by Ellis Logan
Chapter 5
By the time we got home, the daylight was already fading. I carried my bags inside, dropped them by the closet in my room, and changed into neon nighttime running clothes. I rummaged through the bags and pulled out my brand new pair of Asics Quantums and some padded socks with extra arch support. Once I’d pulled them on, I did a couple bouncy hops in place. Oh yeah, these were awesome. I went over to the closet and looked at my stinky old pair with the treads worn off, wrinkled my nose and tossed them in the trash.
Yelling over my shoulder, “I’m going running!” I headed out the front door and down the street to the west. Might as well have a pretty view of the twilight sky while I ran.
The neighborhood was quiet. Street lights were just starting to flicker on. It was awesome, living in a rural town again. Mostly we stayed in cities, since that was where the bigger companies usually were that my mom worked for. In Tucson I’d had to run every day on sidewalks and through city parks, although we did head out into the desert mountains on the weekends sometimes. Cactuses and sand were about as interesting as it had gotten.
Here, everything was green and soft, and there wasn’t any sidewalk. Even the road seemed softer. I’d seen plenty of dirt roads in the area since we’d moved in, and was really looking forward to checking them out. For now though, I figured I should explore the neighborhood. The houses were all spaced far apart with huge yards and lots of trees between them. The older houses had barns, and a lot of them had pastures behind them with horses and goats. As I walked, my body started to loosen up, and I broke into a light jog, opting to get off the street and run in the grass along the side of the road. Occasionally a dog would be out in a yard and bark quietly at me, following along the property line. At one point I had to actually jump over a chicken that was lazily pecking in the grass under one of the streetlamps.
“Better head home, chickie, it’s almost night!” I called over my shoulder. “Don’t want the big bad wolf to come and eat you.”
I kept running, passing house after house, until I came to a cute looking housing development. This was probably a good place to turn around. I vaulted up onto the sidewalk and kept going, figuring I’d do a loop through the place. The ground level ranch houses here were newer, simpler. Attached garages, tricycles out front, little playsets in the back. Cute.
It was the type of neighborhood I’d secretly always wished I could grow up in. Not that I’d ever tell mom that. She worried enough about all the moving we had to do, and how I had to change schools so often. Even though she wasn’t in the military anymore, I lived the life of an army brat, constantly being pulled from one home and being thrown into another. Don’t get me wrong. I actually kind of liked it. I enjoyed seeing so many different parts of the country, and we’d even gotten to live in Ireland and Egypt for a little while. How many kids could say that?
Still, a part of me always envied the kids who grew up in neighborhoods like this. The kids who kept their best friends all through school. The kids who got to come home, throw their bags on the floor, and dash back outside to play down the block without their parents getting worried, because of course their parents had also known everyone on the block for years. I envied the sort of comfort and stability those kids grew up with. The naïve belief that the whole world was safe, and that they had a place in it. Where was my place?
I shook my head. Focused on the running. Focused on the pounding of my feet against the pavement.
I imagined that the beat of my footsteps matched the beat of my heart, thump-thump, thump-thump. I was working up into a good sweat by this point, my body really starting to heat up, and I imagined that the air I breathed in was flowing through my heart, too, cooling it off. Every exhalation pushed the heat out with it. Thump-thump, cool air in. Thump-thump. Hot air out. Thump-thump.
The air was thick. Choked with smoke and an acrid dust. I couldn’t see where I was going, and I stumbled over a body or a stone, I wasn’t sure which.
I faltered in the walkway, stumbling, and stopped. I looked behind me. Nothing there. Nothing to trip over. Nothing to see.
Rumbling and tumbling noises and muffled screams everywhere.
I gasped, disoriented and put my hand out against a tree. I hung my head, trying to draw in a clear breath.
The earth continued to shake, a strange rolling and swaying, as the dust slowly begin to settle. Everywhere I looked, buildings had been reduced to rubble. The bright doorways and signs of life from before were gone, splintered into pieces and crushed. Here and there, moans emerged from the debris and rocks moved as people began to pull themselves out of the mess. But not very many rocks. Not nearly enough. I stood, alone, or at least I thought I was alone. Until I heard a voice next to me.
“It has begun.”
I turned to see who was talking, but I could not make out the face of the man next to me. Darkness swirled around him, obscuring his features.
But the voice. Where once I had felt warm, I was now cold, chilled to the depths of my soul.
“We have to help them!” I cried. I ran to the nearest pile and began moving rocks. I looked behind me, and the man was gone.
There would be no help here today. I kept digging, frantically searching for the source of the nearest moans, I reached to move a large piece of wood, and felt a hand on my shoulder.
“Are you all right?” A woman was peering at me, her hand on my shoulder as I leaned against the tree. My insides heaved and I took a deep breath, trying to keep my lunch from hours ago down where it belonged. The woman had long pale hair wrapped into a bun, and blue eyes. She was dressed for running, just like I was. There was a concerned look on her face, but it didn’t quite seem to reach her eyes. “You look a little sick.”
“I…I’m fine. Thanks. I guess I ran a little too far.”
“Are you a runner? I don’t recognize you from school. I coach track there.”
“Um, yeah, I usually run all the time, but it’s been a week or so. We just moved here from out west.” I tried desperately to block the images from a moment ago out of my brain.
“Are you transferring to Union?”
“What?” Focus, Siri. “Um, yeah, I start Monday. I’m a senior.”
“Hmm. Well, you shouldn’t be too far behind, we’re only a few weeks into the term. Make sure you take it easy on your way home, and hydrate plenty.” She looked at me closer, taking in my running clothes and expensive new shoes. “What’s your name? We had tryouts last month, but you are welcome to come and show me what you can do.”
“Siri Alvarsson.”
“Alvarsson?” The woman looked surprised. “What an unusual name. Where are you from originally?”
“Um, my mom’s family is from Norway, but she grew up in Ireland.” This woman was totally weirding me out, giving me a really intense look like she could read my mind if she stared hard enough.
“Indeed? Ireland. What a magical place.” She was still giving me that penetrating stare, but now there seemed to be a slight sneer to it. “Well, I’m Coach Thorn. Stop by the track any day after school.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll check it out. I better get headed home, my mom’s probably wondering where I am.”
She nodded and grimaced in what I suppose was her attempt at a smile, and I took off, running straight back the way I came. Forget exploring. I was ready for some water, followed by a serious chocolate fest.