Glowing Embers

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"This better not get us killed," Willow huffed in between breaths. She and Whitney had been running ever since they first entered the forest.

"It shouldn't be us you're worried about..." Whitney dejectedly responded. Willow looked over at her best friend.

"It's not our fault! Our families wanted us to live. They probably survived too. Fires can't spread that quickly," Willow optimistically replied.

"You don't care if your family dies or not! You live with step-parents! I live with my biological parents and my brother. I kinda want them to live. And with that raging fire in town, they're not gonna make it. We should've went with the others. Don't you agree?" Whitney ranted. Willow had no response. She hung her head down low as she ran. "Oh. Willow, I'm sorry." Willow's family had always been a major obstacle in her development. Her life had been filled with divorce. Her biological parents divorced, and she lived with her mother permanently. Her mother found a new husband, and later they filed for a divorce. Willow was sent to live with her step-father. Then, her step-father remarried another woman. It was always a soft spot for Willow.

"No, I get it. You're concerned about your family, blah blah blah," Willow muttered curtly. It was obvious she was hurt by Whitney's remark.

"Now's not the time to fight. Right now we need to focus on surviving. Let's face it, we'll never go back there," Whitney declared.

"Why?" Willow asked, stifling tears.

"That fire is gonna burn the town to the ground. There will be no more Byrnesville, Pennsylvania anymore. And from the looks of it, the fire is spreading to other towns. It's unstoppable," Whitney informed her friend.

"There's firefighters," offered Willow.

"Yeah. Dead ones," Whitney inferred. Willow gazed up at the sky. Vibrant white clouds were laying on it like decorations on a cake. Everything was peaceful. Willow then recalled the horrifying screams of her classmates and friends. She shuddered. "You okay?" Whitney asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah. Can we stop now? I'm getting cramps," Willow requested. The two friends ceased their run and leaned on a nearby tree to catch their breaths. "What do you think started the fire?" whispered Willow.

"It doesn't matter. All we need to think about is living. We're running through the forest right now. We can't go back. We need to gather supplies, and fast," Whitney commanded anxiously. Willow once again glanced up at the sky. The sun was at its peak, but she knew that the time would fly by and the sun would disappear soon.

"We're really unprepared," she miserably mused.

"Stop with the negative thoughts. I have an idea."

"Please explain."

"There's some flat ground over there." Whitney pointed at a nearby area. "And there are two trees. We can build a fire and eat on the ground, and sleep on the trees. You find sticks, leaves, logs, anything for the fire. I'll find food and something to tie us to the tree," she eagerly explained. She picked up a small branch from off the ground, trudged over to the flat area, and marked an X on the ground. "So we know where to go." Willow nodded and began collecting twigs, leaves, and kindling off the ground. She was nervous, but glad she had her bright friend to count on. She knew Whitney would get them out of it alive. Sighing, Willow looked up into the distance. Somewhere, it was safe. Sometime, the two of them would be okay.

Suddenly, Willow was alarmed by a rustling noise coming from a nearby bush. Grabbing a large branch, she cautiously approached the bush. It was immense and the leaves were packed together densely. She poked at the bush with her stick when a large figure rapidly jumped out of it.

A mammoth orange and black striped creature.

A tiger.

Willow realized that something was wrong was she saw the tiger walk closer and closer to her threateningly. Tigers were definitely not found in their state of Pennsylvania. It was obviously running from someone-- or something. Willow backed up slowly, clutching the branch in front of her with both hands. A large crack signified the stepping on of the kindling and branches Willow had collected. The tiger immediately pounced. At the last moment, Willow dodged it and hopped to her right. The tiger slammed into another tree but jumped up and sauntered over to her once more. It dove again, his mouth open wide, but Willow prevailed it using the branch. She held it out and shoved it into the tiger's mouth hastily. She then twisted it and threw it as far as she could manage, the tiger hanging onto it for dear life.

This allowed time for Willow to clamber up a neighboring tree. The tiger furiously sat at the bottom of the tree. Willow desperately sought a diversion, and attempted to shake the leaves and branches off the tree and down to the ground. The tiger howled. Willow knew she had to come down eventually. As the tiger growled some more, Willow figured out a plan. She grabbed another branch and attempted to sharpen her weapon. She scratched the top, then blew the scraps off. She did this until her weapon was sharp enough to pierce, or potentially kill. She looked over the edge of the tree and smirked down at the patient tiger.

"How's this for ya?" she exclaimed as she threw the weapon at the tiger. The tiger's growls were silenced, and Willow placed her fingers in her ears to muffle out the whines of the dying tiger. Sighing, she wiped the sweat off her forehead and slid down the tree to the ground. She removed her weapon and examined the lifeless body of the mysterious tiger. She turned his head and was shocked to see its skin a glazed pink. She jumped back and observed it from a distance. Half of its face was mutated. One of its eyes was inflamed, and the eyelid drooped over it. It had a drastic case of staphylococcal. Willow walked over and examined its stomach. It was thin and narrow, and its ribs could be seen. Whitney finally raced over carrying fish.

"Oh my god Willow! What happened?" she asked nervously.

"I killed it," Willow mumbled, "but it was mutated or something. Its face was messed up, and it was so skinny. It was going after me, though. I didn't know what to do," she added.

"No, it's okay. You did the right thing. Keep that weapon with you," Whitney suggested wisely.

"Whit, why is this happening? First the fire, now mutated animals? Everything is so weird. What's going on?" Willow rambled. Whitney shook her head.

"I don't know," she admitted, glancing at the sky.

"We need to go. Like, now," Willow stated firmly.

"Couldn't agree more," her friend replied.

The friends continued running through the forest, Whitney carrying their food and Willow, her weapon. They were oblivious to the other horrors of the Earth watching them carefully.

They just kept running.