The Heat of Fire

Chapter 1 - Where are my pants?

I climb out of my straw filled bed, and stare at the clock. It reads 7:09. I wait a minute, before standing up and walking across the dirt covered floor towards my clothes. I put my black flannel shirt on, but stop suddenly. "Where are my pants?!" I murmur under my breath. I realize I had left them downstairs last night. It had been so late that I had forgotten them. Muttering nonsense under my breath, I stalk downstairs, grab the black, ripped leggings, and walk back up the stairs. I lay down in my bed, and chant, "My pants are here, my pants are here, my pants are here," every two breaths. After exactly one minute, I stand back up. The clock now reads 7:12. Breakfast is at 7:17. "Jeez, I need to hurry!" I say loudly, marching over to my clothes once again, this time climbing into both items.
When I go downstairs at 7:16, I rush to get my goat meat and sit down by 7:17. "Good morning sweetie!" My adoptive mother, Jill, says, grabbing some meat herself. "Good morning! Where's dad?" I respond, careful to finish chewing before responding to her. "Oh, he had to work in the caves early this morning. But he'll be back for lunch! I just love that you juniors get to come home for lunch!" She stands up and bustles around the small kitchen. Because the population of Ojai, California is so large, the houses are crammed together. Houses have practically been piled on top of each other to fit in this valley. Ojai is prime living space, not only because there is tons of water under the dry, cracked earth, but because the mountains surrounding it are full of minerals. "Um, about lunch," I say nervously. "I was going to go downtown with Danielle. Is that ok?" I look up and see that she has halted in pouring her coffee. She seems to have noticed that I am looking at her, and resumes. "Oh. Well, that's... that's fine I'm sure!" She says, her voice breaking at first, but regaining her cheery manner quickly. I check my watch hesitantly, and note the time is 7:25. It's time to pack my bag. I stand up, towering over my mother at the height of 5 foot 6. I reach for my bag, and pack my math, history, and mining text books. Those are the only subjects we have at Spork School For Improvement, besides physical training. I hear that subjects such as "ART" and "ENGLISH" were taught before I was born, but it became illegal since. Finally, I grab my tablet, making sure that the battery was at exactly 50%. "Well, mom, I'm going to get going. See you after school!" I give her a quick hug, and she calls, "Love you Naomi!" I return her call and head down the five flights of steps, and finally reach the skywalk.
As I walk across the old, cracked iron platform, I begin to feel uneasy. I can barely see the ground below me, which is about 5 more floors below. Let me explain the geography of Ojai. Because Ojai is a valley, the buildings and homes swirl in a circle in the west. In the center of the towering buildings (each about 10 2 story houses tall, with about 100 rows, all connected by skywalks in the middle of the buildings) is a patch of empty, dry sand, with 2 wells full of water. Water has been scarce ever since the Fires scorched these lands. Off to the east, there is a school, Spork School For Improvement (Spork SFI), and a few government buildings. Along the sides of the mountains, shadowing the buildings, are approximately 67 tunnels, that have been dug deep into the mountain's hearts, filled with riches. At the top of each of the directional mountains (North, South, East, and West) lies a huge power strip, as thick as a house, and 5 miles long. These are the warning bells. Everything is covered in a coat of dirt.
