Earthfire

A casual novel about an angry boy from Alaska who forms allies after the end of the world.

[efnovels]

11

When the phone rang, Tom was expecting another prank from his friends. They were probably calling to tell him that they had flattened his tire or something ridiculous. He was very tempted to ignore the ringing of the phone and continue playing his video games, but something compelled him to answer.

"Hello, it's Tom," he mumbled into the "hands free" device. His fingers mashed against the buttons of his controller as his eyes flitted here and there, trying to focus on a boss battle.

"Tom! You won't believe this, but the town is on fire!"

It was Bobby Richard Smithson, or Bobbard as he was affectionately called. Just as anticipated, it was another prank call.

"Look, man, I'm busy. I don't have time for this right now." His health was low, but if he could land just three or four more hits, he could beat the boss. He didn't need these distractions.

"No, no, I'm serious this time! There's really a fire!"

"Uh huh. That's what you said the last couple of times. Bobbard, I really have to go." His thumb jammed the buttons relentlessly.

"No, Tom, I swear! Look outside!"

There was a strange genuine urgency in Bobby's voice that caused Tom to pause his game and get out of his seat. As he approached his window, he was expecting his friend to be on the ground, looking at up at him, waving at him with an offensive and smug grin on his face. Instead, off in the not-too-far distance, Tom saw the heart wrenching glow of massive flames enveloping his town.

"Do you believe me now?"

He wanted to panic, but Tom knew there was no sense in that. It would just cause him to be able to think less coherently.

"Tom?"

His parents were home on the first floor, no doubt watching television, and probably completely oblivious to what was going on. He hoped there was a breaking news program that would alert his parents, but they were more likely to give him control of the finances that they were to allow themselves to be interrupted while watching their shows.

"Yo, Bobbard, are you safe?"

"I'm at the local shelter!"

"How are you calling me?"

"Aw, Tommy, you know I have ways."

Tom finally tore his gaze from the window and glanced at his game. There was no point in finishing it now; his life was more important. Right now, he had to get his stuff and get out of here, and tell his parents about what was happening. There was very little time so he had to move quickly. His feet grumbled against the carpeted floor as he shuffled around the room in a haste, gathering his jacket, his handgun, his knife, his phone, his new wallet, and his keys. There wasn't much else he could think of that was worth carrying along with him when he was in danger.

"Tommy? You there?"

"Yeah, Bobbard, I am. But I should get off of the phone soon to conserve power, you think?"

"Yeah -- but, Tommy, uh..."

Tom stuffed on his boots and made sure the laces were tied extra tight. He waited patiently for his friend to finish his sentence but there was an odd quiet on the other end.

"Bobbard?"

"I just want you to be safe, okay?"

His friend sounded like he was trying hard not to cry, which seemed uncharacteristic for the devious kid. Tom paused for a moment and muttered:

"You too." As an afterthought, he added, "By the way, what's the status on the fire? You know anything? They keeping you updated down there at the shelter?"

Tom jogged down the stairs to the fire floor, his hand sliding down the wall and the railing. He always hated having to stay on the second floor. now he wouldn't even have a house. It was a sobering thought.

"Last I heard, the fire reached Susson Avenue. They haven't really told us much since, and that was maybe half an hour ago. I'm betting that the firefighters are having a really hard time keeping the fire stalling while they evacuate."

"They're still evacuating?"

Why was the evacuation so slow? Then again, he was still in his house.

"They just don't have enough people out there to spread the word. The stations are all toasted so they aren't able to put out word on TV or radio or anything like that. They're doing it all on foot."

Maybe his parents knew already if the TV was out. They surely couldn't be that mellowed and addicted to their shows. As Tom rounded the corner at the bottom of the steps and poked his head into the family room, he saw his parents watching an old movie. It would figure. He ducked back into the staircase.

"Alright, well hey, Bobbard. I need to get my parents out of here and get going. Any route you suggest?"

"Head for the outskirts of town in the direction of the shelter. You know, the one near Boston Street." There was no Boston Street, but Tom knew the place. It was a street that they had nicknamed and they would hang out there frequently during the summer, eating shaved ice and reading and playing games. It would be sad to see that street go.

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"You sound really calm about all of this. Are you sure you're okay?"

Tom paused. He didn't really feel calm but rather he felt numb. There was a dull throb in the center of his chest and a tingle in his stomach, but that was about it. He didn't know what to make of it and he had more important things to worry about than some weird sensation bubbling in the middle of his torso.

"Yeah, I'm fine. No point in panicking, you know?"

"Yeah, sounds like you. You're fine. You stay fine, you hear me?"

"Or what, you'll break my windows this time?"

"I would laugh if the circumstances were different."

"Me too. Okay, Bobbard, time to go. See you."

"Bye, Tom. I-"

Tom hung up, unwilling to be delayed any further. He was afraid to look out of the window and see the fire looming over his house. Although he was certain that his parents didn't want to be disturbed, this was something that he had to tell them, so he was going to risk their wrath in order to save their lives.

"Hey mom, dad?"

His parents seemed to ignore him and jacked up the volume even higher. It frustrated him, but Tom refused to let it get under his skin so soon.

"Mom, dad, you need to get out of here. There's a fire in town and it's headed our way."

He received no response and began to fidget slightly.

"The firefighters aren't able to contain it for long. They need everyone to evacuate."

"Shh, TomTom. We're watching a movie."

"I can see that, but there's a fire outside and you're going to die if you sit on the couch watching a damned movie!"

It was unlike him to shout, and his parents gave him a startled look. He could see that they weren't interested in what he had to say, but they were more shocked that he had the nerve to break the "rule" and interrupt their movie.

"We need to go! Come on!"

"Thomas, leave us alone. We're busy. I'm sure you have better things to do than fall for your friends' pranks again."

Tom's eyes darted to the window. The curtains were shut but there, at the edges of the cloth, he could see the orange and red begin to creep along the walls. There was no time left for him to spare. He lunged forward and seized his father by the arm, and he yanked as hard as he could.

"Get off of your arse and get moving! Your movie isn't more important than your life!"

His father shoved him away. Behind the man he could see his mother scowling at him.

"TomTom, we mean it, get lost! You know that we don't want any distractions!"

