A raindrop landed on Oddjob, and she whinnied in pain. More drops were falling now, and Kira felt a sharp burn on her arm. The drop of rain had left a small red mark, and the pain only increased as she looked at it. She shook her head and looked at the sky. “Those clouds came from the south, didn’t they?”

“Run!” shouted Samm, and grabbed Oddjob’s reins. Afa was screaming in pain and terror and clutching his sodden backpack. Kira looked around for her jacket, but she had taken it off to cross the river—it, along with everything they owned, was still sealed in the plastics bags and loaded on the horses. She grabbed Bobo and raced after Samm, pulling the horse behind her and trying to maintain control of him as the acid rained down and scaled his head and flanks. Heron ran past with Buddy in tow, and Kira followed as quickly as she could. The rain was heavier now, and Kira felt the acid on her arms and face, itchy and raw after only seconds. She reached back with her free hand and pulled loose her ponytail, shaking her long hair free until it formed a kind of hood protecting her ears and shoulders. She pulled some in front of her face, as well, terrified that she would get some of the scalding rain in her eyes, and fumbled forward through the limited visibility.

Samm had seen a farmhouse a ways off the road, and he was trying to force his way past the barbed-wire fence on the edge of the field while Oddjob tugged madly on the reins, screaming to escape the painful downpour. Heron reached them and pushed him aside, handing him the reins of her own horse; Kira saw that she’d done the same with her hair as Kira had, but Samm had no such luxury, and his face was streaked with long red welts. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Heron pulled out a knife in each hand and cut the wires in a vicious flurry, snapping all four and opening a hole in the fence. Kira rushed through the opening with Bobo, grabbing Buddy’s reins as she passed. Heron followed with Oddjob and Afa, and Samm caught up with Kira and tried to grab Buddy’s reins.

“Let me help!” he shouted. “You can’t control them both!”

The horses were bucking madly, but Kira kept an iron grip on the reins and pushed Samm away with her foot. “Get yourself out of the rain! You’ll go blind!”

“I’m not leaving you out here!”