dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames

by Susan Illene

  I checked the room where Trish and I had slept and found everything okay in there. The door had been closed so the wind didn’t get inside. Back in the learning center, people gathered their things and one industrious woman already had a broom in hand to sweep up the glass. Justin sent someone else to search for a dry erase board or something to cover the windows.

  Miles and the guy who’d gone with him returned from their scouting mission a few minutes later.

  “What did you find?” Justin asked.

  “The library has some minor exterior damage, but nothing major to worry about,” Miles answered, his tone deep and serious. “We narrowly missed the tornado here, but the nearby buildings and neighborhood are in bad shape.”

  Justin asked everyone to gather around him. “I need eight volunteers to form two scouting teams. We need to make sure no one is out there who needs our help. Also, since the storm should have scared the dragons away for the time being, we need another team to go out and gather more supplies.”

  Several of us raised our hands right away. Miles came around with his clipboard and wrote down the names of the volunteers.

  “I’ll go on the scouting team,” I said when Miles reached me.

  Sitting in the library would drive me stir-crazy. I preferred to get out and actually do something, rather than stick around for busy work in the library. Trish could have that responsibility.

  He nodded. “You’re on team two with me. Go downstairs and grab a bottle of water and something to eat. I’ll meet you there.”

  My stomach rumbled. I hadn’t eaten dinner the night before and hadn’t realized I was hungry until he mentioned food. Leaving the learning center, I made my way down to the food supply room and found Conrad already there.

  “Which team are you on?” I asked.

  “Team two.” He took a bite of his donut.

  I grabbed one for myself. “Then we’ll be going together.”

  Miles arrived a few minutes later with a backpack full of supplies he’d slung over his shoulder. He appeared ready for anything.

  “Let’s go.”

  The campus grounds were a mess when we stepped outside. Trees had lost their limbs and the flowers were stripped of their petals. Looking up, I saw a few of the library windows had been blown out and patches of the façade had been chipped away, but that was about it.

  We took the sidewalk going north where the worst of the damage appeared to be. The tornado had skimmed past the twelve-story physical sciences building, causing only cosmetic damage, but the smaller structures next to it were a pile of rubble. My jaw dropped at the destruction.

  “Damn,” Conrad said, shaking his head. “I had a class in one of these buildings.”

  I felt a lump rise up my throat. “I did, too.”

  It was tough to see that kind of devastation under any circumstances, but especially when the place was familiar. How much more would I have to see in the coming days and weeks? I didn’t even want to consider it.

  We spent twenty minutes walking around calling out in case anyone was trapped, but no one responded. The tornado’s path came from the neighborhood to the west and continued east over to the North Oval. It had been narrow, probably not more than a couple hundred feet wide, but the winds must have been extremely high.

  Miles called us together. “Group one, check out the rest of the damage on campus and search for survivors. Group two, we’re going to head into the neighborhood and see if anyone needs our help.”

  Conrad, myself, and another young guy from our group followed Miles across Elm Avenue. The health center was along the destruction path, but it looked like only the roof had been torn off. The tornado must have lifted for a moment for it to be still standing. A few people milled around outside the building, staring at the damage. I glanced up the street and was glad to find the parking garage still intact—barely. I’d have to check on my truck later to make sure it fared okay.

  Miles walked up to the people in front of the clinic. “Need any help?”

  An older man shook his head. “The place isn’t usable anymore. We sent the wounded out to the hospital already.”

  “What about the medicine and other supplies?” Miles asked.

  “Some of it is still usable.” The man glanced back at the building with a resigned expression. “I was going to send it on to the hospital, too, but we can share with your group if you’re willing to take a few refugees in.”

  “We can do that.” Conrad turned to the fourth guy in our group. “Stay here and help them. We’ll meet you back at the library later.”

  We crossed a couple more blocks before reaching houses that had been mostly flattened. I didn’t think there was much hope of anyone surviving in those, but we called out numerous times as we made our way around the debris just in case. We got nothing but silence in return. I told myself the people living in them had been away on vacation or fled the area already. It helped—a little.

  We continued through the neighborhood, heading in a west-southwest direction. I caught the sound of faint cries coming from a house where the left side had caved in and the other half didn’t look like it would hold up for much longer.

  “Over there,” I said, pointing toward it.

  The cries got louder as we hurried toward the house.

  “Is everyone okay?” Miles called out when we reached it. “How many of you are there?”

  “Just me and my daughter,” came a woman’s muffled reply. She was somewhere in the middle of the house, close to the area where the roof had collapsed by the sound of it.

  Conrad examined the structure. “If we’re not careful, we could bring the rest of the house down on them.”

  “Two of us will go in while the other waits out here,” Miles replied. “That window will make a good point of entry.”

  There was no sign of the front door, but the glass on a tall window had been blown out.

  “I’ll try it first since I’m the smallest,” I offered.

  Miles frowned. “Are you sure?”

  “It’ll be easier for me than anyone else.”

  He sighed. “Alright. Go ahead.”

