In the Belly of the Beast

39

She banged on the door a number of times. Her hand was sore from beating the cold hard wood. It was like raising the dead, she thought. They were dead asleep inside this house in the dead of night. She banged some more, yelling for the inhabitants to open up.

At last, she heard the rattle of the security chain being unfastened. She pointed her flashlight's beam into the face of a stunningly beautiful woman.

In the decay around her, this lady was the rare pearl among swine.

"Police," she said. "Detective Fontaine, Twenty-seventh precinct. There's a fire next door. You have to evacuate. The fire department's been notified. Awaken all residents of the house. You must leave immediately."

"Thank you, Detective," she said in a voice of incredible calm.

The woman was so laid back she made Abby seem like a speed freak. She was halfway down the front steps when she remembered.

"A little boy. Ten, twelve. Have you seen him? He lives next door."

"No," she said and closed the door.

Where had he gone? She needed to find him, but she must alert other houses nearby. She roused the neighbors across the way, enlisting their help in alerting others in the immediate area.

She got back on the radio.

"Where the hell is that engine? The whole place is going up! Do you hear me?" she screamed at the dispatcher.

"There's been a problem," the dispatcher began to explain.

"Don't give me excuses. Get that fuckin' truck here. NOW!"

Her frustration and the desperate urgency of the situation were getting the best of her. She got on the mike again.

"And be sure the gas is cut!"

The dispatcher assured her that help was coming.

The flames were gaining power exponentially. What could be inside that house to fuel it so?

Her attention was drawn to a silhouette in the window of the house next door.

Dammit. Those folks were still in there. They must be evacuated. One gas leak and the whole block go up. In the distance, she heard the welcome wail of sirens.

She'd leave the fire to the professionals, she decided, and left the car to revisit the house next door. By the time she reached the front porch, her anger had reached the boiling point.

This was ridiculous. She couldn't believe the people here ignored her request to evacuate. How could anyone be so foolhardy when it came to his own safety? And why should she be so surprised?

She'd seen it before - actions that were a slap in the face to common sense and intelligent behavior. Some called it bravery, but she labeled this type of recklessness butt-crack stupidity.

And some folks had no threshold and never bottomed out when it came to that kind of foolhardiness.

"Be calm," she told herself. "Don't lose your cool."

She knocked repeatedly, and the door opened.

"Ma'am," Abby began, "I cannot stress to you the danger of this situation. It is imperative that you leave the area immediately."

The lady smiled at Abby.

The flashlight's beam shone upon another figure as he stepped up behind the lady. He was approximately thirty-five, with eyes that. . .

Abby felt a gentle brush against her brain, a feather-light stroke, there and gone, then back again.

She cleared her throat.

"Folks, you really need to move to a safer place. The situation next door. . . the house is a raging, , ,

Strange. She could not remember what she wanted to say. Her whole body was overcome by a feeling of calm, of absolute peace.

The lady opened the door farther, as if to invite Abby inside. Abby returned her smile and entered the house.

The door softly closed behind her.