BRAND OF BODHI (BOYXBOY)

THREE

My ears are ringing. My vision is blurry.

Blinking a few times, I see chaos around me. Those who were closest to the coffin are missing limbs. And there are dark red stains on the sand. I can smell something burning; smell the metallic taint of blood in the air.

People are running around screaming. The sound of sirens along with the whooping sound of helicopters can be heard in the background. Flames roar somewhere near me. The heat of the desert and fire makes things unbearable.

Everything was deafeningly loud. Then there were moments when no sound came at all.

My eyes hunt for Mitch. After a moment I find him, laying a few feet away from the grave; stretched out on the ground. I see EMTs working on Mitch, dressing his wound, but there is a piece of wood sticking out from his chest. It looks close enough to be piercing his heart.

I stumble to my feet making my way towards him. Bradley is someone that I look up to and admire. He was more than just my boss: he was my friend.

Too many times to count I had been invited to events at his house. I knew his wife and his daughters. Bradley was a part of my family. My own family lived on the other side of the country, and so Bradley was the closest thing I had to family out here.

Falling to my knees beside Bradley, I notice his eyes are slightly glazed over. His mouth moving as blood bubbles from his lips. Now that I was closer, I see the wood is inches away from his heart. It might even have knitted it. One of the EMTs that was working on him pushes me back, and they get him onto a board and start rushing him towards one of the helicopters.

A woman appears in front of me. I can see brown eyes filled with concern. They seem wrong, and for some reason the color of worry is off.

My head is killing me and my thoughts are all jumbled together. I feel something warm and wet running down my neck. Sound fades in and out. The ringing in my ears has yet to stop. A look around the area shows me that everyone was still in an uproar. There are more people rushing towards the scene.

I try to stumble back to my feet when I see another member of the team.

Lisa Walker had joined Bradley's team two years before me. She was a valued member of the team and another friend of mine. When we got the tip she had stayed back at the office with the others while Bradley and I went. Now Lisa was rushing over towards me. Briefly she and the EMT speak before Lisa puts her hand on my other shoulder.

"You need to go to the hospital, Nixon." Lisa's voice came through even when everything else didn't. I try to shake the fog from my head but it makes the world tilt to the side and soon I am on my back. Looking up I see the blue sky looking down on me.

The unforgiven sun threatens to burn me to a crisp. I can feel the grains of sand under me. Could feel the thumping in my head. It feels like a second heartbeat. How badly was I hurt? Other than my ears and head, there wasn't any other pain. I try to sit up but fall down again.

"You're hurt, Nixon." Lisa says and I grab her arm. Licking my lips I try to get my mouth to work.

"Prophet," I whisper. My voice sounds weird to my own ears. All of the noise around me only worsens the headache I am working on. "He had . . . IDs."

Lisa shakes her head. Grabbing my hand she pulls it away from her.

"Go to the hospital Hendrix. I'll pull up everything we have on The Prophet."

I nod as more EMTs come over to me. They were strapping me down to the stretcher.

"Don't call my family." I yell as I am being rushed towards the back of one of the choppers. She yells something back, but it all fades. The EMTs yelling at each other as they fuss over me fades as well. The pain becomes more than I can bare. My head feels like it is going to be the next explosion going off. I try to focus on one thing but everything jumbles together.