From the Ashes

6

"Take the next left." Jensen instructs Tony who sits at the wheel of the car.

"So, where exactly are you taking us?" Daisy, who sits in the passenger seat, glances back at the Jensen in the backseat.

Jensen turns off his phone that was displaying Google Maps. "It's an abandoned airfield. My dad used to take me and my family there when I was younger. I've been going there even after they stopped going," he says.

"It's-" He pauses. "It's where I go when I need peace and quiet, you know?"

"Mm." Daisy hums in agreement while Tony nods his head.

"Why did your family used to go there?" Daisy asks.

"My parents were in the military--Marines," Jensen says. "They used to do stuff out there for their jobs, I guess. They never really told me much about their lives before they had me."

"Oh," Daisy replies.

Tony glances at the leather jacket-clad boy, in the rearview mirror. "Is this the turn?"

The car begins to slow down as they approach a gravel road shadowed by lush canopies of towering evergreen trees.

"Yeah," Jensen tells him from the back of the sedan.

Tony turns the car onto the road. A few minutes up the path, they stop and Jensen jumps out to open a rusty gate with a sign hanging off the side that reads: Government Property DO NOT ENTER.

"Oops," Jensen laughs at the sign. 

Tony and Daisy get out of the car behind him, eyeing the sign more cautiously than the other boy.

"There's no one here to get us in trouble. So, there's only like a one in a million chance that we'd actually get caught," Jensen tells them.

Tony scratches the back of his neck and shakes his head. "Right." He laughs.

"Yeah, for some reason that didn't really make me feel any better about doing this." Daisy crosses her arms. She smiles, however.

"Meh." Jensen shrugs playfully,

A short hike up a narrow dirt path later, the trio come upon a huge grassy field covered in stray patches of cement that has long been overthrown by tufts of weeds and natural deterioration.

"Tony is definitely first, by the way," Jensen blurts out.

Tony's head turns quickly and looks at him with wide eyes. "Woah! And why am I first?"

"Um, you shoot fire out of your hands. Why else do you think, pasta boy?" Jensen retorts sarcastically. He narrows his eyes at him.

Tony rolls his eyes but doesn't argue with him further. "Okay. Fine."

Daisy begins to walk backward, away from him. Jensen notices her moving away and follows her, both of them taking a safe distance from Tony.

Tony doesn't attempt anything until they come to a full stop at least ten meters away.

"Wait, guys, I don't want to cause like a forest fire or anything. Maybe this isn't such a good idea," he suddenly says, turning around to face them. "We didn't think this through very well."

"Then don't aim at anything that will catch on fire," Jensen replies, shrugging.

Daisy's mouth drops open. "We're in the woods!" She looks at Jensen in disbelief. "What do you think people use to make fires?"

Jensen merely shrugs again, without looking at her, causing Daisy to roll her eyes at his incredible density.

"Just be careful, okay?" She calls out to Tony.