dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames

by Susan Illene

  My heart was pounding. “Right there with you.”

  I sped the truck up and crossed the intersection, racing up Berry Road. Through my rearview mirror, I saw the guys had stopped running. We were about a mile from the parking garage. Once we got on campus we’d hopefully find Trish, Justin, and the others to help us unload—and keep any crazy people away.

  Chapter 7

  Bailey

  It was fully dark when we pulled into the parking garage. I took the nearest available slot, using my running lights to see. It was a risk, but I couldn’t see anything without them.

  I turned the vehicle off and realized my hands were shaking. The keys jingled in my hand. I’d managed to stay calm through everything so far, but now that I’d reached relative safety all the fear and uncertainty rose up. I was trapped in Oklahoma with no easy way out. People were dying every time I turned around. My parents were expecting me and I couldn’t contact them.

  All these thoughts and more came crashing down, threatening to suffocate me. I liked to think of myself as strong, but I couldn’t imagine even the most seasoned veteran could be handling this turn of events well. The world…it was like someone tossed it in a blender and mixed it all up, adding some crazy fantasy crap in there as well. Why now? Just this morning I’d had my whole life ahead of me. Dreams that I’d wanted to follow. But not anymore.

  There was a loud bang on the vehicle and I jumped.

  “What happened?” Justin asked, appearing next to my door.

  I rolled down the window. “Where’d you come from?”

  “I was just coming out on a patrol when I saw you drive by. What brought you back?”

  Taking a deep breath, I let it out. “Long story, but we’ll tell you all about it.”

  “Looks like you raided a store.” He nodded at the back of my truck.

  “Yeah, we did.” I turned my attention to Conrad. “Can you help Justin with that stuff? I need to change out of these clothes.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  He hopped out of the truck. I overheard Justin tell him they should grab some more guys to help carry the bags. Apparently some of his veteran and officer training buddies had come to the library while we were gone. We’d filled up the truck bed with bottled water, soda, and snacks. It would take a lot of trips without more people to haul it all.

  As soon as they were out of sight, I rested my head on the steering wheel and let out a shaky breath. One thing I’d learned while living on a ranch was that you had to remain clearheaded during a crisis. Most of our problems had been related to working with cows and horses, but the same basic principles applied. You couldn’t panic when a horse went wild in its stall during a storm or when the cows broke the fence and started a stampede. It was a matter of seeing the problem and doing whatever you could to fix it.

  I couldn’t make the dragons go away or stop two dimensions from colliding. That was well out of my area of expertise. What I could do was take in the situation and do my best to protect myself and others. In less than a day, the world had completely changed. I could bemoan that fact and let it freeze me up or I could do my best to act decisively.

  Straightening my shoulders, I sat up and lifted my head. I was Bailey Monzac and as long as I still breathed, I would survive. An apocalypse would not be the thing to break me.

  Having given myself that little pep talk, I felt a bit better. I reached back and dug through my bags to grab a pair of jeans, a tank top, and a pullover. The night had turned cold. The smart thing to do when faced with no electricity was dress in layers.

  About the time I’d finished zipping up my pants the guys returned and started pulling supplies from the truck bed. Conrad must have warned them I was changing because they were polite enough to avoid coming near the windows. I found a pair of my running shoes and put them on last. They’d be the most practical, assuming I didn’t get them burned off like my sandals.

  I hopped out of the truck and found half a dozen people grabbing the bags of food.

  Justin gave me a nod. “If you’ve got any clothes or blankets you want to bring with you, grab them now. The dragons are circling closer. Once we get inside, we need to stay in there if we don’t want to draw their attention.”

  He had a point. If they saw even one of us going into the library, they might decide to burn the whole place to the ground. They’d already proven they could do it at other places.

  “Alright.”

  I pulled open the back door and stuffed whatever spare clothes I might need for a couple of days into a backpack. After that, I grabbed a pillow and comforter. There were two extra blankets that people could use so I handed those over to guys to carry. Then I took a few bags of food. Once we had everything, we moved as a group toward the library. Justin went a little ahead of us to scope things out along the way, but no dragons showed up before we got inside.

  There was a guy and girl waiting at the entrance who opened the doors for us. They locked them up once we were inside. It wouldn’t stop the dragons, but it would slow looters down if they showed up.

  Down in the basement, I discovered our numbers had grown since Conrad and I had left. Some of them were students, but there were a couple of families from the nearby neighborhood as well. I saw a few kids running around.

  Justin leaned toward me. “Most of the library staff went home to check on their families, but we picked up some strays while out scouting for food and supplies earlier.”

  “That was nice of you,” I commented.

  We continued down the stairwell to lower level two where the library had an employee break area. Trish was in there with piles of bottled water and food around her, instructing another girl on where to put things. They had a battery-operated lantern sitting on the table, casting a soft glow over the room.

  Her eyes widened when she saw me. “Bailey! You’re back. What happened?”

  She ran her gaze up and down me as if she expected to see a fresh set of wounds.

