Fire in the Woods

by Jennifer M. Eaton

  David maneuvered me around the greeter and past the stationery department. I pointed in front of us toward the large window-like doors with the words Garden Center printed in bold red stickers.

  “There’s always an exit in the outside patio this time of year.”

  “Let’s hope it’s open.”

  Mustering up the best ‘calm everyday shopper’ look I could come up with, I led us past the lawn furniture and hoses, into the warm outer air. David shuffled me behind a display of clearance perennials. Through the leaves, we watched the guy greeting customers at that door. I couldn’t see a picture of me posted, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

  A tall man wearing a backwards red Phillies hat asked the greeter a question. The employee smiled, and herded Phillies Guy toward a display of fertilizer.

  “That’s our chance,” David said. His grip tightened on my arm. My pulse raced, pounding inside my head as sunlight touched our faces. Across the parking lot, police cars closed off the area around Maggie’s beat-up Ford.

  Uniformed men leaned inside the car. One man placed something into a plastic bag. So much for no one noticing the car.

  We darted around the side of the building and behind a dumpster. I pressed my back against the warm brick. “Okay. Wal-mart: bad choice.” I peeked over the top of the blue metal container, holding my breath against the smell. “How did they find us so fast?”

  “Let’s not worry about that now. Which way is south?” David asked.

  Heart pumping madly, I plucked the compass out of my backpack’s side pocket. “We need to go past the police.”

  “We’re not going anywhere near them.” He pointed his chin toward the trees behind the building. “Let’s head off that way and get heading south as soon as we are clear of all the commotion.” He took the backpack from my hand and threw it over his shoulder. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get far away from here as soon as possible.”

  I held out my arm, stopping David’s cadence at the back corner of the building. Near the edge of the tree line, an MP stood facing the forest. A long curve of urine shot into the trees from between his hands.

  “Ugh. Gross,” I whispered.

  The MP turned a little to the left, taking his yellow arc with him.

  “Come on,” David said, giving me a slight tug.

  We sprinted across the blacktop and into the trees. My heart ping ponged inside my chest.

  Holy cow, we made it. I checked for the guard.

  Crack.

  David picked up his foot. A broken pallet lay hidden beneath the pine needles.

  “Hey, you. Halt!”

  David bolted into the forest. I froze, my gaze meeting the MP’s.

  He pointed in my direction. “You’re Jessica Martinez.”

  A bolt of terror shot through me like lightening as David’s strong fingers wrapped around my elbow. “Run, Jess!”

  The MP’s cries of ‘halt’ melted into the breeze. A branch slapped my face, bringing a tear to my eye. My chest constricted. I did my best to control my breathing and not focus on the thought of the entire military gearing up to chase us. Pain inched into my chest, and I did my best to ignore it, pushing myself faster to keep up with a barely winded David.

  We broke free of the trees and into the sunlight, darting across a road and back into the trees again. I slowed, stuck on a patch of thorny bramble. The far off sound of a helicopter became louder. I didn’t expect anything less from Dad. Tearing another small hole in my jeans, I pulled free of the bush. David took my hand, coaxing me to run faster.

  The throttling helicopter blades overhead jostled the leaves and berated my ears. My throat ached as I panted for more air. My chest seized. They’d found us. It was over.

  “This is the military police,” a voice echoed above the trees. “Lay down on the ground, and put your hands behind your heads.”

  The expression in David’s eyes sent a clear yeah, right.

  He skidded to a stop. “Can those things land?”

  “Not in the trees. But they can tell the people on the ground where we are.”

  We bolted ahead, the helicopter keeping pace. What would they do to me if they caught us? Would I go to jail? I glanced at David’s back and struggled to keep up. My interrogation would be nothing compared to his. They’d only ask me questions. David, they’d probably dissect or something.

  I thought I heard dogs barking and willed my legs to run faster. The blades cut all other sound from my ears. My chest burning, I grabbed onto a tree trunk and looked up into the canopy. I couldn’t see the helicopter. I could only hear it. The branches overhead thrashed as it flew past us.

