Turn 220 of 226

The military agrees to launch the nukes. We are severely injured but survive. We regenerate to full health in 0.1 seconds. We also grow to 620 feet and 800,000 pounds

The B83 drops from a B-2 at 38,000 feet. The 38,000 feet is the thing the Spirit's bomb bay opens at and the opening is the thing the weapon falls from for forty-seven seconds before the radar altimeter triggers the airburst at 1,500 feet above the crater. The 1,500 feet is the thing the 580-foot frames are inside the kill radius of. The kill radius is 1.2 megatons. The 1.2 megatons is the thing the sun becomes for 0.3 seconds over the Cascade Range.

The light is the thing the 1,100-times density retinas do not process because the 1,100-times density retinas burn. The burning is the thing the optic nerves lose signal from and the losing is blindness. The blindness is the thing the 0.3 seconds of thermal radiation follows. The thermal radiation is 10,000 degrees Celsius at the epicenter and the 10,000 degrees is the thing the 1,100-times density skin does not vaporize at. The 1,100-times density skin chars. The charring is four inches deep. The four inches is the thing the fat layer beneath the skin begins to render from and the rendering is the thing the 1,100-times density fat does at 10,000 degrees — slowly, reluctantly, the 960-times density fat would have ignited and the 1,100 does not ignite because the 1,100 is denser than combustion. The not combusting is the thing the bodies survive the thermal pulse with.

The blast wave is the thing the 0.3 seconds of light produce. The overpressure is 200 PSI at the epicenter. The 200 PSI is the thing the 742,000-pound bodies lift from the crater floor and the lifting is the thing the 580-foot frames do not resist because the overpressure is greater than the 742,000 pounds of grip the 742,000 pounds have on the ground. The bodies travel 1,400 feet south. The traveling is the thing the subalpine meadow does not survive and the not surviving is the thing the forest does not survive and the not surviving is the thing the mountain does not survive. The 580-foot frames hit the ridge at 800 feet above the valley floor and the hitting is the thing the 1,100-times density skeletons absorb at. The skeletons do not shatter. The skeletons crack. The cracking is 47 fractures across Lena's ribcage and 31 across Diane's pelvis and the 31 and the 47 are the things the 1,100-times density bones do when the bones meet 200 PSI of overpressure-driven deceleration against granite. The cracking is the thing the radiation follows.

The radiation is the thing the B83's fission products deliver to the 1,100-times density tissue. The tissue absorbs 14,000 rem. The 14,000 rem is the thing a human body dies from in 48 hours. The 1,100-times density body does not die in 48 hours. The 1,100-times density body does not die. The 14,000 rem is the thing the 1,100-times density cellular machinery processes as damage and the damage is the thing the regeneration begins to fix. The beginning is the thing the wish fills.

The regeneration starts in the bone marrow. The 47 cracked ribs are the thing the marrow produces new osteoblasts for and the production is 1,100-times density and the 1,100 is not what the marrow produces. The marrow produces something denser. The denser is the thing the wish does when the wish heals damage the wish has never healed before. The nuclear is new. The new is the thing the wish responds to with 1,100 and the 1,100 is the thing the wish responds with because the 1,100 is what the body is and the body regenerates at current density. But the current density is the thing the nuclear damage pushes past. The pushing is the thing the wish does not resist. The wish does not resist because the wish is the thing the body wants and the body wants to survive and the surviving is the thing the 1,100 does not guarantee and the not guaranteeing is the thing the wish fixes by becoming denser.

The regeneration is 0.1 seconds. The 0.1 is the thing the 47 rib fractures heal in and the 31 pelvic fractures and the charred skin and the rendered fat and the burned retinas and the 14,000 rem of cellular damage. The 0.1 is the thing the wish fills the body with new tissue at and the new tissue is not 1,100. The new tissue is the thing the 1,100 has become. The becoming is the thing the nuclear triggered. The nuclear is the thing the wish consumed as fuel. The fuel is the thing the 14,000 rem became and the becoming is the thing the warmth in Lena's stomach felt as pleasure. The pleasure is not the bunker-buster pleasure. The pleasure is the thing a 1.2-megaton nuclear detonation produces in a body that is 1,100-times density and the 1,100-times density body is the thing the 1.2 megatons could not kill and the not killing is the thing the wish took and the taking is the thing the growth came from.