I am snapped out of taking in the "beautiful" scenery by someone calling my name. "Naomi! Wait up!" Someone runs up to me, and I can feel the skywalk swaying. "Don't do that! You're going to kill us Smith!" I say, stopping and facing my friend. "Hehehe," he says, stomping on the old iron. I slap my forehead with my palm, and continue to walk. Smith isn't the brightest of Spork. We discuss the math assignment, and what we think the "smarts" kids will be doing during training. The smarts kids (SD's) are the kids that are born with defects, which stop them from being able to be in training. They, however, get perfect grades in the mental classes. "I bet they'll be figuring out how much longer the water here will last," Smith says, with a worried expression on his face. Of the 40 some wells scattered throughout the city, about 29 have dried up. People have tried to dig for more water, but the land seems to be completely dry. "I wouldn't expect it to be more than a few months," I say, "my parents have their most important possessions packed already, which isn't a lot." "Well, that's smart," Smith says, and we reach the descending part of the skywalk. This ramp leading down is steep, and my black, worn out boots slide on it. Now, we are on an open stretch of dry land, with a thin layer of sand on top of the cracked earth. Everywhere in North America has horrible dust storms. You can see the other students flocking towards Spork, a squat white building. The talk turns to school work, and how much we have to do. "And all we ever learn about in history are the Great Fires! We've learned about them for 7 years in a row, with the same textbook each time!" Smith whines. "Agreed. And today in mining don't we have that quiz?" I say. He groans and drags his feet through the sand. The students roam awkwardly stand around in the yard, waiting for the bell to ring at precisely 8:00. The time is now 7:57. Perfect timing.
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My day is split into 5 sections: history (8:02-9:00), math (10:02-11:00), lunch (11:02-11:30), mining (11:32-1:00), and training (2:02-3:00). In history, as I slide into my seat, the bell rings. It's 8:02. I'm late. I have to get to class at 8:01. Then I take my notebook out, my charcoal out, and wait for a minute, until 8:02. But today, I forgot my pants. Something is off today. "Hello class! Let's jump right into class!" Mrs. Snork says in a pinched voice. I sigh, and take my textbook out. "Please read the assigned paragraphs on the board. That is all." Teachers these days. I snort, before turning to page 234. I read:
The Great Fires started in the early 2000's, in California. But the brave firefighters (see word in index) fought against the flames. Alas, the forces weren't strong enough, and America lost many men, and resources. The Fires spread to Colorado first, then Nevada (Present day Swamplands). Millions of citizens flocked to the east coast, but the Fires soon followed. People rushed to get out of America, but the boarders were closed. The Government saved thousands by this act, for the rest of the world was engaged in a bloody battle (world war 4). Many rebelled, but were executed by their treachery. The President turned the government into a monarchy, and made his family the royal family. America has been under their kind and compassionate rule for over 8 decades now. As technology for fighting the Fires advanced, the Fires died down, but left a barren land in their wake. No one knows about the land outside of the Americas. The President has issued a statement about the Fires. 'These Fires are our enemy. They have taken our home, and family. They are evil, and will return. But we will hope that they won't return, for we don't have the technology to fight anymore.'"
Jeez, this is boring.
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After going to Pyandoranga's Sushi downtown, Danielle and I head back. Mining class, as always, is boring. I meet up with Danielle outside of the history classroom at 2:01. Together, we go to the training wing. Danielle has been my best friend since I was 6 years old. Her auburn hair (contrary to my waist long black hair) hangs to her shoulders, and she has dimples whenever she smiles. "Naomi, we should not have eaten all that food an hour before training! I'm going to throw up!" Danielle says dramatically. "It's not going to be that bad! We don't even know what we are doing in class yet!" I respond, trying to cheer her up. We walk to the locker rooms, and change into our gym clothes. The gym outfit consists of black leggings, black boots, and a black tank top. After changing, I tie my straight hair back into a messy bun. Danielle and I walk outside onto the field (a vast stretch of land with an obstacle course, surrounded by a chained fence), and wait for role call. "See ya soon!" Danielle says. Our class is separated into sections based on size. Me, being more lean and thin than the normal muscular body, heads to the end of the line. Danielle is situated 14th in line, whereas I'm 35th (last). Attendance has been taken, and we'd all been split into groups, when we hear a strange, unfamiliar sound. The teacher walks over to the edge of the fence to peak out and try to find the source of the sound. They are bells. I see the mountains, and their sandy, dry tops. But something else is on the horizon. Something big, and deadly. Smoke, the color of night rolls down the mountains, towards us. I knew that something was wrong. I had forgotten my pants. The Great Fires have returned.