* * *
Gil did not let go of Ivy even as the heat wave from the collapse of the house knocked him over. Not that he needed much help. All things considered, the fact that he actually made it out of the house alive seemed to go against all reason. Even more unreasonable was that he managed to drag a 60-pound Collie dog with him and she still seemed to be alive, if barely. If it weren’t for the fact that he was responsible for the situation, he might have felt a little pride at his heroism and the fact that he didn’t lose another limb in the process. At least his father wouldn’t be there to chide him for chasing danger. Some benefit.
“You’re an ass, Gil.”
And there was nothing but the blaze and smoke and the dog’s shallow breathing and nothing more. No sirens. He felt like there should be more going on. He wondered where all the people were because usually people came to see a fire. But it had hardly burned long enough to draw a crowd and it wasn’t like this was the most populated area. Still, Stephanie Hirson lived across the street and while she wasn’t a busybody, at the very least she would have called someone to come. He had to assume that she would call someone. He had to get the dog back to town. It was all he could do for Denise to make sure that Ivy was okay.
After a moment, he got up and went over to her old red truck. He knew Denise kept a hide-a-key under her back fender and sure enough, there it was. After struggling to get Ivy into the truck, he got in. He wasn’t supposed to be in town because Kurtz needed him out but he was responsible for what happened to Ivy and it wasn’t like Kurtz could really do more than act out one of his fantasies anyway and nothing would come of it. The bridge would still be there and Kurtz would still be crazy. Saving the dog was more important. Right now, it was all he had to hold onto because he was on the edge of not wanting to hold onto anything anymore.
This time he started the car and began driving back into town on autopilot. He had done about as much thinking as possible and he needed to rest his mind before it broke completely and he ended up like Kurtz. So he let his mind go and let his body become part of the truck and he headed back into town.
Lakebridge: Spring (Supernatural Horror Literary Fiction) Page 48