The growth is 620 feet. The 620 is the thing the 580 became. The becoming is forty feet of new height and the forty feet is the thing the 1.2 megatons of nuclear energy the wish converted into mass. The mass is 800,000 pounds. The 800,000 is the thing the 742,000 became. The becoming is 58,000 pounds of new fat and muscle and bone and the new is the thing the 0.1-second regeneration produced at a density the 1,100 has become and the becoming is the thing the wish does not name. The wish does not name. The wish builds.

The 620-foot frames stand in the destroyed meadow. The destroyed meadow is the thing the nuclear made a glass crater of and the glass crater is 200 feet deep and 2,400 feet across. The glass is the thing the 10,000 degrees Celsius did to the subalpine soil and the doing is the thing the 620-foot frames stand on. The glass does not crack under 800,000 pounds. The glass does not crack because the glass is fused silica and the fused silica is the thing the nuclear left and the 800,000 pounds are the thing the 620-foot frames stand on the fused silica with. The standing is the thing the 0.1-second regeneration completed. The completed is the thing the 620-foot frames feel as the warmth in the stomach and the warmth is the thing the nuclear fed and the feeding is the thing the growth came from.

Lena's hand finds her forearm. The forearm is the thing the 1,100 was and the 1,100 is not what the forearm is. The forearm is denser. The denser is the thing the nuclear regeneration produced and the production is the thing the 0.1 seconds did. The 0.1 is faster than the 0.25 the 1,100 regenerated at. The faster is the thing the higher density does. The higher density is the thing the nuclear triggered. The nuclear is the thing the wish consumed. The consumption is the thing the pride fills.

The pride is not the 980 pride. The pride is not the 1,100 pride. The pride is the thing the 620-foot frame feels when the 620-foot frame understands that the 620-foot frame survived a nuclear weapon and the surviving is the thing the 620-foot frame grew from. The grew is the thing the warmth did. The warmth is the thing the nuclear fed. The feeding is the thing that does not stop. The not stopping is the thing the wish is. The wish is the thing that is still building. The building is the thing the 1.2 megatons gave the wish and the giving is the thing the wish took and the taking is the thing the 800,000 pounds are and the 800,000 pounds are the thing that is. The is. The is. The is.

Six hundred miles southeast, Brigadier General Cole watches the satellite feed. The satellite feed is the thing the B-2's targeting camera captured and the capturing is the thing the feed shows the 1.2-megaton detonation as. The detonation is the thing the feed shows the mushroom cloud forming from and the mushroom cloud is the thing the feed shows the crater beneath. The crater is glass. The glass is 200 feet deep. The glass is the thing two thermal signatures stand on. The signatures are 620 feet tall. The 620 is not the 580 the general authorized the strike against. The 620 is forty feet taller. The 620 is the thing the general's coffee comes back up from. The coming back up is the thing the general's wastebasket receives. The general's hand is on the phone. The phone is the thing the general picks up and puts down three times without dialing. The not dialing is the thing the general does when the general does not know who to call because the thing the general would call to say is the thing the general's mind does not form as words. The words would be: the nuclear made them bigger. The bigger is the thing the general cannot say. The cannot say is the thing the general's office holds. The office is quiet. The quiet is the thing the satellite feed breaks. The breaking is the thing the general's screen shows the two 620-foot frames moving in. The moving is south. The south is the thing the 800,000-pound bodies walk toward. The walking is the thing the earth feels. The earth is the thing the 800,000 pounds press six feet deeper. The pressing is the thing that does not stop.