The Heat of Fire

Chapter 7

Dante and I burst through the history classroom. Kids are crowded around the windows, bustling to see the Fires.

"Dante, we have to leave now, before the fire spreads south." I say in a low voice.

"I know. But we should at least grab some supplies and let the others know." He responds. I nod my head in agreement. We both head to our corners. I grab my thin sleeping bag, and the extra bandages I have. Everything else I was given has been lost over the months.

Then we meet up. We make an announcement to the room, saying that we've found a way out, but that it's very dangerous.

"They don't believe us." I say in desperation. Already, this fire is worse than the last, and I can almost feel that not many who stay will survive.

"We just have to go. Maybe we can find help, and bring it back here." Dante suggests, his voice solemn. He seems to know as well that there won't be many survivors.

Once we've rounded up as many people as we could (6 to be exact), we find our friends. I explain the situation to them. They seem nervous, but they also seem to believe me. I am interrupted by a loud crashing sound, followed by screams. I spin around, and see a stampede of people running towards me. I flatten against the wall, so I won't get trampled.

"What are they all running from?" I shout to Noelle, who is also flattened to the wall. She shrugs, looking horrified. My question is soon answered when the people get away. The whole hallway perpendicular to this one has caught on fire, and it has collapsed.

"We all have to leave, right now." Dante says, stating what's on all of our minds. I agree, and I lead everyone out. Once we get out, we can clearly see the flames have gone from the north side of the school to the east, and are headed towards the field. Even though I've always hated my life at Spork, I have to blink back tears. I run through the long grass, and beckon for the others to follow. We regroup at the base of the mountains.

"How are we actually going to leave though?" A snarky 6th graded by the name of Gregory, asks.

"We'll have to climb the mountain." I stop at their expressions of disbelief and terror. "It's not going to be too bad. I've been mapping out the safest ways for months, and this is by far the best one!" I try to say as confidently as I could.

"I doubt we'll make it. We should've just stayed and had the easy death back at Spork." Gregory remarks under his breath.

"Listen, I'm not gong to have any sass, from you, or anyone! I'm not making you come! This is your choice. So if you'd rather burn, then by all means, stay behind. But I am leaving." With that, I start to walk up the slowly rising mountains.

I hear mutters behind me, but continue my path.

1 hour later

I finally reach the top, and stretch my back. I then sit on a rock and wait for the others to catch up. For the past hour and one minute, the group of 12 people have been tailing me. I'm quite satisfied that they followed me, but I can't think of that right now. Dante is the first one up, then Neil and Noelle.

"Hey." Dante says, taking a seat next to me. "You didn't see any snakes, right?" He asks nervously. It's well known that Dante is terribly afraid of reptiles.

"Well, I originally called this Snake Path," I admit, "But I didn't see any this time. But we probably will have to encounter them at some point." He looks down, his cheeks red from the intense heat. I myself have sweat marks around the neck of my tank top. I feel so dirty.

Once everybody makes it to the top, even Gregory, I point out the path down.

"Then, we can circle around the valley and head north, towards the bunker in Ca" I stop in my tracks. The fires are coming from the north. That's where Danielle went. Millions of questions run through my mind. Did she get to the bunkers safely? Is she alive? Did the people up there somehow start this fire? I am brought back to reality by a loud crashing sound. I turn to look back at Ojai, my home. A whole apartment has collapsed, and is leaning dangerously on another. People move like little ants, scurrying to get away from all of the heat. I put my head in my hands.

"We can't go to the bunkers. I have a feeling the Fires started there. We're going to have to find the nearest city." I finish. Noelle and Dante exchange worried glances.

I am extra cautious on the descent, and take regular breaks. By the time we all make it to the bottom, it is almost sunset. From the top of the mountain, the horizon, and our destination, comprised of a bumpy, mountainous, dry sprawl, and it wasn't much different from the bottom. But those hills looked like mountains now.

"We should stop here for the night. We've got a lot of walking tomorrow, and today was really tough. Great job." I announce to our small party. The air is starting to cool down. I realize that this is my first time consciously stepping foot outside of the valley. The ground is a thin dirt, almost like sand, a reddish brownish substance. A few weeds grow here and there, and a road, mostly covered with dirt, is a few miles away from us.

I unroll my sleeping bag, already knowing that tonight will be especially cold.

"Hey, maybe we should start a fire," Neil says, "Adam and I can go look for some twigs!" I sit down on the sleeping bag.

"That would be great." I say. Now that I'm actually relaxing, I can tell that I'm exhausted. Before I know it, I'm climbing into my sleeping bag, pulling the thin material over my shoulder, and closing my eyes.