"Yeah, kiddo, tell us about it when the movie's over. You've got about fourty minutes left. Go play your video games, alright?" His dad added, his tone firm and suggesting that if Tom didn't go, then there would be consequences.

Tom desperately went to the window and pushed open the curtains. He could see the fire just a couple of blocks away, threatening to consume the entire town far more quickly than he had anticipated.

"Look!" He screamed at his parents, "Look outside! Are you blind? It's right there!"

"Tom, you're blocking our view," his mother stated warningly.

Her words struck him speechless.

"Son, move."

It didn't make sense to him. How could any sane adult be willing to endure the torture of burning to death because of a movie? He was just a teenager and he understood that surviving was more important than having fun!

"Thomas."

Tom clenched his fingers into fists and stared at his parents. For a moment, he wanted to put up a fight and drag them out with them, even though he knew that he wasn't strong enough to do that. His father had beat him before and would do it again. He didn't understand how anyone could give up their lives for something so insignificant.

"Fine," he hissed, his jaw tense and his expression resolute. It hurt him, but he would have to let them go. They weren't willing to listen and he couldn't force them to listen. He would have to hope that they were smart enough to escape once the fire reached the house, and be on the lookout for them at the shelter. He hoped that they were smart enough to go there, although they might not even make it in time.

"Die," he concluded with finality. "Die. I don't care. Watch your shoddy movies and die. Burn in hell. You deserve it!"

Before his father could hit him, though fist raised, Tom was out of the door. He darted out of the living room, past the stairs, and out of the front door. The air was thick with smoke and filled with smothering heat, so he zipped up his jacket and made sure he had everything. Once that was settled, he covered his mouth and sprinted toward the Boston Street. He could get one last look at it before he went to the shelter and met up with Bobbard.

Tom didn't look back.

[efnovels]

10

Nothing made sense to her. How could she have lost her vision from just swimming in a river? It wasn't like the fire could have burned her eyes. The ridiculous notion of the cat clawing out her eyes was dismissed. She still had her eyes -- it was just that they didn't work. Maybe she had bumped her head on a rock or the riverbank and had temporarily lost her vision.

What bothered Q the most was that she didn't remember anything after she had plunged into the river. She doesn't remember falling asleep and was surprised that she even had to wake up in the first place. When had she lost consciousness? Nothing connected. She could remember everything up until that moment when she had taken the dive. Everything between then and the present was simply absent.

"What happened?" She whispered in tethered fright.

A paw on her leg distracts Q.

It was startling to her that the cat had stayed. The creature had seemed less than thrilled at being carried around by her -- and yet it had remained by her side after they had reached dry land. It strangely touched her. Although the cat could not alleviate her distress at the lack of sight, knowing that something -- anything -- was out there for her gave her a small sense of calm. It was better than nothing.

Nothing was really all Q had now. All of her photographic pursuits and Ebay transactions amounted to nothing now. While she had measured her success by portfolios and numerical figures, she found herself strangely lacking anything of value now.

Her camera was probably broken if not gone. A quick pat around her neck and torso caused her to discover its absence. The river was the likely culprit. What good would it do her now if she couldn't see anyways? That thought consoled her. Her vision was more important than any pictures she could possibly take.

The paw again landed on her leg, specifically her thigh, this time more forcefully. It drew her into a state of determination and aroused her determination.

The cat wasn't much, but it was all she had. If it had stayed with her until now, there was a slim chance that it might continue to stay with her. Q didn't know what her surroundings were like, but she resolved to explore with what was left of her senses.

"Cat, you feel like going on an adventure?" Wasn't that what they had already been doing? But as if Q's question was novel, the cat uttered a sound that was a mixture halfway of a growl and a purr. Its response could have meant anything, or nothing at all, but Q took it as an affirmative. What else could she do? She wanted to take things as positively as she could despite the circumstances.

With a grunt, Q felt her way onto her hands and knees, and shakily stood. She felt moist fur press around her ankles and understood that the cat was right about her feet. With careful steps, Q slid a foot forward. It was then that it occurred to her that she couldn't hear the river. The rushing waters were completely gone from her senses. How had she come so far onto dry land? It was severely improbable that the cat had dragged her, it being such a small creature. At least she didn't have to worry about stepping into it and drowning or suffering another blow to the head -- although maybe that would restore her sight.

Part of photography was making the best of how you saw things. Now, even without her sight, she could still do the same.

"Come on, cat," Q instructed the feline, and carefully began her trek forward. She didn't know in what direction she was headed, and it could have been backwards, but any movement at all at this point was considered forward to Q. Blind faith was literally all she could depend on -- and maybe the cat.

Chapter 11

[efnovels]

9

Pitiful yowling interrupted Q's unconsciousness. It was the only thing she could clearly hear for a moment before her audible senses cared to adjust. She wanted to detect the source of the noise but her eyes refused to open immediately. It was inconvenient to have to deal with such lack of vision while what was apparently a cat screeched in her ears.

It was also dreadfully chilly and she felt soaked. Again, she struggled to see, but her eyes would not open. Her body felt halfway numb besides the cold. Wistfully, she thought of going back to sleep in her bed.

When Q shifted over onto her side, she realized that wet sand was pressed against her head. Memories of the fire, of her failure to help evacuate, and of plunging recklessly into the river with the cat -- they all invaded her mind at once.

Q deduced that she had most likely washed up somewhere along the riverbank. Given that it was so cold, she must be a safe distance from the fire. The abrasive noise nearby was presumably the cat, the little creature being the only thing she had managed to save from the treacherous flames at Monterey.

"Shut up," she mumbled at it, perturbed by how numb even her mouth felt. Her body was slowly regaining feeling, but she could still not open her eyes. She reached to them to scrape them clean and hissed when her sandy fingers made contact with the edges of her eyelids.

The cat continued to yowl incessantly. She wanted to strangle it.

Something was wrong. She must have been mistaken -- her body must still be numb -- but when Q reached up to clear her eyes again, she found the same issue. There was a strong sting which caused her to retract her hand. It hit her then: her eyes were already opened.

"I can't see," she mouthed inaudibly, her belief slack. The fire itself, while surreal, had been something that often happened in many places of the world; but being blind was something that Q Evans had never before considered. It was unbelievable to her.

She was blind.