  “Interstate is closed. It appears the earthquakes are causing some terrain changes,” I explained.

  “Oh, wow, you’re going to have to tell me all about it later. But you’re okay?” she asked, concern in her voice.

  “Yeah. It’s just been…” I searched for the right words, “a long day.”

  “Let me take those bags from you.” Trish scooped them from my hands. “At last count we had forty people to feed so we need everything we can get.”

  “Where’d all this other stuff come from?”

  She set the bags on a table. “Most people brought what they could with them from home. Some is from the library employees’ stashes, and there are leftovers from the finals week study room. Oh, and a couple of people who work over at the student union also joined us so they helped us find what we could from there. We’ll probably have to make another trip tomorrow to get the rest, though.”

  At least that was a start.

  “Water is going to be the biggest problem,” I said, wishing I was back on my parents’ ranch where we had a well to draw from. “With the power out is it even running anymore?”

  Justin nodded. “It is. The water towers are probably empty by now, but the water treatment plant has backup generators with enough fuel to keep them running for two to three days—as long as the pipes don’t burst. ”

  I gave him a startled look. “How do you know that?”

  “Research for a paper.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I’ve got people filling up every container we can find with water so we can start stocking up now.”

  “Nice of you to take charge.” I elbowed him in the ribs.

  “Somebody had to do it after most of the staff left. Speaking of which, we have a meeting upstairs in a few minutes. Everyone needs to be there.”

  “Probably a good idea.”

  We headed up to lower level one and gathered in the learning center. I found a free spot near the wall to put my backpack and blanket and took a chair. A bunch of other people filed right after me.

 
“Okay, listen up,” Justin said, getting everyone’s attention. “I know this has been a tough day for all of us, but we need to recap what has happened and figure out what we’ll do next. The best way to survive is to have a plan.”

  “Who appointed you leader?” an older guy with a balding head asked.

  Justin gave him a patient smile. “Good question. I chose to take charge because no one else did and I’ve had leadership positions in the military to give me experience. If anyone else thinks they can do a better job of handling everyone in this room and keeping them safe, please stand up now.”

  There were some murmurs, but no one stood. Everyone just stared at the guy who’d asked. He looked a little sheepish at the attention.

  “I only thought the topic should be raised. I’m fine with seeing how you do,” he said, sitting back down.

  “Now that we have that settled, we need to go over a few things.” Justin moved to the center of the room. “First off, what do we know about the dragons?”

  “They blow out fire that can burn through anything,” a blonde girl offered.

  Justin dipped his chin at her. “Good. What else?”

  “The fire doesn’t spread. It only burns what it touches,” a guy near the windows said.

  I hadn’t thought of that before, but he was right. If it could spread, the whole city would be up in flames right now. The only exception was when it sparked the gas leak, but otherwise it always went out as soon as the dragon stopped blowing it.

  Justin paced the room, being sure to catch everyone’s eyes. “Excellent points. Keep them coming because they might help us in the coming days.”

  “Thunderstorms drive them away.”

  “There’s mostly green ones, but I saw a couple of red dragons flying around, too.”

  “Bullets don’t kill them.”

  And the comments kept coming. I still didn’t think it was a good idea to mention my encounter with Aidan, but I was worried I’d have to be the one to tell everyone about the helicopter attack since that was important. Then Conrad stood up.

  “They’re also smart,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “On the way back into town tonight, a couple of Apache helicopters attacked the dragons with machine guns and missiles. They only took one dragon down before the rest figured out how to protect themselves. After that, they used their flames to burn up anything the helicopters sent their way. I ain’t never seen a creature learn that fast. Don’t underestimate them.”

  Justin didn’t appear surprised. Conrad must have told him what happened while they were outside.

  “Anyone else have anything to offer?” Justin asked.

  No one spoke up.

  “Okay.” He clasped his hands together. “Over the next few days we’ll be asking for volunteers to go out on patrols. Those of you who go should keep an eye out for anything else we might learn. No matter how insignificant you think it is, report it. We need to learn everything we can about our enemies if we’re going to get through this.”

  A few people murmured. Justin waited until they quieted down before continuing.

  “We’ve also learned there are terrain changes occurring.” His expression darkened. “Mountains have risen near Lake Thunderbird and there’s a giant chasm down I-35 near Pauls Valley, blocking our way south. There have been some theories bandied about, including the possibility of two dimensions colliding. Bailey, do you want to elaborate on your theory?”

  As soon as he looked at me, everyone’s gazes swung my way. Great. Conrad must have told him while they were outside. Justin knew I hated talking in front of large groups of people. It was my biggest weakness and I’d already done my fair share of that today.

  I slowly stood up. “It’s just a theory, um, based on how the dragons appeared from nowhere. I think they came from another world…and with the new terrain appearing it could be part of their home is joining with ours.”

  A young woman snapped her fingers. “It might be something related to string theory, which could account for alternate dimensions. I mean, from a scientific standpoint it’s still difficult to prove, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. We just don’t have a precedent for it.”