  “They can’t see us,” I said as David moved beside me. “The trees are too dense.”

  The helicopter started a search pattern.

  “Can you keep running?” David asked.

  I nodded. “I just need to catch my breath.”

  More whooting blades cut through the air over our heads. Apparently our helicopter buddy had friends. Lovely.

  David perked up, facing in the direction we’d run from. My stomach churned, wondering what he’d heard. “Jess, we need to go. Now.”

  “Okay.” I ran a few paces, but David was already far ahead of me. My lungs ached. I stumbled, but kept my footing.

  David appeared at my side, but his eyes still faced Wal-mart. “We’re going,” He said, taking me by the waist and curling me under his arm like a bag of dog food.

  I screamed as we bolted through the forest, bramble and leaves assaulting my face. My stomach jostled in the crook of his arm, and my legs dangled, nearly touching the ground. I couldn’t fathom how anyone could run so fast while carrying someone like a sack of potatoes, but the sound of the helicopters seemed to fade, nonetheless. Terrified, I closed my eyes and curled my face down toward my chest. The pain in my stomach waned into a drawn, dull ache as I listened to the sound of David’s feet pounding against the Earth.

  13

  David set me down. My stomach cramped. Each breath I took battered my sore lungs as I stumbled on weak legs. We were alive though, and not caught. I guess that made this a good day. At least that’s what I told myself.

  The spongy ground bounced under my feet. Years of undisturbed pine needles and leaves left a thick covering beneath us. I swatted a bug away from my face as I treaded through an outcropping of ferns.

  I wasn’t sure how long we’d been running, but the scratches on my arms and the bruises brewing on my rib-cage told me it was long enough. I looked back in the direction we’d come from, wondering about the silence. If Dad was in charge, those helicopters were still out there. There’s no way he’d give up.

  David tilted his face to the sky with his eyes closed. “We’re coming back to the road.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Can’t you hear it?”

  No. But I nodded yes.

  We came out of the woods behind a strip of stores. The heat of the sun against the blacktop startled me after the cool walk in the forest shade. I pulled out my compass and waited for the needle to stop turning. The pointer showed north to the right.

  “We need to head to the left. We can keep behind these buildings.”

  “Okay. Maybe we should eat something before we set out?”

  “Yes! Thank God.” My cheeks heated. “I mean sure, I guess so.” Wonderful, Jess. This guy was running for his life and you’re worried about food. What a great ambassador for humanity you turned out to be.

  We settled onto a curb in the shade. I dove into the potato chips while David grabbed the subs. He handed me the turkey, crinkling his nose.

  I offered him the bag of chips. “Do you want some?”

  He smelled the opening of the bag. “Is there any nutritional value in that?”

  “No, but who cares?” I smashed a handful in my mouth, smiling at his look of disgust. What’d he know? Certain things were totally worth the calories.

&nb
sp; Grabbing the duct tape, I unrolled a foot of the blue material, ripped it with my teeth, and mended my jeans. Not a half-bad job if I did say so myself. I ran my finger along the hole in David’s sweatshirt. “Are you hurt?”

  “Just a scratch.”

  I looked into the hole. His skin seemed flawless as usual. I ripped off another swatch of tape and glued the fleece back together. What a train wreck we looked like.

  David unrolled his hoagie’s white wrapper on his lap and lifted his salad-on-a-roll, dusting the crumbs from his bread. He placed the roll in his mouth, slowly biting down. A wide smile appeared across his face, brightening his eyes as he continued to chew. I guessed that meant it was okay.

  I unwrapped one end of my sub and gnawed off a bite, alternating between potato chips and sandwich until my stomach stopped complaining.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to try some turkey? It sure beats lettuce and peppers.”

  I tilted my sandwich toward him. The glare in his eyes made his answer apparent.