Chapter 10

[efnovels]

8

There is no doubt in Q's mind that what she is attempting to do is reckless, but that doesn't stop her. She sprints back to her house and dashes past it. Next door is an older woman, Gramarie, and she pounds on the door frantically.

By now the smoke is pouring in through the streets, feeling its way along the ground and craning up towards the sky all at once. No matter how urgently Q beats her fist against the wooden door, no answer comes.

Maybe Gramarie already left? She considers breaking in, but Q knows there is little time to be checking every home. She relunctantly but quickly veers away from that door and heads down the street.

The next neighbor, the Pecks, are the same. No answer. Q goes down the street until there are no houses left with doors to knock, until the smoke is beginning to smother her through the protective cloths in front of her face, until she's forced to leave the neighborhood for the safety of the river. It's too hot, the flames are too close, and the smoke is too thick.

Q runs. There is no looking behind her, no checking for people along the way, no searches for people to help evacuate; there is nothing but clutching onto her camera and holding ashen fabric over her face while she tramples the ground hastily.

At the banks of the river, the inquisitive glance of a cat catches her attention.

Dignified and seemingly untouched by the approaching danger, the cat was perched on a prominent rock by the river, clearly unwillingly to break free of its languor.

The sight puzzled her. What would a cat be doing, leisurely spending away precious time, half-napping on a rock with fire quickly closing in behind them?

Unwilling that the cat should perish in the merciless flames, Q determines that she will save it -- if it will let her. She hopes she appears casual as she deliberately makes nearly no visual contact with the little animal, making small steps towards the water, trying ever-so-subtly to peek through her peripheral vision at it. When it doesn't seem to move, and she deems herself in close enough proximity, Q turns and reaches for the cat.

She hesitates. The cat visibly stiffens and gauges the intrusion of its personal space. It seems accustomed to humans, unfazed by her movements and advances towards it; but it seems to understand her motive and, finding it rather undesirable, shifts away as if to reject Q's reach.

"Come on, cat," she pleads with it, glancing towards the direction of the flames. The smoke is forcing its way down towards the river. She is fairly certain that it will be held up by the water and that if she crosses the river she will be safe -- and the same would go for the cat; but if the cat chose to ignore her, then what? It could probably survive on its own, apparently not an unintelligent sort of animal, but she felt drawn to it for some reason and something inside of her insisted that she personally aid it in escaping the oncoming havoc.

The cat refuses to budge. Sensing little time left, Q abruptly abandons temperance and seizes the cat by the sides. It releases a yowl of protest and sinks its teeth into her arm, but Q is already moving and ignores the flash of pain. Cat bites are not the worse bites in the world, she figures, wrapping what was probably someone's pet in her arms. When the cat feels that Q is not out to suffocate or harm it, there is some relaxation in its muscles and it allows her to carry it away.

Q wastes no time in plunging knee-deep into the river. The current is heedless of her presence, ever-flowing and swift and strong. It threatens to cause her knees to give way. There is little traction underneath her as she struggles to stay upright and make her way across.

A problem comes to her attention once she is waist deep and she is forced to stop. The waters do not become any less dangerous, nor do they become any less deep, and the current is only stronger the further in she goes. Q realizes that she is barely a quarter of the way through the river. This is somewhat relieving to her as she doubts the fire will be able to pursue her past these raging waters, but it causes her some fright when she considers crossing it.

The cat is clinging to her scarf with its front paws, irritation so easily seen on its scowling face. It doesn't want to be wet. It never wanted this strange human to pick it up and take it away from its basking spot. The fire would not have bothered it quite as much as being what was roughly equivalent to a catnap. It had allowed itself to be taken into the waters for no valid reason and now it was nearly drowning to death, secure in the clutches of a frantic woman with no solid plan of travel.

Q decides to wait a little. She's still a bit off from the bank and perhaps the fire won't be so bad as long as she's in the water. It might be safe just where she is if she can just hold out. The current is batters at her and the cat wriggles and the fire eats away at the land -- but perhaps, just maybe, she might be safe there.

That thought changes rapidly when she notices that the fire is enormous. It is not even the size of some omnivorous wildfires which had eaten away at hundreds of acres in the country. It was of gargantuan proportions, dozens of feet high, consuming everything in its path. She has to accept the fact that there is most likely nothing left to rebuild and go back to in Monterey. There probably isn't a town left. She doubts the fire department even exists anymore.

The fire simply is too great, and it is moving straight at her without anything in its path. Suddenly, the river doesn't seem so safe.

Q makes her decision quickly.

"Cat, we are going to try to swim. When I say go, I'm going to hold onto you, and jump into the river. The current is going to take us somewhere away from here. It's too dangerous."

The cat doesn't care and Q knows that. It doesn't speak English or any human language, and she'd bet every one of her cameras on it. The thought of her camera becoming soaked perturbs her slightly, but she doesn't have time to give in to that fear. She explains everything to the cat more to make her plan concrete and to convince herself it's what she has to do. The fire is closing distance and there isn't much ground left between them.

Q manages to tie one end of her scarf around and just above the hindquarters of the cat. A couple of tugs proves that it's fairly secure. She doesn't have time to test it much otherwise, and she can't worry about whether it's safe. It's safer than the flames and that's all that matters to her.

Having knotted the scarf about the cat, she wraps her arms around it, inhales as deeply into her chest as she can go, and screeches, "Go!"

The water tears her away from her footing and yanks her down the river. She feels herself having lost all control, helpless and half-drowning in torrents of reckless fluids. Somewhere along the way she grabs a precious breath of air, and she hopes that the cat does as well. Q has no idea where she is and all she can hope is that the water does carry her to safety and not to the fire. She doesn't want to wash up on the wrong bank. She doesn't want to drown. She doesn't want to die.

Chapter 9

[efnovels]

7

An afterlife for immortality.

He still remembers the Initiation, the day on which he last could breathe, the final few moments that would from then on determine the receptivity humans would grant the gods.

"Zosos is out of control," Miune had warned him. Cloaked in the thin glow of his deity, the fair-haired god had spoken with such defeat already that it had unnerved him. It was hard to believe that any god could lose himself in what made himself; but, spoken with such conviction, Miune had unsettled that belief.

"I will see to it," he had wanted to say. Instead, he had ended up saying only, "We will see what happens."

Amerille had depended on him to keep her and Jevuh safe. Where was his pride as a god, as one of the strongest entities in existence, in his role as protector and life-giver? Was he more of a coward than a human? It threw him from his throne of security more than once.

