His Resting Place

Chapter 3

He then limped onward to the park entrance passing a few dogs by, who lay lazily in the sun with their tongues hanging out. So much for a peaceful nap he thought remembering the rude interruption. He sighed and decided to set sail for home by taking a short cut. Crossing the road he limped through a deserted track passing a burnt structure. The old sign read, 'Evergreen Fire Station'. Marco passed his hand over the sign as memories came back.
"Chief, your wife's here," Garret, Kate's brother said.
"Well send her in," he responded.
"Actually she said she isn't staying long. She's just outside," he said and disappeared.
"Okay. I'm coming," he grunted rising from his chair.
"Surprise!" the squad screamed as he appeared in the hallway.
"What the -?"
They were celebrating five years of him being Fire Chief. He was awarded a medal of honor and they gave him a large red cup that read 'Greatest Fire Chief EVER!' in yellow writing.

He tapped the sign a few times and then continued off. Everything on the stretch was either burnt or abandoned. The fire had ripped through the country like a hungry pack of lions.
"It is the biggest disaster the country has seen in years," one television announcer had said. "The fire has progressed to the eastern side of the country and fire rescuers say they can't do anything about it."
Everything and everyone felt the heat of that fire. Many persons lost their lives trying to save family members. There wasn't even enough fire officers to help everyone in the country.
"The mayor is deeming it a national disaster," another reporter commented.
It felt like everything was falling apart. Fire choppers were called in to dump large amount of water on the raging blaze. It didn't help that they were in a drought so most of the fire extinguishers were dry. Marco felt helpless, a feeling he never wanted to feel again.

He stumbled along the way walking through the dry fire burnt street. The breeze never blew in that part of town. Occassionally he stopped and stared catching his breath and then he was off again. He reached a small incline with some rickety stone stairs and stood looking over into the valley. The place was dead. No birds, no animals, no breeze and no people. A little way off lay a tunnel and behind it was some trees and the sound of water slamming against the rocks. All that told him he had reached - he was at the coast where it all happened.