Time seemed to stop when I realized the woman beside me was in danger. I shielded her as much as I could with my body so that neither the flames nor the car shards would hurt her. I should have realized sooner what that sound meant. We must have been out of range of the explosion.

The atmosphere around us was suddenly as bright as daylight because of the explosion. The temperature around us was so hot that I didn't dare check the state of my backside. I hugged Heather, who got down on ...