In the end, it had finished him.

Zosos had wielded the elements with such terror and devastation that he was unable to retaliate. He had let the god carry on so long. Zosos had consumed so much power that it had consumed him; and though quite well unreasonable and mentally shaken, he was still stronger than the best of them.

The traitor had defied all laws. Women and children were to be protected; it was sacred rule! But Zosos had neglected morality and sanity in his rage. Nearly all had perished.

Solacity was the first to go. Next was Miune, ever attempting to rationalize for equality and peace. Countless others fell at a rate that should not have been for immortals. Amerille had implored for him to stop the crazed god, and he had gathered what was left of them -- but he forced her to promise to stay behind to protect their son, and Pataku had refused him. With only Tifal, they were able to weaken their betrayer. The cost was their lives.

With tired eyes and pained cries, he had watched Tifal become destroyed. Gazing up at their eternity, he remembered the voice of Zosos, mocking and shrill, renouncing godhood and embracing death.

"I will bestow my gift upon you," were the last words he had heard.

Yet somehow, he found himself thinking not of Zosos' wrongdoings, but that if only Pataku had helped them, they might have had success. Why did she betray their cause?

Chapter 8

[efnovels]

6

 Jean’s face wrinkles into a smile. Despite all of the turmoil and anger emanating from the masses all around him, his grandmother’s presence gives him a sensation of reassurance and peace. Her expression and touch is calming, and he finds that he can relax a little now that he’s found her. He doesn’t have to worry about her being hurt or dead anymore.

Although he is glad to see her, there is still a reservoir of pride that prevents Juno from actually expressing this. Fortunately, it is a mutual feeling, and his grandmother says for him what he needs said.

“I am so glad that I found you,” she speaks into his arm, cradling him against her. He normally would feel smothered and resentful of such physical affection. With all the chaos, he feels protected. Her arms around his back and neck, her hands on his shoulder and head, her face against his cheek – it’s a welcome comfort this time. He doesn’t have to pretend to be the man of the house, the strongest one between the two of them, an invincible boy. Juno doesn’t fear his young age at the moment; he buries himself into it.

“You aren’t hurt, are you?” Jean’s voice breaks through his thoughts and the harsh cries of people; it firmly grasps his attention, even as she lets him go to inspect him. He doesn’t need to listen or look to anyone else – he doesn’t know anyone else, anyways.

“I’m fine,” he insists.

“Well, that’s good,” she responds in acknowledgment; yet she still scrutinizes his state of dress and disposition. He was doing his best to keep himself together. Now that they were in it together again, Jean was fairly convinced of herself that he would make it through alright.

“Now what?” He questions her.

His responsibility and independence is put on the back burner. It is easier to follow than to lead, they both know, especially for someone so young. Juno had already shown some strength in fighting fear, in searching for her first, in knowing where to go. Dozens, if not hundreds, have already had burned to death, no doubt. Both Juno and Jean Skinner are glad that they are not one of now many dead.

“Well, I suppose we figure a way for getting out of here soon,” she tells him. Juno is reminded of his temporarily forgotten option: the group that was leaving to explore.

“Grandma,” Juno has to stretch up a little to reach her ear so she can hear him, “There’s a group that’s leaving soon, maybe after the fire’s over, but maybe before. They said a lady was starting the group and that I should go talk to her if I wanted to join.”

He expects her to immediately begin to dissuade him. When Juno doesn’t see his grandmother’s mouth moving in his peripheral vision, when he doesn’t hear a response, when she only looks at him; he sucks in a breath, tries to ignore the stench of sweaty and ashen people around him, and finishes what he wants to tell her.

“I want to go with that group, Grandma. I want to see for myself what’s going on.” He pauses, and adds, “Will you come with me?”

As much as he wants to venture out into the unknown and determine reality for himself, Juno doesn’t want to have to do it alone. If the world is truly devastated, then facing that as a lone teen would be difficult. There is no one else in his life. His grandmother’s rejection would be further emotionally traumatizing.

“I spoke to a nice woman before I left home – the house,” he hears her correct herself, strangely enough, “to help evacuate. Did she talk to you like I asked?”

The question throws his mind for a loop. The only woman he remembered talking with him was Amerille. He really hadn’t thought she was real. Had he been mistaken, and more asleep than he had thought? Had she not gone out through the window, but was indeed just another person with whom his grandmother was associated? Jean Skinner had made many friends in town, a trait he wished he had adopted. Maybe Amerille was just another friend that had come to check up on her during the fire.

“A lady talked to me,” he confirmed finally, hesitantly, slowly. Juno really wanted to know who Amerille was. He still was undecided on whether or not to believe her about the lore she had related to him. There would be time to think about that later, though. Right now, he had to convince his grandmother to join him on his quest out of town.

“Grandma, will you help me find the lady of that group I told you about?” His throat was beginning to hurt from having to emphasize so loudly everything he said. He had to wonder for a moment if the older Skinner was facing the same issue. She seemed impervious to everything around her, just like an impassive and serene statue depicted in European architecture. That only reminded him again of what Amerille had said about gods. He tried harder to focus on the situation at hand.

“Juno, I know you’re in a hurry to find this lady, but –”

He doesn’t let her finish.

“Grandma, you have to let me find her! I need to go check things out for myself. I know I’m still just a kid and that you’re worried about me, but I can’t do much here. There’s something I need to know, and the only way I can know if it’s true is if I go out there!”

He’s terribly frustrated. His entire life, people had corralled him into the life they wanted to make for him. They gave him instructions and rules and commands. While his grandmother had been patient, kind, and loving, she also had rules she wanted followed. He was expected to listen to her; and, this time, he didn’t want to have to concede to that authority. His yearning for independence, the ability to make his own decisions, was rearing again.

“Juno, listen to me.”

“But – ”

“No, you listen to me, Juno Skinner. I know you want to find this lady, but you don’t have to go looking. She’s right here.”

It doesn’t register at first. She has to explain it to him.

“I’m the lady in charge of the expedition, Juno. You don’t have to look for me; I’m right here.”