  “Okay veggie-boy. Suit yourself.” I peeled the rest of the turkey off the roll and stuffed it into my mouth. The roll and lettuce I curled up into the wrapper, and tossed it into the dumpster.

  His eyes popped open. “Did you just throw out food?”

  “Um, yeah, well, only what was left over.”

  “Left over? Why didn’t you save it for later?”

  I reached into the backpack and picked out the bag with the apples and bananas in it. “Well we have all this stuff. I won’t need to eat stale, soggy bread.”

  David’s expression remained blank. “But you threw out food.”

  “Come on. It’s not like there’s not a Wawa on every corner. I can get another sub any time.”

  His eyes saddened, and he ran his fingers across the top of his sandwich. What could be so interesting about that roll? His eyes remained down as he took another bite. Once the last morsel passed his lips, he carefully picked up every piece of fallen lettuce from the wrapper, and poked them into his mouth, licking the crumbs from his fingers.

  Unease settled over me as I watched him. Eating to him seemed personal, spiritual. I couldn’t help but feel judged for the hapless way I’d finished my lunch…and wasted.

  David stood, his eyes scanning the south route behind the buildings. Was he avoiding my gaze on purpose?

  I eased off the ground, dusting the dirt from my butt. “Hey, listen. I’m not sure what I did, but I’m sorry if I offended you. I mean, I was only joking about the turkey. I’m okay that you don’t eat meat and all. That’s cool.” No response. “Okay, okay. I shouldn’t have thrown out the bread, I get it. People are starving in Ethiopia and all that. I’m sorry, but, it’s just the way it is, you know?”

  David grimaced. “Abundance isn’t something you should take for granted, Jess.”

  “What do you mean?”

  His eyes centered on me. Their lack of emotion carved a hole through the base of my throat.

  “What?

  David shook his head. “Let’s get going.”

  ***

  As the sun cleared the trees, the stench rising up from the warm dumpsters turned my stomach. David didn’t even seem to notice. I did my best to hold my breath as we passed the open containers behind the restaurants. Nasty.

  Leaving the longest row of stores, we came out to a huge intersection. The sign above read Route 73 and Route 70.

  Shoot. How far out of our way had we gone?

  Traffic lined both roads. We waited for the light to change, and ran across the highway, taking quick cover behind the next strip of stores on the other side.

  I wiped the sweat from my brow, and drew my damp tee-shirt away from my skin. It sprang back, leaving me even more uncomfortable. David continued to walk.

  “Come on, don’t you ever need to take a break?”

  He turned, his bangs rustling across his forehead in the breeze. “I’m sorry. Are you tired?”

  I leaned down on my haunches. “A little.”

  David dropped the backpack off his shoulder. He pushed aside the bags of fruit, and grabbed a bottle of water, handing it to me. The cool liquid slid down my parched throat, easing the burn of our jog across the highway. I leaned back, allowing the water to rejuvenate me, before handing the bottle to back to him.

  He looked at the label and examined the water through the clear plastic. Apparently it met his approval. He took a sip and slid the bottle back into the bag.

  “You can have more than that, you know.”

  “Thanks, but that’s all I need.” He stood and looked down the endless row of dumpsters and loading docks.

  It occurred to me that neither of us really knew where we were going. South was hardly a definitive direction. For all I knew, we could be heading southwest, when we needed to head southeast.

  “Can you feel anything yet? Do you have any idea where to go?”

  “No. We need to keep heading south.” He threw the pack onto his back.

  My tired feet trembled in defiance. “You want to go already?”

  “Do you need more time to rest?”

  Apparently he couldn’t take a hint. “I guess not.” Sparks shot through my ankles as I stood. My legs begged me to sit back down.

  David moved the backpack from one shoulder to another, waiting. If he wasn’t going to admit to being exhausted, I certainly wasn’t going to come clean either. I had agreed to come with him to help. Becoming a hindrance wasn’t an option.

  I stretched through a yawn as David loosened the bag’s straps.

