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felling the fresh breeze coming in off the lake and rushing down into the abysmal pit. Then my mind leapfrogged ahead to the devastation in the village itself when I realized that the collapsing caves had swallowed up most of the village in the chain of explosions. It was like I was suddenly catapulted into a surrealistic painting. |
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"You said the town itself was gone?" |
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"Most of it." I nodded. "There were just a few stunned villagers stumbling around in a daze. They said the earth just opened up and swallowed most of them." |
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The smile had faded from Lucy's now sober face. |
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"Did you tell the people what happened?" |
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"There wasn't anybody to tell." |
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This time Cosmo had no comeback. |
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"When the disaster teams finally got there, I told them there had been an explosion and that there were only a few survivors, most of whom had no idea what had happened." |
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"Did you tell them everything?" |
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"I told them nothing. If you arrived on the scene of a catastrophe like that and some half-crazed man started telling you about apelike creatures with two thumbs and three fingers that ate people, what would you do?" |
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"I'd lock him up so he wouldn't hurt him- |
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