Rose on Fire

Chapter 66

(Johanna POV)
I wake up covered in sweat. I can see the dim lights of morning. It's probably around 5. I take off my jacket to cool myself down, only to see the little fox curled in a ball. It jolts its head up, startled by the movement. I run my hand through it's thick reddish/orange coat, it settles down and closes it's eyes tiredly. I adjust myself on the branch, so I'm laying sideways with the fox pushed against my stomach so it doesn't fall. I tie myself to he branch with my jacket and fall back asleep. When I awaken I see the sun starting to rise over the mountains, the fox slightly angered from my late awakening. I untie myself, and climb down the tree, the fire has gone out, smoke still rising from the ashes. I look out over the sound, the water is dark and flat showing no signs of life. I start walking back to 13. After about 45 min I reach the edge of the woods. The trees are burned leaves are scattered here and there with small flames still engulfing them. I get to the clearing and search the sky and ground for anything strange, then I run quickly to see the damage. Surprisingly the bomb damage isn't that bad. The deepest one of the bombs went was probably one hundred feet. I map out the district and start walking down into one of the bomb holes. I get to where the pet groomers would be and try to see if I can find a dog or cat leash and harness. The fox shakes with fear, the weird smells probably making her instincts serge with with the adrenaline to run away as fast as possible from this place. I finally find a large harness, totally untouched by the bombs. I use a sharp piece of concrete to cut the harness to fit the fox. I look at the leash handle to see a piece of tape wrapped around it with the name, Radio written on it. I take the price of tape off, and realize I haven't named the fox, or even know what gender the fox is. I don't even know if I want to, as I might get to attached, and I don't know if I can deal with the responsibility of an animal given the circumstances. Curiosity gets the best of me, I check the fox, a female. I sit down on a piece of concrete holding her up at face level, her vibrant colors making the rest of the landscape look even more drab, and dull. I decide to name her Revolver, because she's only slightly larger than a hand gun. I still don't want to get attached to her, but I want to teach her the name so she can respond to it. I've already gained her trust with the salmon, now it's time to protect her if I can. I walk back into the woods, if people got down to a bunker, they should be able to dig themselves out in about a week. That's also my new target, make it a week out here, and I live. Seems like a fairly easy task, hopefully I don't run into any bears.