  “Does your shoulder hurt? I can carry that.”

  He spun his arms in circles. “Nope, it’s fine. Maybe that ice you tried to freeze me with actually did something.”

  I laughed. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay. You were only trying to help.”

  There was that smile again, melting me into a disgusting little bubble of girl-ness. I looked down, awkward under those haunting eyes. He made me feel like an idiot—like a stupid little love-sick girl. I hated it. I was embarrassed for feeling the way I did. If he chose his skin why’d it have to be such a hot one? It wasn’t fair. I mentally smacked myself. David chose Jared Linden because he thought it would make me comfortable. He had no idea how un-comfortable I’d be, but it could be worse. I could be hiding beside dumpsters with someone who looked like dad.

  We headed down the line of stores, crossed the side-street and entered the Pavilion shopping center. Huge stores and carefully manicured landscaping sprawled out in the overwhelming high-end outdoor mall. The last time I was here was two years ago, with Mom. We didn’t buy anything. We just spent the day shopping and laughing at price tags.

  David’s eyes widened as his gaze fixed on the huge stone statues of old Chinese warriors in front of P.F. Chang’s restaurant. Mom and I had actually stopped there for lunch that day. We ordered an appetizer, and they brought out something unidentifiable wrapped in lettuce. We joked about if for weeks afterwards. Days with Mom were always like that. She found joy in everything.

  I had to turn away from David and wipe my eyes. I didn’t want to explain my tears. They were happy memories, really they were. I just missed her, that’s all.

  Shoppers in expensive sneakers and designer handbags passed us. I perused my duct-taped jeans and David’s matching taped sweatshirt, already sensing the snooty eyes of shoppers on us. I tugged David’s arm. “I think we better keep walking behind the buildings.”

  David nodded and we backtracked around the restaurant, probably adding a half-hour to our walk, but it was better than crossing right through the rich-people-are-us shopping center.

  The bandage shifted on David’s hand as he pulled the backpack into his arms. Thoughts of the pearly violet skin hidden beneath the sloppy dressing gnawed at me.

  My heart kept trying to deny the truth, focusing on David’s strong arms and handsome features, while my practical side continued to st
ruggle with the idea that aliens were real. Not only were they real, but they’d been walking around among us, and could be disguised as anybody. The thought creeped me out. How long were they here? Why were they here in the first place?

  “Are you hungry?” David zipped open the bag and handed me a pear.

  “Thanks.” I bit down into the tasty fruit as we kept walking. “So, these people you were signaling, what were they doing on Earth?”

  The muscles in his neck tightened, and he hesitated before rifling through the pack once more. “They are scientific researchers. Looking and taking notes I guess.” He removed an apple and held it up to the light. He smelled the red skin and smiled.

  “So why didn’t they tell anyone they were here? Why are you guys being secretive?”

  He stifled a laugh. “Jess, your military shot my ship out of the sky without any warning. They didn’t say ‘Hi how are you would you like to chat’…and you wonder why we want to be secretive?”

  I hunched my shoulders. “I guess that makes sense.”

  “It made sense to shoot me down?”

  A twinge of guilt crept over me, as if I’d been the one in the cockpit of that plane.

  The weight of the human race’s failings suddenly hung on my shoulders, like I was the one who had to make this right. But how could I explain fear? How could I explain paranoia? I rubbed my temples. Sometimes the truth was the easiest to swallow.

  “We have these things called movies and television. They sometimes make aliens out to be the bad guys.”

  David’s pace came to an abrupt halt. He tossed his apple core into the dumpster beside me. “But I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

  “No, that’s not what I said. I mean, they were probably just scared.”

  He rolled his eyes and continued his gait.

  For the first time on our journey, the silence between us seemed uncomfortable.

  The woes of humanity spiraled through my mind. We cut down our trees, we pollute our atmosphere, we eat meat, we waste food, and we shoot first and ask questions later when other planets come to visit. What idiots humans must seem like to him.