Page 77 of Ash Fall

"I know." Gage rubs the back of his neck. "I think there's a way to do it out there using this new stuff we've got."

Anders looks at him blankly, and I realize that nobody has sat this man down and actually explained all of the new powers we’ve got.

"I have a power," Gage says. "Magic, skill, whatever anybody wants to call it. I can move earth and stone now. Give me the time and I could put a solid wall right around that whole field, high enough to pen them in and give them room to move. That keeps them contained and sheltered from the wind in every direction." He blows out a breath. "What I can't figure out is a roof that won't come down on their heads."

Mars pushes off the wall he's been leaning against.

"Stone too? Like can you pull up stone from under the topsoil? Can you shape it in different ways?"

Gage considers it and nods. "I’m no expert yet, but I think so."

"Then I might have an idea for the roof," Mars's voice picks up speed, the way it used to when he was working a problem. "If we get lots of ash it will be heavy. Maybe even heavier than snow, so it needs to be strong. Do you think you could make a dome shaped roof out of stone and then bring up stone pillars for support? That would free up the entire floor in the bay, and nobody has to smell manure every time they walk into the bay."

I look between the two of them and feel something settle in my stomach. They’re not talking about surviving the next three days. They're talking about drainage and growing racks and where the road goes between the trailers. This stops feeling like a place we ran to and starts being a place we live.

Anders crosses his arms over his chest, and there's real respect in his face. "You really think you can pull that off with your new magical whatevers?"

Gage and Mars look at each other. They both grin at the same time, and Gage lifts one shoulder.

"Only one way to find out."

Twenty minutes later I'm standing out in the sun on the service road with half the group spread out around me, and I forget how to breathe properly at what I’m watching.

Gage walks the edge of the field almost casually, with his hands loose at his sides and the ground comes up behind him.

It rises in one long unbroken line, a wall of packed earth about two feet wide, lifting smoothly out of the grass, flowing almost like water. There is no strain in him at all that I can see he just walks, and the land does what he tells it. The wall follows him around the corner and keeps going.

This is the first time I've seen him use it and it fits him so perfectly that I want to laugh. It makes so much sense that it would be the earth for Gage. He’s solid, patient and the rock for everyone he loves.

Kara bumps my shoulder with hers.

"He's completely not my type," she says. "But I will admit that's a little bit hot."

I don't take my eyes off him. "Mmhmm."

She laughs at me, loud enough that a few people look our way.

Gage takes the last corner and brings the wall back toward us, stopping with a ten-foot gap between the end of it and where it started. He turns to face the group and swipes his forearm across his forehead.

"We'll need a gate of some kind in there, something two people can open and close fast. That'll hold them for now while we sort out the roof."

I cross the road to him while everybody else starts talking at once and put my hand on his arm.

"Gage, that was amazing. You did all of it in one go." I look up at his face, hunting for the same greyness that settled into Torrin’s face when he was using his power a lot. "How are you feeling? Is it draining you the way Torrin's does to him?"

He goes quiet for a second, and I can tell he's looking at something inside himself.

"It was easy at first but got a little harder toward the end there," he says. "Right now, I feel like I could keep going for a while yet."

"Wow. Just wow." I squeeze his forearm. "If you start to feel it draining on you at all, please stop. Promise me that."

His mouth tips up at one corner. "I'm good, sweetheart. Thank you for worrying about me." He looks back over the wall at the empty field. "I'm going to get in there and start raising the pillars," A long breath goes out of him. "There's still so much to do, and we've got to unload and get into town before dark. This day is never going to end."

"Then let me take something off you." I give his arm one more squeeze. "I'll round up everyone I can and start emptying the vehicles while you're out here. That way they're sitting empty and ready the second you're done."

He opens his mouth but whatever he was about to say, he changes his mind and

nods at me instead, then ducks through the gap in his wall and gets back to work.