THE LOST ONES - Short Stories

A Friend in the Fire

The world had been on fire for a whole year.

Kad dragged himself through the polar nights of the Tuktut Nogait National Park. He bundled up in layers of protective coats, wearing a hood to cover his head and a gas mask to protect his lungs from the blazes. As he sauntered through the area, he took in the view of the surrounding cliffs and grasslands, already consumed by the never-ending flames. What should have been a protected park was wasted to the ongoing catastrophe. But natural disasters yielded to nothing—not even to the imaginary lines of a wildlife sanctuary.

The "fire" was anything but what the people called it. On his journey to the northern islands, Kad would pass through the flames and feel only its warmth. It never burned him. No, this "fire" did not burn—it only lingered. Even as he examined the landscape, the fire nestled upon the grasslands and the rivers. Nothing turned to ash or crumbled to dust by the fire's wisps. Yet even if it wasn't scorching hot to the touch, it still depleted the environment. Everything about the world changed because of the disaster, and nothing would ever go back to the way it was.

Kad had witnessed the birth of the catastrophe, watching day and night as the "fire" took over society. It had spread across every surface, from land to water, taking everything under its wings. Anyone who had inhaled the flames died within days as the poisonous fumes slowly took over their bloodstream. Kad remembered seeing the blisters from the earliest victims, and the list had only grown since the day the fire started.

"Hello?"

A young woman's voice broke through his train of thought. Kad stared ahead as an Inuit woman covered in a brown parka and a mask of her own waved to him.

"Hello, sorry," Kad replied, muffling his voice. "I didn't see you there."

"No worries," she said, leaning against a walking stick. "I am Anik. One of the park rangers."

"Oh." Kad coughed lightly, then straightened himself. "Sorry. Again. I didn't realize people were still..."

"Working?" Anik laughed.

He shrugged, then glanced around the fiery terrain. "After leaving Washington, I just assumed nothing was left of society."

Kad had met with others during his travels. People had chosen to stay behind and live out what little remained of their lives in their homes. He had crossed through various highways and towns, seeing either the paths of the dead or the dwindling eyes of those who remained. Even if the woman before him wore a mask, her voice had life.

Hope.

"I hear the fires haven't reached the north just yet," Anik mentioned. "But I stay here, hoping that it will go away. Someone needs to watch the park."

"I was heading to Melville Island," Kad told her. "I know for certain it's clean up there."

Anik nodded. "So, you know, huh?"

"The 'fire' doesn't like the cold," he said.

"Okay. If that's the case," Anik offered her hand to him, "care if I join you? I can take you to Letty Harbour. We can hitch a ride up there. And then we can take these masks off."

Kad stared at the gloved palm of her hand for a few seconds. He had almost forgotten what it was like to have a companion.

"I want to call it Kindium," Kad announced to his partner, inching back from the glass cage.

Kevin examined the fiery gas inside the enclosure, uncertain. "It looks like fire. You can't be serious," he remarked.