The Awakening

by Paul Mason

‘OK,’ chuckled the other, shaking his head. ‘If you say so.’ He sat down again.

  The fire was almost burned out, but was still smoking. Now the older one scooped up a handful of dirt and threw it on the embers. The other boy did the same. Soon there was no more smoke.

  ‘See, told you it wouldn’t be a problem.’

  ‘Yeah, I guess you’re right.’

  ‘You need to harden up. Come on, let’s go.’

  The two of them left the park.

  But underneath the thin pile of dirt the embers were still hot. A gust of wind blew off the top layer of dust. Then another gust of wind caught a hot piece of ash, and carried it into the bush.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Action

  Tara was back at home in her room listening to music. Just then, the news cut in on the radio. She turned it up:

  ‘Local fire crews are battling to contain the forest fire – there are now reports of five separate fires – thought to have started somewhere in the vicinity of Walcott Wood. With such dry conditions, and with the wind picking up, containing the spread will be hard for the fire crews, and with every passing hour the blaze moves closer to town. The local fire department has called for additional assistance from three neighbouring counties. The sector commander is still uncertain as to the cause of the fire, though she is not ruling out arson.’

  Tara flicked open her phone and called April. ‘Have you heard the news?’

  ‘I’m watching the TV now. Scary stuff. Looks like the fire crews are up against it. Think we could help?’

  ‘You mean, like, use our powers?’

  ‘Yeah – water and earth – might make a difference.’

  ‘I’m in,’ said Tara quickly, her heart thumping. ‘I’ll call the others. Let’s meet at the back of the school hall to figure out what to do.’

  ‘Great.’

  It didn’t take long for the four of them to get to the playing field behind the hall. Zaf and Ian hadn’t needed asking twice and had raced over on their bikes as soon as Tara had called them. Zaf had brought a local map and had marked the spots where the fires had been reported. He had laid it out on the ground and was putting together a plan.

  They would need to work fast.

  ‘Tara, you head for the Green Lake up at the top here.’ Zaf pointed at the map. ‘See if you can form some sort of a ditch or gully leading from the lake to where the fires are.’ He turned to April. ‘As Tara makes the channel, you divert the water. As long as the water is flowing, you’ve got an escape route.’

  ‘We’re on it,’ said April.

  ‘What do I do?’ Ian looked disappointed. ‘I can control fire, but not one that big.’

  ‘Ever hear of “back burning”?’ asked Zaf. Ian shook his head. ‘It’s when fire fighters carefully burn a ring of bush so that the main fire can’t spread.’

  ‘I’m with you, kind of like a wall.’ Ian’s face brightened.

  ‘But how are we going to do any of this without being discovered?’ Tara asked. ‘If we help fight this fire, our secret will be out.’

  ‘I guess it’s a price worth paying,’ said April.

  ‘Perhaps these will help,’ said a voice behind them. The four students spun around.

  It was Mr Arturi. He was holding some clothes. ‘As soon as I heard the news I figured you would try to get involved, so I got three ski masks – they’ll make it hard for you to be recognised.’ He patted Ian on the back. ‘No hard feelings, but I didn’t think there was any point getting you one, it would last about a minute.’

  He handed out three walkie-talkies. ‘Use these radios to stay in touch. I’ll be monitoring the emergency signal.’

  Zaf quickly told Mr Arturi their plan.

  ‘Sounds good,’ he said. ‘Remember, a fire needs three things to survive: fuel, heat and air. If you can cut out one of those things, you’ll put it out. And Zaf, don’t forget heat rises, so fly well clear of the flames.’

  ‘Give me some credit, Mr Arturi, I’m well ahead of you.’

  Mr Arturi nodded. ‘April and Tara, I’ll run you up to the lake in my van. Boys, bike in as close as you can before changing. Whatever happens, promise me: safety first.’

  ‘What can happen?’ Tara smiled. ‘We’re superheroes, right?’

  ‘You said it.’ Ian gave her a high-five.

  ‘Then let’s move,’ said Zaf. He and Ian climbed on their bikes and sped towards the park.

