41: All around Marble Cliffs were living people who had not chosen to be a Defector or Untaken. Many of them knew very little of what was going on except that the town was deserted. There was no TV, radio, internet or phones. This was a particularly hot and arid day. Small pockets of people had gathered together to try to figure out the situation, but no one had any way of knowing what fate had befallen Marble Cliffs.
The wind started picking up and a little girl pointed off into the distance. When people saw what she was pointing at, they crouched protectively to the ground, covered their ears and shut their eyes and mouths tight. They were no strangers to dust devils and this was a big one. All kinds of flying debris assaulted their flesh, while pieces of paper and empty plastic bags swirled all around them. The noise was horrendous. This inexorable barrage kept up for almost two full minutes and then gradually moved on its way.
One by one, people started to cautiously open their eyes and get up from the ground. Sand and dust was in their hair, all over their skin and in some of their ears. Those with pockets found that sand and detritus had completely filled those as well. Shoes, shirts, pants. Nothing remained completely untouched by the fiercely invasive debris. Twigs and other sharp objects had caused cuts and scrapes. All around them, trash cans were overturned and tree branches were downed. The area was generally a horrible mess.
This wasn't the worst of it because, by the time an hour had elapsed after the dust devil, not a single person who had been outdoors was left standing. Many of them had gotten home or to shelter of some sort. Most of them just ended up lying on the ground in the dry heat of an Arizona summer. They had all been exposed to the Scathing and their bodies were ravaged by the disease. Of course, they didn't stay down long.
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