Leni couldn’t look away from the splintered bone, from the blood soaking her mother’s sleeve.

“Okay. First I need you to bind up my arm to stop the bleeding. You’ve learned how to do this. Remember? Rip off the bottom of your shirt.”

“I can’t.”

“Lenora,” Mama said sharply. “Rip your shirt.”

Leni’s hands were shaking as she removed the knife from her belt and used it to start a rip in the fabric. When she had a long ribbon of flannel, she carefully scooted sideways.

“Above the break. Tie it as tightly as you can.”

Leni fit the fabric around Mama’s bicep, heard the groan of pain her mama made when Leni tightened it.

“Are you okay?”

“Tighter.”

Leni yanked it as tightly as she could, tied it in a knot.

Mama let out a shaky sigh and climbed back into the driver’s seat. “Here’s what we have to do. I am going to break my window. You are going to climb over me and climb out.”

“B-but—”

“No buts, Leni. I need you to be strong now, okay? You need it. I can’t get out and if we both stay here, we’ll freeze to death. You need to go for help. I can’t climb out of the bus with this broken arm.”

“I can’t do it.”

“You can do this, Leni.” Mama clamped a bloody hand over the makeshift bandage on her arm. “I need you to do it.”

“You’ll freeze while I’m gone,” she said.

“I’m tougher than I look, remember? Thanks to your dad’s Armageddon phobia, we’ve got a bug-out bag. A survival blanket, and food and water.” She gave a wan smile. “I will be fine. You go for help. Okay?”

“Okay.” She tried not to be scared, but her whole body was shaking. She put on her gloves and her neoprene face mask and zipped up her parka.

Mama pulled a life hammer out from under her seat. “The Walker place is closest. It’s probably less than a quarter of a mile from here. Go there. Can you make it?”

“Yeah.”

The bus made a dull, creaking sound, settled a little, moved.

“I love you, baby girl.”

Leni tried not to cry.

“Hold your breath. Go up.”

Mama cracked the hammer against the window, hard, fast.

The glass crackled into a webbed pattern, sagged. For a second it held together, and then with a snap! it broke. Snow dumped into the bus, covering them.

The cold was shocking.

Leni lurched forward, climbing over her mother, trying not to hit her arm, hearing her moan in pain, feeling her mother’s good hand come up through the snow to push her.

Leni shimmied through the window.