Chapter 22
THE CROWD THICKENS, then begins to move a little faster.
The odd splashing sound is still in the air, and the sky begins to darken.
All around us, young people have stopped to stare up at the sky, talking excitedly to one another.
There’s a sudden swell in the crowd, and it grows, becomes more jostling, as it seems everyone who was down by the river is now running away from it.
“Is something weird going on?” asks Tapper.
“I have no idea,” I say. And, in fact, I don’t.
The crowd grows as it gets closer to us and starts to move faster, packed, touching, polite but pushing and jockeying around for openings that don’t exist.
“Joey! Come on, ” a young woman next to me yells. There’s real impatience in her voice. And maybe a touch of… fear?
The crowd is growing bigger, thicker. Now it’s like a bunch of people herding together to get into a movie theater or a ball game, blocking our way.
“Lamont!” Tapper yells over the crowd, but we’re being pushed away from each other.
“Meet up at Dr. Henry’s office,” I yell, hoping that Hawkeye can hear me as well. I can’t see him anymore.
Now everyone in the crowd has noticed the change in the weather. A pleasant springlike day has turned into a heavy, humid tropical jungle. Everyone is hot. Everyone is sweating.
I turn to a young man trying to squeeze past me.
“Where is everyone going?” I ask him.
“Right now, we’re just trying to move away from the river,” he says.
“Why?” I ask, remembering the splashing sound. Is this some kind of party gone wrong?
“Because of that, ” he says, pointing to the horizon.
Some kind of fog is floating up from the river, choking out Harvard Yard.
“That looks like steam,” I say.
“The river is boiling!” a woman screams, her voice carrying in the dense air.
A man pushes through the crowd in a flat-out run, coming from the direction of the Charles River. The character of the throng changes, verging on panic.
I have to get to Dr. Henry’s office. Now. Fast. I think I can snake through the crowd sideways. Total focus and total determination have always been my best friends. I’m on it. Tapper and Hawkeye will catch up with me at the rendezvous point.