That makes it a lot easier. Juno is dumbfounded a bit at his grandmother’s decision. He would have thought she would have wanted to stay behind and rebuild the town and home she had worked so hard to make. What about the house he had grown up in? It was the last thing of a family she had. Somehow she didn’t strike him as the adventurous type after all she had done. Wouldn’t she have wanted to settle down by now, and live out the rest of her life in peace? She had already been through so much. He had heard all of the stories. Even so, there was a part of him that was relieved and even excited that the one to lead the exploration was her. Juno definitely preferred his own grandmother to a stranger in this case.

“When things settle down a bit, we’ll organize the people who want to go,” he heard her explain to him.

“We can have everyone move over a bit so we know who we have going with us. When we’re all ready to go, we can form some teams and decide where we’re going. After that, it’ll be a matter of what we find.”

He nodded at her decisions and planning. It was not like he had any better plans. It was nice to not have to be responsible for the outcome of things. It was nicer to not have to be so concerned with his personal fate.

“Juno, let me ask you something.”

He looks up at her. She’s not as tall as he remembers, nor as young, but he still sees the life in her eyes that he always wanted.

“What did the lady at the house tell you before you came here?”

Juno can’t seem to answer her right away. His eyes scan the crowds blankly as he tries to figure out what to tell her. He doesn’t want his grandmother to think that he’s been involved in the wrong sort of things. He also was very proud of the fact that he never was religious, unlike her; it would be too awkward now if he were to mention anything related to some sort of religious belief. It might insult or excite her, of which he wanted neither concerning the subject. All he could really safely say was that the woman in question had warned him of the fire, and had offered him help.

Then again, if Jean had also spoken with the woman, it was possible that she had heard the same things that he had. Maybe she, too, had been informed about the gods and the impending doom of mankind – of their need to survive? Come to think of it, even that had been vague. Amerille had said very little other than people had thoughts gods were someone other than who they really were. She had said there wasn’t much time, and wanted him to help her. She wanted him to do “his part,” whatever that was supposed to be. It was basically a request for some sort of ridiculous trade-off, he thought.

But suppose he had been dreaming, and Amerille had only been a friend of his grandmother’s. Then what was he supposed to say? That the woman was crazy? Because if she wasn’t, then he was the crazy one, thinking that she had told him about some sort of supernatural phenomenon that was supposed to involve him.

In the end, he still didn’t know what to say. He condensed his response into the most truthful and ambiguous statement he could manage.

“Not much.”

He feels Jean’s eyes meticulously examining his face, trying to read into his response and probably the cause of the pause as well.

At great length, she tells him, “I had a hard time believing her, too, you know. I bet you had an even harder time, because you never were into the concepts of God and the like.”

Juno really wasn’t into it; she was right.

“What does it matter now? We’re stuck with a fire and a bunch of stupid people in a smelly shelter. Even if it’s true,” which he doubted was the case, “we just have to do what we have to do to get out of here.”

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and sullenly stared at those around him. Hundreds of people were still clamoring for those who possibly had been left behind or who might even be dead. Some were beginning to form in circles, a movement that partially caught his interest. Overall, the noise was slightly less than it had been some minutes prior. He doubted it would quiet down completely until everyone had left, but he could hope.

“I think that maybe that’s why she talked to you, Juno,” he heard Jean commend him. He couldn’t understand why, though.

“Why? Because I don’t believe in her?”

“Well, in a way, yes. You aren’t caught up by what everyone else already believes. You can form your own opinions for yourself. If she’s telling the truth, you’ll know, and it’ll be easier for you to accept it than for others.  But,” she continued, and he saw that she was having to take bigger and longer breaths now to speak so much, “I think it’s also because you know how to focus on what needs to be done. Too many people rely on a god as a crutch. They want him to take care of everything. You’re willing to do things for yourself, and you’ll only ask for help if you need it. I think someone like you is much more useful, so people like you are what the world is going to need from now on.”

Was she doting on him? He had never done anything very admirable in his life. Now, suddenly his stubbornness and disbelief was not only tolerable, but approvable? He considered the possibilities that his grandmother was delusional or perhaps ill. She might have been affected by the smoke, or could have been jarred too much, or hit on the head. Her reasoning was doubtlessly impaired. All of the things she had griped about in the past could not suddenly be good things to her. It brought him to wonder something else.

“Grandma, do you believe her?”

“Amerille?”

The mention of Amerille’s name settled something for him. She was definitely real. Even if she wasn’t exactly who she said she was, they both had seen her, and who knows who else had? It was too much of a coincidence for Juno. It made him that much more eager to see for himself what had happened outside once this all was over.

“I do.” Jean nodded slowly as she spoke. She curved her arm around his back and began to lead him toward one corner of the shelter. He was obliged to help her shoulder through the crowd. She was strong-willed, but still older, still probably tired, and still a woman. She was still his grandmother.

He wanted to say he believed Amerille, too, but again he was not sure he believed what Jean did. Juno was uncertain if he wanted to believe anything that had taken place so far. If he was lucky, he could wake up and say it was all a nasty dream, and then try his best to forget about it while playing some video games or practicing his moves at the skate park.

Instead of agreeing with his grandmother, he utters a different statement – a question, rather; one fairly important to their goal.

“So, when do we start getting these people together and getting out of here?”

Chapter 7

[efnovels]

5

There won’t be enough air. There isn’t enough food. People will drink all of the water and then they’ll all die. They need to start killing people off and eating them for food when they run out. They’ll all kill each other off anyways since no one’s leading.

Complaints kept traveling through the crowd. Rumors of no escape were beginning to cause a lot of contention. Many people were discussing the potential causes of such a great fire. Some said that the fire was working its way from the outside to the center of town. Others were trying to get people to join their new group, a group to go out and explore what was left of the town, to salvage it, and to rebuild it. Another group was also forming, and they were intent on going out and seeing for themselves where the fire had originated – to see from how far the destruction had come. That group was small. There were some screaming about the end of the world. Little children were making a lot of fuss on their own, scared from all of the angry adults, sobbing and screeching for food and naps and quiet.

All of it was starting to get on Juno’s nerves. He had been here for maybe thirty or fourty minutes, he guessed, and there was still no sign of Jean. There were only a bunch of angry, disorganized, stupid people breaking down and going nuts. It made him sick how adults were behaving like children. As he tunneled his way through the masses, he was beginning to think that he should join one of the groups once this all was over. They, at least, seemed to have something that resembled a plan. They weren’t flailing around in a throng, helpless and hopeless.