  I walked up to it and found a twig to push away the remaining glass on the ledge. After I was done, Miles came up and gave me a lift as I swung my legs over. I squinted at the debris-filled living room. Toward the back, a large shelf had fallen across a door with books and other things piled around it.

  “Call out again,” I said.

  “We’re here.” The woman’s voice came from behind the door, just as I’d feared.

  Miles’ feet crunched on the floor where he came in behind me. We walked toward the fallen shelf, both of us stepping carefully. As we reached down to lift it, the house groaned and the roof above us sank down a little farther. There wasn’t much time.

  Giving each other nervous glances, we pulled the shelf aside, trying hard not to brush it against the walls. Once it was clear, we set it on the floor and moved the remaining smaller debris out of the way. We opened the door and found the woman and her child huddled on the floor in what appeared to be a coat closet.

  I reached out a hand and helped her up. She clutched the girl in her arms, who couldn’t have been older than five. The house groaned again. I was sure that any minute the roof would come down on top of us.

  “Hurry,” I urged. “We’ve got to go.”

  We guided the woman and her child out first, handing them to Conrad. Miles gave me a lift through the window next. Cracking noises came from over our heads as support beams gave way. I cleared the window, spun around, and grabbed Miles’ arm to jerk him out. He barely cleared the window before the roof came crashing down behind him in an explosion of dust and debris.

  We hit the ground and rolled away. That had been a little too close. Miles and I got up and brushed ourselves off, giving each other commiserating looks.

  “Are you ladies okay?” Conrad asked, kneeling in front of the little girl.

  They both had cuts and scrapes, but I
didn’t see any serious injuries.

  “We’re fine,” the woman replied, picking up her daughter and hugging her close. “Thank you all so much for helping us. I wasn’t sure if anyone would come…under the circumstances.”

  “Do you have someplace you can go?” Miles asked.

  The woman had a crestfallen expression on her face as she glanced at her home. As if a dragon invasion wasn’t bad enough. Now this.

  “Yes, my aunt lives about half a mile north of here.” She jutted her chin in that direction. “As long as she didn’t get hit by the tornado, we should be fine at her place.”

  “The tornado went east,” I said, indicating the path of the damage. “I’m sure her place is okay.”

  Conrad picked up a doll from the ground and offered it to the little girl. She’d been crying silently in her mother’s arms, but the doll brought out a grin. She took it and clutched it close to her chest. Conrad made some funny faces at her and she giggled. I didn’t think he realized we were all watching him.

  “I can escort these ladies if they’d like,” he offered, turning his gaze toward us.

  Miles looked at the mother. “Would that be okay?”

  “Yes, actually. I’d appreciate it.” She gave Conrad a grateful smile.

  I was seeing a whole new side to him that he’d never shown before. It was funny how the most difficult times always revealed people for who they really were. Good, bad, or something in-between.

  “Meet us at the library when you’re done,” Miles instructed Conrad. “We should be back there in an hour.”

  We watched him go with the mother and daughter before the rest of us fanned out through the neighborhood. Several houses had taken as much or more damage than the one we’d just left. I saw some people sifting through the wreckage of their homes, but none needed help.

  I’d just crossed Lahoma Avenue when I heard a loud roar. Glancing up, I caught sight of a green dragon coming from the east with several more trailing behind him.

  Crap. I searched for cover and only found flattened houses. Miles and I had split up to check different parts of the street and now I couldn’t see him. I raced through a backyard, skirting around debris as I tried to find some kind of hideout.

  I came out onto Flood Avenue and saw an elementary school across the street. The tornado had clipped a few outbuildings on the south side of it, but I didn’t see an easy way inside and all the doors would be locked. I checked the sky and saw two of the dragons hovering over something southwest of me. Their large wings flapped heavily as their eyes searched downward. I hoped it wasn’t people they were after. The other two dragons who’d been with them had continued their flight path going south.

  Cruce Street was just up the road. There wasn’t any damage to the houses over there, so I raced toward it. I passed the first couple places until I reached a house with a car in front. I pounded on the door desperately, but no one answered and the door was locked. No luck with the next place, either.

  The dragons were on the move again. I couldn’t stay out in the open much longer or they’d notice me. Just up ahead there was a bike path with plenty of tree cover. I knew that area and a possible place I could hide for a while.

  With a last glance to be sure the dragons weren’t looking in my direction, I hurried that way. The path went between a couple of houses and ran alongside a fence. I followed it toward a small bridge that went over a drainage ditch.

  As soon as I reached it I heard the familiar sound of a shotgun being pumped. I stopped right before getting to the bridge. A man who appeared to be in his early sixties with a long, graying beard stepped out from underneath and pointed it dead at my chest.

  “Halt!” he said in a gravelly voice.

  Well, I’d definitely come to the right place.

  Chapter 9

  Bailey

  I lifted my gaze from the barrel and narrowed my eyes at him.

  “Earl, put that away.”

  It had been almost two years since I’d last seen him, but he didn’t look that much different. I recognized the faint scar on his left cheek that he’d earned while serving in Vietnam. It had come from a piece of shrapnel hitting him. According to my stepfather, Earl had been wounded in a few places and barely made it out alive.