  ‘If we’re going to keep doing this, we’re going to need a smarter way of getting around,’ grumbled Ian, pedalling hard.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Firestorm

  Up in the hills, the fire was out of control. The flames ran like hungry beasts, clawing down the hillside towards town. The inferno was spreading fast. One minute trees were standing, the next they burst into fire, exploding like bombs.

  Most of Walcott Wood had already gone – trees, bush, grass burnt to the ground. A smouldering heap of ash. In the middle of it somewhere, there was still a tiny circle of stones, the fireplace that couldn’t hold the fire.

  The roads leading up to the reserve were full of emergency teams. Hoses crisscrossed the tarmac like snakes. Fire crew from all over the area were fanning out across the hillside with shovels and equipment, fighting the fire on several flanks.

  Up above, helicopters had started making water drops – the water plummeting down like giant cascades. But they hardly made a dent.

  In the command bus, coordinating the battle, the sector commander stared at the map. She didn’t like what she was seeing, or the reports she was getting over the radio. The water line from the lake still wasn’t connected, the fire line wasn’t being cleared fast enough, and they were running out of options. The town was in danger. It was time to send the call to evacuate.

  But things were about to get worse.

  Her radio crackled again. ‘This is Delta 1, come in, Chief. Over.’

  ‘This is command sector. Receiving. Over.’

  ‘We’re in serious trouble. Up on the ridge, two hundred metres from the summit. Fire’s got right round us, Chief. We’re getting squeezed. Going to try for the gorge. Over.’

  ‘Drop your gear and get out now!’ the chief shouted. ‘Sending choppers to make runs your way. Over.’

  ‘Understood. Over.’

  The chief marked the map with Delta 1’s position. She bit her lip. Delta 1 were right in the middle of a firestorm, and unless the water bombs from the choppers could make a difference, there might be no way of getting them out.

  ***

  Zaf and Ian tore along the road, legs pumping, heading out of town. ‘I should have taken the flight!’ Zaf panted.

  Up ahead, a line of police cars blocked the road, turning traffic back.

  ‘Looks like this is where we get off,’ shouted Ian. ‘Let’s dump the bikes round the back of the bus station.’

  The boys darted behind the building and skidded to a stop. They threw their bikes down.

  Zaf pulled his mask over his face. All you could see were his eyes and mouth. That wasn’t enough to hide his excitement.

  ‘Find out where the fire crews are making their fire boundary – and follow their line. I’ll make sure it blows in the right direction.’ Zaf wagged a finger at his friend, ‘And Ian, keep it under control, OK?’

  ‘No sweat.’

  Zaf jumped into the sky and shot up high, arms by his side. Ian closed his eyes and burst into flames. With a flash he was gone.

  ***

  The fire crew down at the bottom of the hillside were racing to clear a line of bush, to give the fire nothing to feed on and nowhere to go.

  But the gap between the fire teams and the blaze was getting smaller. They were running out of time.

  The men and women working the line had seen a lot of fires in their time, they had battled many blazes, but what they saw next knocked them for six.

  Along the fire line, sprinting hard, was a fiery figure. It was like the fire had come alive – a human f
ireball tearing through the bush. Its arms were pointed to the ground, hands blasting fire. Fire shot out from its feet, burning up a fire line. And the figure was laughing as it went.

  The fire crews forgot what they were doing for a moment, and just stared.

  Down swooped another figure, following in the fire-creature’s trail. He was using his arms to throw wind, fanning the flames, forcing them back towards the centre of the blaze, away from the fire crews. He blasted past like a jet.

  Now the fire fighters had seen everything. First a human fire, like something out of a cartoon, and now some flying superhero wearing a mask.

  The fire fighters cheered. Whoever they were, it didn’t matter. They were saving the day.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Flood

  Mr Arturi and the girls had headed out of town, and at the crossroads they doubled back and screeched along Lake Road, the old van whining as it pulled itself up the hills.

  They had heard the chatter on the radio between the crew in trouble and the commander.

  ‘We need to move fast, girls – I know a short cut.’ Mr Arturi pulled the van off the road and they slammed onto a dirt track that led to the lake. They could see the fire trucks just down the shore, trying to rig up a water line. Within minutes the van reached the lake’s edge, and skidded to a halt.

