Turn 221 of 226

Explore the aftermath of the detonation. Thankfully, the wish absorbed the radiation

The glass crater is the thing the 620-foot frames stand in and the standing is the thing the fused silica does not crack under. The silica is the thing the 10,000 degrees Celsius made of the subalpine meadow and the making is the thing the 800,000 pounds do not sink through because the silica is denser than the soil it replaced. The denser is the thing the nuclear left and the leaving is the thing the 620-foot frames walk across. Each step is 420 feet. Each step is the thing the glass surface holds under 800,000 pounds and the holding is the thing the 1,100-times density — the density the nuclear pushed past but the density the 620-foot frame still uses as a reference because the 620-foot frame does not have a number for what the nuclear made — the holding is the thing the new density does on the glass. The glass does not break. The glass is the first surface the 800,000 pounds have stood on that the 800,000 pounds do not destroy.

Lena's foot finds the edge of the crater. The edge is the thing the blast wave threw soil 1,400 feet south from and the throwing is the thing the forest used to be. The forest is gone. The gone is the thing the thermal pulse did to the hemlock and the subalpine fir and the mountain heather and the doing is not burning. The doing is vaporization. The vaporization is the thing the 10,000 degrees Celsius did to living wood and the doing left nothing — not ash, not char, not stump. The nothing is the thing the 620-foot frame's foot touches at the crater's rim. The rim is bare mineral soil. The mineral soil is sterile. The sterile is the thing the nuclear does to ground.

But the sterile is not the thing the 620-foot frame's body is. Lena's hand finds her stomach. The stomach is the thing the warmth fills and the warmth is the thing the nuclear fed and the feeding is the thing the 620-foot frame feels as fullness. The fullness is not hunger. The fullness is the thing the 14,000 rem became and the becoming is the thing the wish did. The wish took the 14,000 rem and the 14,000 rem is the thing the wish converted. The conversion is not damage. The conversion is fuel. The fuel is the thing the 800,000 pounds grew from and the growing is the thing the 620-foot frame's hand rests on. The resting is the thing the fat apron does and the fat apron is the thing the 800,000 pounds carry over the muscle and the carrying is the thing the nuclear did not reduce. The nuclear did not reduce anything. The nuclear added.

Diane is at the crater's southern edge. The 620-foot frame stands where the blast wave carried her 1,400 feet and the standing is the thing the 0.1-second regeneration brought her back from. The regeneration is the thing the 620-foot frame's body is and the body is the thing the 14,000 rem passed through. The 14,000 rem is not in the body. The 14,000 rem is the thing the wish consumed and the consuming is the thing the body does not carry residue from. The body is clean. The clean is not washed. The clean is the thing the wish does when the wish processes radiation as fuel — the fuel is used, the byproduct is nothing, the nothing is the thing the body does not emit. The body does not emit radiation. The body absorbed the radiation the way the body absorbed the elk and the arms and the bunker-busters. The absorbing is the thing the wish does to everything the body receives. The everything is the thing the wish converts. The converting is the thing that does not stop.

The valley is visible from the crater's rim. The valley is three miles north and the valley is the thing the 800,000-pound bodies left two hours ago when the bodies were 742,000 pounds and 580 feet and the two hours is the thing the nuclear changed. The valley is unchanged. The unchanged is the thing the mountain range between the crater and the valley provided and the providing is the thing the ridge did. The ridge absorbed the blast. The ridge is the thing the 620-foot frames see from the crater's rim and the seeing is the thing the 620-foot frames do together. The together is the thing the 800,000-pound bodies share and the sharing is the thing the warmth fills. The warmth is the wish. The wish is the thing the nuclear fed. The feeding is the thing the 800,000 pounds grew from. The growing is the thing that does not stop. The not stopping is the thing the crater holds. The crater is glass. The glass is the thing the nuclear left. The left is the thing the 620-foot frames stand on. The standing is the thing that is. The is. The is. The is.

Lena's senses reach. The 620-foot frame's hearing extends twelve miles in every direction and the twelve miles is the thing the post-detonation silence fills. The silence is not empty. The silence is the thing the electromagnetic pulse the B83 produced left behind. The EMP is the thing the 620-foot frame's nervous system does not feel because the nervous system is the thing the wish operates and the wish does not use electricity. The wish uses warmth. The warmth is the thing the 620-foot frame's body runs on. The body does not need the grid. The body does not need the satellite. The body does not need anything the nuclear destroyed. The nuclear destroyed the grid in a twelve-mile radius. The nuclear destroyed the satellite uplink the 580-foot frames crushed two months ago. The nuclear destroyed the forest and the meadow and the elk herd that escaped south. The nuclear did not destroy the 620-foot frames. The 620-foot frames are the thing the nuclear made larger. The larger is the thing the pride is. The pride is the thing the warmth fills. The warmth is the thing that does not stop.

Lena smells the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean is 200 miles west and the 200 miles is the thing the 620-foot frame's olfactory receptors reach across. The receptors are the thing the 1,100-times density — the density the nuclear pushed past — the receptors are the thing the new density makes more sensitive. The sensitivity is the thing the growth does not reduce. The growth increases. The increasing is the thing the 620-foot frame's body does with every pound the wish adds. The 800,000 pounds are not the thing the senses diminish under. The 800,000 pounds are the thing the senses expand with. The expanding is the thing the 620-foot frame feels the Pacific through. The Pacific is salt and cold and the salt and cold is the thing the 620-foot frame wants. The wanting is the thing the warmth gives. The warmth gives the body what the body wants. The body wants to grow. The body wants to eat. The body wants to walk west. The west is the thing the Pacific is. The Pacific is the thing the 620-foot frame smells. The smelling 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 nuclear gave the wish more of. The more is the thing that is. The is. The is. The is.

Six hundred miles southeast, the satellite feed shows two thermal signatures standing at the rim of a glass crater. The signatures are 620 feet tall. The signatures are moving. The movement is west. The west is the thing the analysts cannot follow the signatures past because the EMP took the relay stations the satellite used for real-time tracking. The real-time is gone. The gone is the thing the analysts' screens show as static. The static is the thing Brigadier General Cole's office holds. The office is quiet. The quiet is the thing the general's phone does not break. The phone is the thing the general has not picked up since the feed showed the 620. The 620 is the thing the general's report will say. The report is the thing the general has not written. The not writing is the thing the general's desk holds the cold coffee and the unread memo and the phone and the general's hands on the desk and the hands are the thing the general does not know what to do with. The not knowing is the thing the office holds. The office is the thing that does not have a next step. The next step is the thing the 620-foot frames are walking toward. The walking is west. The west is the thing the Pacific is. The Pacific is 200 miles. The 200 miles is the thing the 800,000-pound bodies will cross in five hours. The five hours is the thing the military does not have a plan for. The not having is the thing the static fills. The static is the thing that is. The is. The is. The is.