava, will destroy everything in its path.”
Jake exhaled. “Rita, the initial pyroclastic flow. How fast will it travel?”
Before she could answer, she was interrupted by communications chatter between the pilots.
“External temperatures have just increased to one-oh-one,” said the co-pilot. Then he corrected himself. “Make that one-oh-five, oh-six. Still climbing. Oh-eight, nine.” His voice trailed off.
“Rita?” Jake repeated.
“Four-hundred to five-hundred miles per hour,” she responded with trepidation.
Jake paused to consider the chopper’s speed in relation to their position at the time of the eruption. He looked at his watch. It had only been twenty-five minutes.
“It feels hot,” mumbled Ashby, as she slipped in and out of consciousness.
“I’m registering one-hundred-eleven degrees, external temp,” said the co-pilot. “Engine temps are slightly elevated.”
“Jake,” said Rita. “The heat. First, we’ll feel the heat as we ride at the front of the flow. It’s coming.”
Chapter 2
Sikorsky UH-60Q Helicopter
Eastern Idaho
Death by being consumed in a pyroclastic flow was petrifying, literally. Like a massive demon summoned from the depths of the planet’s core, the ferocious ash cloud emerged seeking its victims. The supernatural creature held no animus toward any living thing in particular. It simply wanted to escape and consume.
The mixture of ash, lava, and broiling gases at temperatures reaching a thousand degrees or more sped across the landscape at four-hundred miles per hour. Death and destruction was taking place below them.
Tourists and residents attempting to evacuate found themselves stranded on major highways like Interstate 15 and were overrun by the pyroclastic flow. If they weren’t crushed by the debris or burned by the searing hot gases, they breathed in the super-heated air which severely damaged the linings of their lungs.
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The extreme heat burned away the clothes of anyone in its path, scorching their skin until it ruptured and blackened. Jewelry or any metal became so heated that it seared itself onto their flesh, assuming their bodies still had any. Any living thing was killed within a fraction of a second by the superheated air.
If the enormous heat on the leading edge of the pyroclastic flow didn’t kill them, the subsequent ash and dust did. As soon as the flow overcame them, their muscles involuntarily contracted, forcing them into a pugilistic posture, a protective pose similar to that employed by a boxer to guard himself from an opponent’s blows. The extreme heat instantly dehydrated the body, causing it to contract before it was covered with the mummifying ash.
“The outside temp continues to rise,” said the co-pilot after a brief moment of silence on the comms. “And, sir, our airspeed is increasing.”
“What? Against the prevailing westerlies?” the pilot questioned. “If anything, we should be battling a headwind. We set our cruising speed accordingly.”
“Jake, it’s getting closer,” Rita warned. “Yellowstone doesn’t care about prevailing westerlies. We either have to go higher, or faster. Now!”
Jake leaned forward in his seat and addressed the pilots. “Gentlemen, can we go higher?”
The co-pilot looked into the cabin to address Jake. “Mr. Wheeler, our max ceiling is nineteen-thousand, but we lose cruise speed capability at higher altitudes.”
The pilot interrupted. “Let’s take it to twelve-k to avoid dealing with pressurization. Plus, I wanna be able to see terra firma considering what’s chasing us.”
“Yes, sir,” replied the co-pilot.
Jake looked to Rita who shrugged. She was seated directly behind the co-pilot against the wall which separated the cabin from the helicopter’s cockpit. Jake craned his neck to look outside the window as they passed the eleven-thousand-foot summit of Scott Peak. Snow had just blanketed the highest point of the Northern Rockies after a low-pressure system had brought wave after wave of moisture off the Pacific Ocean.