  He lowered the shotgun a few degrees, blue eyes squinting as he examined me. “Is that you, Bailey?”

  “Yeah. What are you doing out here?”

  He and my stepfather were good friends while I was growing up, but Earl moved to Oklahoma six years ago after falling in love with a woman from Norman. The last time I saw him was at her funeral. Heart disease took her away from him, and he didn’t handle it well. From what I’d heard, he’d gone a little crazy after that, so I’d kept my distance.

  Earl’s gaze lifted up and I followed it. Through the tree foliage, I could make out the silhouette of a dragon in the sky a little south of us.

  “We better get inside.” He lowered the shotgun. “I ain’t got nothin’ that’ll take those damn things down…yet.”

  I nodded. “It’s good to see you again.”

  “Don’t bullshit me, little girl.” He paused to light up a cigarette. “If you really wanted to see me you woulda come sooner.”

  Earl had a tendency to call things as he saw them. I didn’t take any offense.

  “Hey, you’re the one pointing a gun at me when I do finally come over.”

  He scrunched his nose. “These are bad times. I thought I’d prepared for anything, but I didn’t see this comin’.”

  We left the bike path and headed toward his home down the street. It was a brick house with white garage doors and tall trees in the back. Nothing too fancy, but he kept the place looking good outside. There was even a small flower garden in the front.

  As soon as we made it through the door he shut and locked it behind us.

  “Can’t be too careful,” he muttered. “Looters will be coming ‘round before too long.”

  We passed through the living room—still decorated in the contemporary furniture his wife chose—and entered the kitchen. It had outdated appliances from the eighties and beige linoleum that was peeling on the floor. They hadn’t had time to remodel it like they’d planned before she passed and I doubted Earl cared enough to do it himself.

  “Want something to eat?” he asked.

  “Yeah, sure.” I took a seat at his rickety table.

  The donut I’d eaten that morning hadn’t been nearly enough. I figured I might as well get a decent meal while I could. Rations were going to be small with such a large group back at the library to feed and most of it was probably going to be junk food.

  Earl moved to the counter where he had a propane camp stove set up. He hunched over it and took a few deep raspy breaths. The walk must have worn him out, but I didn’t dare bring up the hazards of smoking. The last person to do that got a mouthful of tobacco spit on her. I still felt sorry for that nurse.

  After he lit the stove, he pulled out a package of hamburger meat from the freezer. My mouth watered at the thought of having meat for lunch. Never mind that it might be a long time before I got it again.

  “Gotta cook this before it goes bad,” he said, tearing the package open with gnarled fingers.

  “You won’t hear any complaints from me.”

  He made quick work of cooking the hamburgers. I helped by grabbing tomatoes, onions, lettuce and mayonnaise from the fridge. He also had some sandwich bread we could use. As soon as it was ready he encouraged me to dig into my meal.

  “Still wrappin’ my head ‘round those dragons,” Earl said, taking a seat across from me. “Damn near shit my pants when I first saw ‘em.”

  I paused from taking a bite of my hamburger. That wasn’t a visual I needed while eating.

  “I’m fairly sure no one expected it,” I replied.

  “What I want to know is where in the hell did they come from? Thelma down the street thinks they’re aliens from another planet. That just don’t sit right with me.�
�� He popped a slice of tomato in his mouth.

  “Maybe another dimension or my friend Conrad says it could be magic.”

  He shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. “Well, I suppose those guesses are as good as any.”

  I finished the burger and wiped my hands with a napkin. There was an awkward silence I didn’t know how to fill. The blinds were closed on the windows, so I got up to take a peek out. There hadn’t been any roaring from dragons for the last few minutes or any other noise for that matter. Looking out, I didn’t see them, either.

  “Maybe I should get going.”

  His bushy brows knitted. “Where to?”

  “I’m staying on campus with some friends. We were just out checking for survivors from the tornado when the dragons showed up.”

  He stood and came to peer out the window with me. “You could stay here. I got plenty of supplies to last for months.”

  Though I didn’t think Earl would ever hurt me, I wasn’t comfortable with the idea. It just felt too awkward. Plus I preferred to stay close to Trish and the other students on campus. Half the people in the library were too scared to leave, so they’d need everyone they could get who didn’t mind scouting around for supplies. It made me feel useful in a way staying with Earl wouldn’t. Action suited me better than talking or sitting around.

  “Thanks.” I gave him a grateful look. “But I really should get back.”

  He studied me for a moment, indecision in his eyes.

  “Are you certain?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. Really, I’m fine.”

  He let out a grunt and turned toward a closed door at the corner of the kitchen. “Then you’re gonna be needin’ some protection. I imagine this isn’t the only time you’ll be roamin’ the streets alone and it ain’t just dragons you gotta worry about.”

  Earl popped open the door and lumbered down a dark set of stairs. I hadn’t known he had a basement in this place. At least he could get to safety if another tornado came…or something else just as bad.

  “If I recall, Grady taught you to shoot real good,” he said, referring to my stepfather as he came back up the stairs.