Jon's eyes went wide. "Oh ... my ... god!"
"Jon, what is it?" the Vice President asked her husband.
He didn't answer. He was too busy taking in the horrific scene around him. The Ford plant was so large that it looked like the size of an entire town and the huge smoke stacks nearly touched the sky, pumping tons of black smoke into the air. And speaking of the air, Jon had a little trouble breathing. How did he not notice all of this smog before? And the trees and the grass? Gone, with nothing but dirt or gravel anywhere that wasn't pavement or concrete. It was like a horrible nightmare. One that he had been living in and didn't recognize for what it was and one that he couldn't escape from. Pausing to listen, he couldn't hear any sounds of nature. No birds, no dogs, no crickets ... nothing. It seemed that Mother Nature had died. And her murderer had been the human race.
"Jon, what's wrong? You're acting like something horrible just happened."
He turned towards Sarah Palin, who he now remembered used to be his friend Karyn. Should he tell her about the stone? Or not? Maybe he should use the stone to make her remember. But maybe not here. Maybe not out in the open. If anyone found out that the Vice President had a stone that could grant any wish ... their lives could be in serious peril. Even by people who called themselves loyalists.
"Jon, would you say something? What's wrong?"