  ‘Tara, direct your ditch along that ridge and head for the summit. The crew are just below, gravity will take care of the rest. April, jump in the lake and get that water moving, we need to get to those fire fighters now!’ Mr Arturi grabbed his walkie talkie. ‘I’m going to see where those boys are.’

  ***

  The Delta 1 team were caught in a tiny pocket between the flames. Fire raged on all sides, and was closing in.

  The choppers made another run, and water bombed down on the gorge, but it was below the crew’s position. The choppers were trying to make them a corridor of escape, but the flames were too high for them to get in close and they kept missing their target.

  Things were mounting up against the trapped crew. It was beginning to look like there was no way out.

  Then from the summit above, barrelling over the ridge, came a flood of water as wide as a river.

  The flood burst over the charred bush, exploding through the fire. Burnt trees fell to the ground and were smothered; flaming bush was doused. Smoke and steam billowed into the air. Down the water cascaded, into the gorge, clearing a path.

  ‘Come on!’ yelled the crew leader. ‘I don’t know what just happened, but let’s get out of here. Follow the water.’ The fire fighters half clambered, half slipped down the muddy gorge, the fire still blazing on either side of them.

  ***

  The line that Ian had burnt into the bushes was doing the trick – the main blaze had reached the line, and now had nothing to feed off. The fire crews had spread themselves out down the line, making sure it held. It looked like the town might just be safe.

  Zaf landed by his mate’s side. ‘Ian, your job’s done, better get out of here. Head near the road. I’ll come and find you later.’ He put his walkie talkie on the ground. ‘Use this.’

  Ian nodded. It was time to get out of sight. He killed his flames before grabbing the walkie talkie and ran down the hill, scrambling through the untouched part of the wood.

  He found a clump of bushes, crouched behind it, and looked down at his body. There wasn’t a scrap of clothing left. ‘Great, now what?’ he muttered. This clothes-burning thing was getting out of hand.

  Zaf took to the air again. He began to circle the blaze, ripping around it like a jet, spinning the air back into the middle of the firestorm, whipping it into the centre.

  ‘There’s nowhere for you to run,’ he growled at the fire. ‘Just might as well give up now!’ Round, and round he soared, forcing the fire back into itself.

  As he flew past the lake below him, another tidal wave of water burst down the hillside, straight into the middle of the blaze, flooding everything in its path and doing the job faster than a hundred fire trucks could.

  The fire was breaking up. The fire crews can probably handle it from here, Zaf thought.

  He spotted Mr Arturi standing by his van at the far end of the lake, banked and flew down low, into the trees, hitting the ground running. Tara and April were already ahead of him.

  ‘Good work, you three,’ called Mr Arturi.

  ‘You made it! We were getting worried,’ April said, giving Zaf a hug. Her clothes were soaked.

  ‘Nothing to it. I rode like the wind,’ Zaf reassured her. ‘We’ll need to pick up Ian on the way out.’

  ‘Let’s go,’ said Mr Arturi, ‘before someone starts asking questions.’

  The van spun round on the dirt track and raced towards the road.

  Mr Arturi swung it onto the tarmac and headed back down the hill, driving carefully now, so they wouldn’t attract attention. He slowed down as they neared the bottom of the hill.

  ‘WHOA!’ the walkie talkies all blurted. ‘Slow down, I’m right here!’ It was Ian.

  Mr Arturi stopped the van.

  The bushes to the side of the road shook and wobbled, and out from behind them struggled Ian. He had a leafy branch in front of him, and another branch covering his back, and he was totally naked, his face bright red.

  ‘Don’t say a word,’ he muttered, as he climbed into the far back of the van. ‘Not a single word.’

  Chapter Sixteen

  Hideout

  ‘It is now believed that the fire crews have managed to completely contain yesterday’s forest fire, having successfully created a fire break around the perimeter of the blaze. They are now patrolling the edge of the fire making sure it is extinguished.

