The Center

Chapter 42 - "it will become unbreakable,

That camping guy is in big trouble. I turn and chase after the completely gone Jackson. Ash floats on the air in random flakes and breathing becomes hard. The crackle of cooked pines replaces the sound of birds or bugs or life, still distant, but coming. The hazy sky circles the entire campus as I get closer. An alarm sounds through the PA system. "Stay calm and proceed to The Bunker or the nearest evacuation bus."

Across the complex, a new plume appears in the sky. I look behind me. Smoke still billows in the east. In front of me, gray clouds rise from the ground in the west. Two forest fires in opposite directions. I stand frozen. A panorama of startled kids stumble out of the buildings. At the parking lot, a couple hundred people squeeze onto already crowded buses.

Few stand around stunned and confused. This isn't a normal disaster drill. Counselors and guards have hurried conversations. Words rumble through the riot of running people.

"Surrounded by fire."

"The first bus has left."

More words cascade through the crowd like a game of telephone.

"We're going to die."

"The buses are full."

The dawning truth jerks me into action. Waves of kids move toward The Bunker.

The PA announces, "Three more buses have just arrived from the entrance where the fire has been contained. Proceed with caution."

Inmates swirl around like the smoky air. They change direction. Then change again. None of the staff seem concerned about the buildings. The log orientation room. The sun-shaped chapel. I can't breathe, but not because of smoke. My heart hurts at the thought of losing The Center. I'd just fallen in love and now, it's going to burn. As I hurry toward The Bunker I swallow my sadness. For a detention center, this is the best. I don't want the trees and cabins destroyed. They have to save it. They have to. But no one is spraying fire extinguishers or squirting water from hoses. Escape is the plan.

Save the humans.

Lose the trees and classrooms and barn-turned gym.

"This is not a drill," Rowena's voice rumbles from speakers. "This is NOT a drill. Please make your way toward an evacuation bus or into The Bunker. No pushing or shoving."

I'm focused on The Bunker. Based on the number of people, other buses will fill fast. The Bunker can hold thousands. I hurry with a group committed to not turning back. At the top of the hill, the crowd thickens. A couple guys slide to their bottoms and attempt to make the two-story descent without using the narrow and now overcrowded stairs. I stay in the elbowing mass as we get closer and closer to the edge.

At the top of the staircase, people cling to each other to keep from falling. Most jump halfway down where the distance is safer. As I begin my descent, I see Dee Dee leap from the halfway point, only to land unbalanced. I hear the pop of her ankle as it twists at an unnatural angle.

She screams in pain while other inmates hurry past her to the lines of people waiting to enter the pyramid.

"Look!" The shout hushes the crowd.

At the bottom of the stairs, I turn my head toward the northern horizon. Humongous billows of gray smoke cover the blue sky. Impossible. A third fire from the south. First east where I saw the camper. Then west. Now south. The drill horn sounds again in three rapid successions. Kids push across the yard in panicked frenzy to get into one of three narrow doors.