Juno is torn between the two major groups, though. He feels obligated to stay and help rebuild Palm Creek, to help rebuild his grandmother’s house, to do something for his community to honor that vow of being better he wanted to make not so long ago. He also wants to go exploring and see other parts of the nation. He wants to see if anything that he heard from Amerille actually was true. More than anything, he really just wants answers.

The noises suddenly magnify. Women in particular are yelling at the top of their lungs, and the crowd grows violent. Juno loses his balance when a furious man shoves him in a movement toward the exit. The shelter doors have shut. It takes him a moment to find his footing again in the middle of all the commotion. By that time, Juno realizes that the people’s outburst is due to fear. The shut and locked doors finalize the situation, and many are afraid that their relatives and friends didn’t make it inside. One of them could be his grandmother, and that worries him; but he doesn’t feel the need to join the uproar. What good would that do?

He wonders what will happen to the people that are caught outside. There isn’t a way for all of Palm Creek to fit inside of the shelter. Juno wonders if there’s another shelter where people can go. He wants to give himself some hope that, if he doesn’t find his grandmother in here, that she’ll be okay. He doesn’t want to imagine her body a charred mess outside, unrecognizable, maybe not even there at all anymore. He doesn’t want to deal with any of this at all.

Someone spits an obscenity at him as they shoulder past him. People everywhere are moving and jostling each other, still panicking, still yelling, still angry, still loud. Juno decides it’s time to either find his grandmother or the leader of one of the groups. He discards respect for space or touch. There’s no place for that anymore.

Juno grabs the nearest person and asks if they’ve seen Jean Skinner. They say no. He then asks if they’re part of the group. They say they aren’t part of any group, and he moves on to the next person. He asks the same questions, going through each person, until he finally finds someone who, although he hasn’t seen a Jean Skinner, is intending to leave with the exploration group. Juno demands to know where the leader is. The man yells at him over the crowd that there isn’t a leader, but there is a woman who has been asking everyone around if they want to join, and to go see her. When Juno asks for her name, the man says he has no idea, and to leave him alone.

No better off than before, other than that he now knows there is a woman starting the exploration group, Juno wants to scream with the rest of them. He’s sick of everything and wants to hit something. Everyone else is doing it. Why can’t he?

As he lifts his fist to strike someone, a hand emerges from the crowd and firmly grips onto his shoulder. A familiar voice floats up into his ears, one he recognizes and strains to hear.

“Juno Skinner, I thought I taught you better than that!”

When Juno turns, he sees the woman he’s been looking for the entire time. He embraces Jean Skinner and, for the first time in his life, is glad to see her.

Chapter 6 

[efnovels]

4

She would sometimes not leave her computer for hours. It was extremely important that she remain in her chair, eyes trained on the screen, finger hovering over the mouse buttons, because at any moment she might need to act quickly and outbid the previous person in order to win the online auction. Ebay was a strong need for Q Evans.

In order to fuel her need for more camera accessories and support herself in her small one-bedroom apartment, the young woman of 25 had found that her part-time job as a receptionist was simply not enough income. She had even chosen a small place near the outskirts of town, the cheapest place she could find, but the overall expenses were still too high for her to invest much in her photography needs. Q had taken to buying and reselling from items she won from Ebay auctions, and found that it was enough for her to save up some spending money for her hobby and passion: photography. Her latest purchase had cost her a few hundred dollars, but she found that it was worth it for the pictures she had wanted to capture. An Ikelite underwater housing system now enabled her to take more interesting pictures, more pictures of sea life, and more pictures. She was excited. It was a great buy, too.

Her Nikon rests next to her, enveloped in the new case. Thinking on the last buy compels her to leave her computer and go out to take picture. There’s six hours and twenty-nine minutes and twelve seconds left on the auction. She has time. It’ll be great fun to test out the camera again, she reasons. Even if she misses an auction, it’ll be worth it if she gets some great shots.

Q pushes herself up from her chair and stretches. Already bundled in a thick sweater so she won’t have to spend money on heat, all she needs is a scarf, her boots, and her camera to go out.  It’s November and, in her town of Monterey, it’s been around 5 or 6 degrees – Celsius, of course. Many people around her prefer to use Fahrenheit, but she never acquired a taste for that. It was so imprecise.

Her feet lead her to her closet where she puts on her footwear and selects a soft brown scarf to snugly wrap around her neck. As an afterthought, she remembers to grab some gloves. There’s nothing else she feels she needs, so Q returns to her desk to grab the Nikon and hang it around her neck, put her keys in her sweater pocket, and then she leaves her room. She isn’t prepared for what she sees outside.

Instead of the small family-run bakery shop across the street, or the snowy trees lining sidewalks, or parents walking their children to stores, she sees a fog-like smoke consuming the neighborhood. The wind is blowing it in her direction, and she pulls her scarf up to cover her nose and mouth. There’s a problem with this, she concludes quickly. With this much smoke, there must be a fire close by, and it must be very large. Despite the obvious danger, she can’t help but take a picture of her last sight of Emilo’s Bakery being curtained with dark clouds. It’ll be a great shot – if she makes it out alive.

As smoke falls into the street, Q quickly assesses her situation. There’s nothing she really needs in her house. People are taught to leave their things behind and move to safety in the event of a fire, she knows, but she can’t really help double-checking. Her mental inventory still draws a blank on lack.

Q begins to jog down the street away from the fire, toward where she knows a river is. She halts mid-step and looks back. The smoke is rolling in thicker, and she can see an increasing glow behind it; yet she thinks to go back – not for things forgotten or wanted, but for warning the neighborhood. She had been oblivious to the impending danger outside of her door, and no one had rang her doorbell or knocked on her door. It seemed like no one was out and about in this neighborhood. But how had they known to leave? Why weren’t they telling other people?

In the faint distance, she finally heard some signs of distress. The wail of ambulances and shrill police sirens echoed somewhere else in town. Q wanted to leave it up to them. “Let the authorities do their job,” she remembered telling people so often. This time, there was a slim possibility that they’d even make it to this part of town before it was up in flames. That cemented her decision. She was going to have to go to as many neighbors as possible before the fire reached them. She was going to help evacuate.

