Vanished

Chapter Twenty-Four

Zane could barely keep up with the fires. They seemed to be appearing in random locations that were barely near each other. Some would be caused by a fire in the house, while others could be a single tree on fire.

"It isn't working!" Yara yelled, trying to latch the hose onto the fire hydrant. The most that would catch fire would be three, but soon enough, this whole town could turn into ash.

"Keep trying!" Talia yelled. She had one long hose spraying a small house, and some others had been helping them.

They have been managing, but out of the ten houses that have caught fire, three have burned down. Water sprayed from the hose as Zane gritted his teeth and aimed inside the house. People came running out of the house, screaming.

"Stay back!" he yelled, holding a hand out.

"Why is she trying to burn down houses?" Colby Miller asked over the loud sound of the shooting water.

"Because she's crazy!" Talia yelled, looking at the boy out of the corner of her eye. She dropped the hose, seeing the fire crease, and stood next to the grey house, near the door. "Ready?" she kicked the door open.

Running back toward the hose, a fire sparked as he aimed the hose. Darkened ash surrounded the walls already, aiming where the last of the fire spread. Zane felt sweat all over him as he wiped his forehead with his arm.

Talia walked toward him, wiping away her tears. It wasn't that she cried from seeing the house burn down; the heat from the fires made her cry. Yara laughed at her when they found out.

"I could never be a real firefighter," Yara breathed, carrying one of the hoses.

"Spraying down fires daily? Why can't it just rain?" Talia groaned, her eyes bloodshot.

Both girls are helpful when it comes to dealing with fires, but Zane wasn't sure if it'd be enough if blazes started. They did have kids that'd come in to help out when there were multiple fires, but not just a single event.

Loading the hose back around, Yara sat up front with Talia in the back. They had become his own little crew since Jason wasn't around to tackle this issue, since he had Greyson and a lot of the town to deal with.

"Nobody!" Colby called, rushing to sit in the back.

Zane slowly backed up the fire truck, since this was no different than backing up a culvert. He used to help out in small jobs that required assistance in the construction setting. It was an easy way to earn cash for this family since starting anew was difficult when his mother lost her job.

"Why does Ashley want to kill most of us?" Talia asked, her arm dangling out the window.

"Because she's dumb," Colby said.

"I would have thought this thing would last a day. It's been two weeks already!" Yara exclaimed, looking back at the three of them.

"Do you think we'll get out soon?" Talia asked Zane.

"I have no clue," Zane said.

How much longer will they stay in this place? Would it be weeks, months, or years? If this lasted for years, they'd all be dead. With Ashley causing harm and Divina not being exactly sane, he'd have to think of some ideas.

"It's kind of fun doing whatever. I learned how to boil water on the stove." Yara laughed at Colby's statement.

"Stop!" Yara yelled as Zane slammed on the brakes.

In front of them stood a breathless Esme and a traumatized-looking Emma. Both girls then fell to the ground. All of them hopped out, seeing Esme trying to stand with her shoes torn.