  ‘There are unconfirmed reports coming through of mysterious fire fighters using flame retardant suits and what appeared to be jet packs, and additional unofficial crew on the lake’s edge using dynamite to re-direct the flow of water into the fire itself.…’

  Mr Arturi switched off the radio, and let out a long sigh as his shoulders slumped.

  ‘That’s a relief. I think I might just lie down now and have a heart attack.’

  ‘But we didn’t get into any trouble,’ Zaf pointed out.

  ‘Yeah, it was a piece of cake, Mr Arturi,’ Tara insisted.

  ‘I’d be up for doing it again,’ Ian added.

  ‘I’m with you,’ said April. ‘We could be heroes.’

  They all looked at their teacher.

  Mr Arturi thought for a moment. ‘I suppose you really did do something wonderful up on that hillside. And now that I think about it, I haven’t felt this good in a long time.’ The others nodded at each other and broke into grins. ‘But if you’re going to do this hero thing, you’re going to have to do it properly. No jumping in without looking first. OK?’

  ‘Sure thing. We plan for every contingency,’ said Zaf.

  ‘First, we need to figure out a way to keep Ian’s clothes on. Yesterday was ugggh.’ Tara wrinkled her nose. Ian flicked her with a ruler. The others laughed.

  Mr Arturi looked around the room. ‘And I suppose we’ll also need somewhere other than this lab to work from.’

  ‘A hideout! A secret lair.’ April’s eyes widened. ‘I like it.’

  ‘And we’ll need names,’ added Ian. ‘All the superheroes have them. How about I call myself Flash?’

  ‘Already done – the Fantastic Four have a Flash,’ said April.

  ‘Yeah, but he was a comic book character, and I’m real.’

  ‘Yeah, a real oaf,’ Zaf laughed.

  ‘I know, Ian,’ Tara giggled, ‘how about you call yourself Flaming Underpants.’

  ‘Ha, ha. You two won’t be laughing when I set fire to your school bags.’

  Mr Arturi shook his head. ‘What about Inferno? It means fierce fire.’

  ‘Inferno,’ whistled Ian, standing up and striking a pose. ‘Now that I like.’

  ***

  That week Mr Arturi found the perfect place for a hideout, a sho
rt drive out of town – the old airstrip. Back in the day it used to be an air force base. Only a few light planes used it now, but lying around the other side of the field away from the hangars were the hulks of abandoned jets. A plane graveyard, left there to slowly rust.

  An old transport plane was set back further away than the others, at the edge of the field, close to some thick woods. By weaving a path through the trees Mr Arturi could get to the plane without being seen.

  He managed to get the door open without too much trouble. The inside of the plane had been mostly stripped of anything that could be salvaged, but was still pretty solid.

  Rig up some solar panels for power, a radio with an emergency frequency scanner, a couple of computers, a small science lab, and we have ourselves a command centre, Mr Arturi thought to himself.

  When the others saw the place they were impressed. ‘Wow, an old Hercules C-130,’ Zaf marvelled. ‘Good find, Mr Arturi, this place is the business.’

  The going was slow. They could only work after school some days, and sneaking away over the weekend was hard without arousing too much suspicion. The four friends quickly got impatient.

  April tried to reason with the others. ‘If we’re going to do this, we need to learn to lead double lives. Just remember to stay calm.’

  Some days even she found getting through the school day, and sitting around the family dinner table almost too much to bear. But slowly the four of them learned to keep their eagerness under control, and keep their heads down. After all, there was no use being a superhero if you couldn’t even get through high school.

  Finally, the work on the plane was finished, and they were good to go.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Factor Four

  ‘First order of business,’ announced Mr Arturi with a wink. ‘I’ve been working on some suits for you to use – if you’re going to be superheroes you need to look the part.’

  Mr Arturi showed them their outfits. Ian’s was bright red, and made from flame retardant material – there’d be no more ‘birthday suit’ experiences. Zaf had a flight suit of blue, sleek and streamlined. Tara’s was deep brown like the earth and highly flexible, and April had a silver wetsuit that would be barely visible in water. Mr Aruri had also rigged up masks from matching material with built-in earpieces and mikes.