Chapter 5

[efnovels]

3

What are you supposed to do when your entire town is on fire? Juno knows from seeing things on the news that people are supposed to evacuate. But what if there’s nowhere for him to go? Where do people go when everything is going to hell?

A shelter. The thought strikes him suddenly, and Juno remembers there is a shelter somewhere in town. It’s by the library. He knows where the library is. He walks there twice a week. It is, fortunately for him, in the opposite direction of the fire.

For a moment, he hesitates. His parents had left him with his grandmother eight years ago, and he grew up in this house. It was the only real home he ever knew, and he doesn’t want to leave it. The thought of it being burned down, along with the rest of Palm Creek, the only town in which he’s ever lived, is hard for him to accept. Even harder to accept is being burned to death himself, he decides. The fire is already crossing over into the one neighborhood left between him and where he’s standing. He takes off running.

Juno navigates the streets with desperation, pumping his legs as quickly as he can. His feet are pounding against pavement as he runs across streets without looking both ways like he was taught as a child. He doesn’t see anyone on the streets anyways – not until he hits the major intersection a block away from the library. Hundreds of people are thronging in an unorganized mess, moving in one direction, screaming and yelling. It means he’s close to the shelter, he hopes. It also means he’s no longer alone.

Immediately he joins the loud bunch and forces himself through the people. They’re unrelenting in moving toward their destination. Mothers and fathers hold their children close; couples cling to each other; the elderly try their best to push their way forward through the bodies. It smells like smoke, sweat, and something else that Juno doesn’t recognize. Whatever it is, it’s disgusting, but he’ll deal with it for now.

He looks for his grandmother through the frenzied mob, eyes darting for a glimpse of her past necks and hair and unruly toddler faces. Juno doesn’t see her, but he does see the shelter in the distance. She might already be there. Jean Skinner was – is, he reminds himself – a strong woman, and won’t die easily. A breast cancer survivor, a woman who lived through the Great Depression, a single mother of ten, a successful business woman – he has faith in her ability to fight for survival. He briefly wonders if he inherited the same ability, but doesn’t allow himself to dwell on it. He has to get to the shelter first.

There aren’t as many police as he expected. Juno stumbles when someone to his side pushes him hard, but there’s no time for him to pick himself back up. The people aren’t stopping, and bodies behind him shove him forward. It’s organized chaos, as he’s heard before, and he wishes someone would get these people to be a little neater in line.

“Why aren’t the police organizing this?” He questions a nearby man. He has to shout to even hear himself. He doesn’t get an answer or even a look. A woman to his side hits him on the shoulder and yells at him over the people.

“There ain’t no police anymore, boy; they all burned down in the fire! And we gonna too, if you don’t shut your damned mouth and keep movin’!”

A town without police? It blew his mind. Juno wondered what else was gone, and again his thoughts drifted to his grandmother. She had to be at the shelter. He didn’t know anyone else in this town. He had no friends and no other family remaining in Palm Creek. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t make friends now. People weren’t interested in anything but helping themselves. They were a mindless herd, desperate to depend on the shelter for safety.

What if the shelter wasn’t enough? If there wasn’t enough room for everyone, or if it didn’t withstand the fire, then what? Where else was there to go?

Juno wanted it to be a dream. He wanted to go back to sleep. He wanted to become a less selfish boy, do well in school, and make it up to his grandmother for all the rude things he had done and said to her. It would be easy after an experience like this to make vows to do better, and then expect it to go away. Life didn’t work that way. Pinching yourself didn’t change a thing.

This was why he didn’t believe in any gods. They wouldn’t let things like this happen. They left you on your own and wanted you to give them credit for all the hard work you did – no, people wanted you to give some names credit for all the work you did. Supposing that Amerille was real, and what she had told him had really happened and was true, could he still say that? She offered to help him; she warned him about what was going on. He didn’t try to listen at all. It was unfair of her to try to help only him, anyways – but who was to say she wasn’t around telling everyone in town?

Nothing made sense. He didn’t know what was going on anymore. Juno just wanted it all to be over. He wanted to get to his grandmother and let her boss him around. She could tell him what to do this time. He’d listen. He didn’t know what else to do. He felt just like a little kid again, when he was eight years old, being dropped off at his grandmother's and being told to be a good boy until his mom and dad got back. They never came back.  His grandmother tried to raise him, but he felt deserted and alone – just like he did now.

“Get outta my way,” the woman beside him suddenly screamed, shoving and elbowing everyone she could. She was trying to get ahead in line. Up ahead Juno finally saw the entrance to the shelter. Several other people did, too, and they started trying to force their way in before anyone else, just like the disrespectful woman. When the people behind him saw what was going on, they also started clawing and grabbing and yelling to get their spot. Juno quickly followed the example just so he wouldn’t get trampled or left behind.

What he saw inside the shelter wasn’t encouraging. Hundreds of people were packed in, and there wasn’t much room left. He’d have a difficult time trying to work his way through people to find his grandmother, and there was a small chance that she might even make it inside. It was bleak. He’d have to make the most of it and hope to find her, and stay with her until the danger of fire was over. And then what? How long could they last in here? Was there even any food or water – or was there even enough for so many people? What if they all died in here?

As more people crammed into the shelter, Juno struggled and wrestled through the crowds, hollering for his grandmother, asking everyone and anyone if they seen a Jean Skinner, trying so hard not to break down and cry. He had made it to the shelter, but it wasn’t over. He was scared to death, and there wasn’t any hope for him that he could see.

Chapter 4

[efnovels]

2

He leaves the window and grabs his cell off of the night stand. It doesn’t respond to him, and he doesn’t have time to deal with it. He figures it’s off or dead, stuffs it in his short’s pocket to fix later, and heads for the hallway outside of his room.

Juno doesn’t care that his grandmother might see him in nothing but his shorts. He doesn’t care about decency because of the massive fire he spotted outside of his window. As he exits his room in the darkness, he clumsily knocks his foot into the doorway. It hurts, but he isn’t paying attention. As he dashes down his stairway to the first floor, he tries to figure out why there would be a fire in Palm Creek.

His first thought is to pick a logical reason. Someone’s house caught on fire, a gas station exploded, or maybe an arsonist struck. Amerille’s words haunt him in the back of his mind, telling him that there are bigger reasons responsible for the catastrophe. In the end, he decides it doesn’t matter why. All that matters now is trying to fix the fire, or getting away from the fire.

