Our feet sank into the craters of ancient stone as we made our way through the dusty, silent city, which seemed to scream with thousands of unheard voices. He painted an image of the life led in the city until I could almost hear the ancient chatter of Latin drifting in the air. “When the volcano erupted in August 79 AD, there was time for people to flee, but many of them ignored it. Ash, rock, and poisonous gas exploded into the air, and when it came back down, it cut a path of fury that led straight to Pompeii.”

“Why didn’t everyone just evacuate?” Ian’s dad, Patrick, asked.

“Why do we stay when disaster threatens? We don’t believe it can happen to us? How can a thriving city such as this be completely destroyed? An estimated two thousand people stayed. By the time the volcano made its final stand, it erupted at a hundred miles per hour and it was too late for anyone left behind. Lava poured into the streets and swallowed the city whole.”

The group fell silent, looking around at the remains of a civilization that’d once made a life here. A shiver raced down my spine, and I trembled. As if Ian sensed my reaction, he reached out and touched my arm, offering reassurance. The clean scent of cotton and sunshine seemed to drift from his skin.

“A group of explorers discovered Pompeii in 1748 while digging for artifacts. What they found was shocking—the ash had preserved almost everything. Skeletons were discovered intact, along with everyday objects, paintings, furniture, all of it. It was as if the city had been lifted out of a deep sleep. Now I will show you some of the buildings that contain skeletons and the famous murals that guided tourists who once lived here.”

We weaved in and out of the crumbled stone buildings and viewed stone bodies encased in glass. One man was staring up in horror, his hands braced out in front of him as if he’d seen the lava come to swallow him whole. Another showed a woman crouched over, trying to protect her baby, the infant gathered between her arms, forever preserved in a Stephen King–esque show of macabre. Emotion choked my throat. My fingers gently brushed the glass as I gazed at the people who’d fought to live and who had surrendered to Mother Nature’s fury.

“Makes you think about how the world is today,” Ian said quietly. “Tornados, floods, insect swarms, Arctic melting. We’re told there are no global effects and who cares if we kill trees and the bees in order to make more room for condos. Every time we think we can control the earth, we’re proven wrong. No one respects God anymore.”