  “Yeah, but why now?” a studious-looking guy asked.

  Conrad snickered. “Someone could volunteer to ask the dragons.”

  Apparently he wasn’t going to offer up his own magic theory—or anything else useful.

  “Very funny.” Justin narrowed his eyes in warning.

  “Why this is happening is just one more thing on our list to figure out. For tonight, we’ll work on sleeping arrangements and guard shifts.”

  “I’m not so sure I’ll make a good guard,” a guy with shaggy brown hair said. He was skinny and pale with wire-rim glasses.

  Justin shook his head. “There will be two guards on the main floor and one in the stairwell. All you have to do is to raise an alarm if dragons are attacking or if any people from outside our group show up. We don’t expect you to fight anyone right now.”

  One of Justin’s friends—a guy named Miles—stepped forward. He had blond hair that was a couple of inches long, tanned skin, and a stocky build. Trish had told me he served in the Marines for four years and started going to college as soon as he got out. I’d only met him in passing, but he’d always been polite, if a little distant.

  Miles held up a clipboard. “I’m going to bring this around for everyone to fill out their information. We’ll use that to assign duties and rations. Except for children, everyone has to help—or else they’ll need to leave. That’s the one rule if you want to stay here.”

  The guy sounded like a drill instructor or something.

  I resisted letting out a yawn. As long as they let me have a few hours of sleep first, I didn’t care when my guard shift started. Conrad glanced over at me with the same tired expression. We’d both been taxed by the long drive today.

  “Man, they better hurry and get this over with,” he grumbled.

  Over an hour later I discovered I’d evaded guard duty for the night. The library had numerous side rooms set up for study sessions and tutoring. Trish and I found a private one for ourselves on the other side of the stairwell. Justin planned to be up most of the night and had already told her she should stay with me. We fixed it up with some furniture from the learning center and laid our blankets across the couch cushions.

  Her gaze met mine as we bedded down. “Do you think we’re going to survive this?”

  “We’re sure going to try,” I replied.

  She rested her head on her arm and gripped her flashlight close. “I hope tomorrow is better.”

  “You and me both.”

  Chapter 8

  Bailey

  A crack of thunder woke me the next morning. I sat up, confused by the total darkness around me. It took a moment to remember I was in the library and that the electricity had gone out. I reached down to the floor for my cell phone and turned it on. Good thing I’d thought to charge it in the truck on the way back last night.

  More rumbles of thunder filtered down to the basement and hail pinged off the windows nearby. Using my cell phone as a flashlight, I discovered Trish wasn’t in her makeshift bed. That didn’t surprise me. It was eight in the morning and she was an early riser.

  “Tornado!” someone screamed.

  I rushed to put on my pullover and shoes.

  “Go to the stacks!” Justin shouted from the hall a moment later, telling people to move toward the back where the bookcases were located.

  I hurried out of the room, took one look at the windows down the corridor, and decided to follow his advice. The glass might be below ground level, but the trees in the courtyard were swaying so hard it appeared as if some of the branches could break through it.

  No tornado siren went off, but that wasn’t surprising under the circumstances. With the power grid down across the city and most people staying home to avoid the dragons, there wouldn’t be anyone to sound them. We’d have to make do
with our guards.

  Following the crowd through the corridor, I headed toward the stacks. They were on the opposite side of lower level one far away from any windows. Lights bobbed erratically along the walls and floor from people’s flashlights and cell phones as we hurried deeper into the library. The sun’s rays couldn’t reach this area. Some of us headed toward a row of mesh cages that ran from the floor to the ceiling against the side wall, while others went farther back to hunker down between bookcases.

  I’d always been a little creeped out by the cages, though some students used them as private study areas, but they seemed like a safe place to hide now. I got inside one by myself and shut the mesh door. It might have been even better to go to the lower basement level, but there was always the chance we could get trapped if the library was hit directly. Better to stay closer to the first floor.

  Other than a few people whispering, it was quiet—unnervingly so. The sounds of the storm didn’t reach us from where we waited, making me feel like I was in a tomb. I shut off my cell phone, not wanting to waste the battery.

  Just as I began to relax, figuring this whole thing was a false alarm, a loud roar rose up. It sounded like a freight train. Glass shattered down the corridor and the ground shook. I ducked my head to protect it with my hands like we were taught in school during tornado drills.

  A child began to cry. Wind rushed through the library, rattling chairs and knocking down anything loose. Someone began praying loudly. Justin shouted for everyone to be calm and that it would pass soon.

  He was right. A few moments later the winds calmed and he announced we could come out. I got out of the cage and turned on my cell phone again, using the flashlight feature to get a look around the room. None of the bookcases had been knocked over, only the small stuff.

  Justin sent Miles and another guy upstairs while the rest of us checked out the damage on our floor. The learning center was in a state of disaster. People’s personal items had been blown around, chairs and tables were knocked down, and everything was sprinkled with broken glass. Two of the large windows gaped open and there was a branch sticking through one of them.