So his next thought hits him: call the fire department. Call the police. Call someone – call an adult – to take care of the situation. Juno finds the landline phone in the kitchen and snatches it off the hook. His fingers dial 911 quickly and he clutches the phone to his ear, tense and ready to tell the person on the line what they probably already know. A sinking feeling settles in his stomach as he realizes the phone isn’t even ringing. There isn’t a busy signal. There’s nothing.

“Grandma!”

Juno screams for his grandmother as he hikes up the stairs as quickly as he can. When he gets to her room, he tries to turn on the lights, but they don’t work. It hits him that the power is off. He remembers the fire, and moves quickly to the bed.

“Grandma,” he calls for her, hands searching for her in the mass of frilly blankets and old pillows. He doesn’t find anyone. Juno thinks that she might be in the bathroom, and sprints that way. The bathroom is just next door, and he’s there in seconds, but the door is open and no one is in there. Was she in the kitchen? He was just there, but it’s possible he might have missed her.

Frantic and worked up with adrenaline, Juno returns to his room first. His hands are shaking as he finds his shirt and pulls it back on over his head. While he’s doing that, his feet are working into a pair of sneakers he just got last week for his birthday. He grabs a coat from his jacket, remembers to put his wallet in the jacket pocket, and is out the door again.

Juno takes the steps two at a time and skips the last four of twenty-two steps. He lands loudly, unconcerned with making noise, hoping to find his grandmother in the kitchen. He looks for her in the dark, scanning the living room and calling for her. He wastes no time making it to the kitchen when he doesn’t see her in the main room.

“Grandma! Lady!” He hollers for her again. He doesn’t find her at the table, the sink, the refrigerator, or anywhere. The only room left is the laundry room on this floor. It’s a small house, and it shouldn’t be that hard to find her.

He jogs out of the kitchen and slams open the door to the laundry room. The washing machine and dryer are unmanned.

His grandmother is nowhere to be found.

Even though he didn’t much care for the woman, she was his grandmother, and family was always important when it came down to it. Juno wonders what he’s supposed to do without her.

“She’s fine,” he mutters to himself, shifting his weight from one foot to another quickly. “She probably’s outside.” What would she be doing outside? Maybe she went to help the other people deal with the fire. That’s the only place she could be.

Juno darts back into the kitchen and opens the door to his neighborhood. Outside, he can see a glow in the not-so-far distance, and the wind brings smoke to his nose. The neighborhood two blocks over is already catching fire, and it’s still heading in his direction quickly.

He wants to cry.

Chapter 3

[efnovels]

1

The distorted face of a woman looked down at him. She was like a surreal dummy in the moonlight, expressionless and pale. When he blinked away slumber, Juno could make her out better. Once he was able to see her properly, he wanted to scream.

“Juno Skinner,” she addressed him, her quiet voice steady. “The world has passed through the trial of fire at last. The time has come for mankind to gather together and fight for their survival. I am Amerille, a goddess of this world. I am assisted now by two others. We are the real gods of this world. Your kind has chosen many names and roles for us to play, but your capacity for knowledge is limited in both scope and understanding. I have come to give you the truth, and instruct you of the only chance you may have at surviving.”

“Wait, wait.” Juno sat up in bed and skeptically eyed the unexpected guest in his bedroom. His window had not been open when he had gone to bed. It had even been locked! How did she get in? Was he having some sort of weird dream? She was talking about some sort of fire or being a goddess. It made no sense to him. More importantly, how did she know his name? She could be another one of his grandmother’s senile friends that had come in late or something.

“There is very little time,” she interjected. He sized her up as she stepped toward him. She was a small looking woman hidden in something that resembled an ornate bath robe, hair silvery, her posture graceful and yet seemingly frail. Due to her hair color, he wanted to say she was old, but she looked barely middle-aged, with few creases on her face that he could make out. Definitely not one of his grandmother’s friends. But more than anything, she looked tired – but not as tired as he already was about what she was saying.

Juno was having a hard time believing that anything that he had just heard was actually real. Gods? The destruction of the world – the universe? The fact that Palm Creek was the only town left in his state, or maybe the only one left in his nation? What was he supposed to think about that? He was just a kid finishing his sophomore year in high school, laying in bed in his shorts, and probably having another freaky dream. He wanted to forget this was happening, but Amerille’s voice insistently commanded his attention. For some reason, he couldn’t deny listening to her.

“Juno Skinner, you are a special man. You are young, but you are strong, and you are not alone. I will watch over you and give you my blessing. I offer you my protection in exchange for your service. You must do your part. We did not create mankind to die so tragically. I want to give you hope.”

He was also having a hard time convincing her to leave him alone. Why was he having such a hard time getting rid of her? Was it one of those dreams that wouldn’t let you go? He didn’t want to think he wasn’t dreaming. That suggested too much responsibility.

“Listen, lady, Amy or whatever your name is, this isn’t my sort of thing. I’m just a kid, and you’re probably not even real. Even if the world really is going to hell and all, what am I supposed to do about it? Did you really think I could do anything? What if I don’t even want to? I’ve been living my life just fine until now. I don’t need some god lady telling me what to do or what’s going on. I can live on my own.”

“The world has changed, Juno Skinner. You may need help sooner than you think.”

“I don’t want help, and I don’t want you in my house or my room. Now get out!”

There was no way that this woman was any sort of goddess or whatever. She was annoying, probably a burglar, and the way out was the only thing Juno was going to give her.

“And if you don’t get out,” he continued, “I’m going to call the police and make you get out! Now get the hell out of my life!”

Amerille nodded in concession and turned toward the window. Had she really come from there? Juno started thinking that he didn’t care what she was or where she came from, as long as she didn’t come back. It didn’t matter. It was just a dream.

“Please remember, Juno Skinner, that my offer still stands. If you ever need me, simply call for me.”

“I’m calling the police is who I’m calling, you – ”

Juno looked at his window incredulously as Amerille stepped through it and disappeared. He stared dumbfounded for a moment before scrambling out from under his bed sheets and over to the window. He wasn’t much of a believer, but what he saw aroused some undeniable issues.

There, in his little forest town of Palm Creek, was a fire. That fire was spreading, it was spreading his way, and it was spreading quickly.

Chapter 2