He nodded. ‘Where’s Maxwell?’ He was panting as he stopped in front of us and his eyes looked wild.
‘Back on the road,’ I said. ‘He’s hurt. Is there a way through?’
He brushed his hand through his matted hair. ‘No. We’re completely cut off.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
Meeting Reece like that, all the serenity and confidence seemed drained out of me. The sight of him brought back the memory of Milan and my fear and that brief meeting with Alice. ‘How did you get here?’ I asked him.
He ignored my question. ‘Who’s this?’ he asked, staring at Hacket.
‘An American. Mr. Hacket.’ I turned to my companion. ‘This is Reece, a friend of Maxwell’s.’
‘Pleased to meet you,’ Hacket said. It was ridiculous, standing there, cut off by the lava and yet maintaining the formalities of a way of living that lay beyond the lava.
‘You’re quite certain there’s no way through?’ I asked.
His blue eyes looked at me coldly. ‘Why the hell do you think I’ve got myself in this mess? There’s a lava flow coming in from back there. It must have joined up with this flow about half an hour ago. There’s a twenty-foot high band of lava hemming us in. I’ve been up to the top of one of the houses. There’s absolutely no way through. It’s hundreds of yards wide and it encloses us completely.’