“A couple hundred yards will do it?” Joe said.
“Best not to go too far,” Sam answered. They had decided on getting into the jeep, as the road was a separation in the fire line they were hoping to create it would probably be best to start two fires on either side of the road to get things started. Joe pulled up in the middle of the road a hundred yards past Susan’s house.
“I’ll start on this side,” Joe said. “Keep your eyes open.” Sam nodded, and they both got out and took a half-filled drum each from the back of the jeep. They looked at one another once more and then set about their work.
“Try to get the fire going with as little gas as you can,” Sam said, “We can make it go a lot farther then.”
“Good point,” Joe said nodding before they went to opposite sides of the road to begin their work.
Joe stood by the tree closest to the road and listened carefully and looked around for any sign of attack. Hefting the gas can up he undid the lid and splashed some on the bark of the tree. Then, taking a step back he sheltered himself from the wind and struck a match and pressed it to the tree, ready to pull his hand away instantly if it took flame faster than he thought it would. To his great dismay, the first match was snuffed out on contact with the wet of the gas. He had another idea at once however and pulling his handkerchief from his pocket put a little of the gas on it and then held a new flame beneath it. It took longer than he would have thought but soon the cloth was alight. He held it away from his body and let the flames press against the tree. This time the tree did go on fire but it was small and didn’t look like it had much life in it. He felt that it would simply burn the gasoline of the bark and then die out.
“It’s too wet!” he called out to Sam, and he felt stupid at having the idea in the first place. It had been snowing for days; how could he have possibly expected the wet trees to go up in a huge inferno?
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” he heard Sam reaching the same conclusion.
It was gutting for Joe but he could hear in Sam that it was even worse for him and he knew why. It had been a long time since he had been romantically involved with anyone but he could still recall that feeling at the start of love. It must be a terrible thing to have it snatched away from you just when you thought you might be able to hang on to it.
Joe looked at the tree before him thinking of a way to make this endeavour work. He looked up at the branches and thought about setting those alight but they were snow covered and would be even wetter through than the trunks. The ray of hope that this fire had sparked was diminishing quickly and it was hard not to let it defeat him there and then.
“There must be something we can do!” he called out to Sam.
After a moment’s more silence, Sam walked across the road. On seeing this, Joe moved too and met his near the jeep.
“There is something we can do with fire,” Sam said but his face wasn’t showing any great confidence in whatever it was he was thinking.
“What?”
“Those vines, or branches or whatever it is that it uses to attack us,” Sam said. “They are dry and brittle.”
“Those would burn with the gas,” Joe said following his idea.
“Except, the only time we see those is when they are trying to kill us.” Joe thought about this and it was true that they had not seen these tendrils in a relaxed state anywhere. It seemed like they could come from any tree at any time.
“We need to go to where the white starts and burn from there,” he said, already knowing the difficulty this would present. Sam nodded.
“And at that point, we would be opening ourselves up for a very bad end if we couldn’t get the fire started quick enough.”
“Even if we did get it started, it might be too late to get away,” Joe said.
“We need to think of a way of spreading the gas fast once the first ignition takes place.”
They stood in silence thinking on this. Joe was hoping Sam would come up with an idea as he was finding it hard to think clearly himself and nothing practical was coming to mind. He tried to tell himself that this was just his inner critic coming to the fore, not letting him come up with ideas as his last to burn wet trees had been so idiotic. Still no idea came.
“We better go down to Sally,” he said. “She’s probably found out this idea isn’t going to work by now.”
Neither man said anything on the way back through Mercy to find Sally. Both thought hard on finding a solution to their problem of spreading the fire quickly. Joe’s thoughts went to wishing, and he imagined one of those fire planes for putting out fires dropping gallons of water only this time they would be dropping gasoline on the trees to fuel the fires on the ground.
“There she is,” Sam said pointing and Joe looked at saw first some smoke and then a smouldering heap in the low branches of a tree. Sally had turned to face them at the sound of the jeep approaching. Vexation was plain to see on her face and it was a light moment for the two men as they smiled in her shared annoyance.
“It’s not taking; there’s been too much snow!” she said as they got out of the jeep.
“We know, we had the same trouble,” Joe said.
“So what in hell are we supposed to do now?” Sally said looking from one to the other.
“We’re working on a new plan,” Joe said.
“Which is?” Sally pressed him.
“The white trees and the limbs that have attacked us seem to be dry and brittle so we are trying to come up with a way to set those alight without getting killed in the process,” Sam answered. She looked to Joe then as if to see if this was really the case and said,
“That doesn’t sound all that doable to me.”
“We’ll think of something,” Joe said. “We have to.”
Chapter 30
“Brandy is what we need after that!” Sally declared as they came back into the tavern’s main room once more. They’d decided they might think better indoors than standing out in the cold and they would also have the benefit of Susan’s brain too if she hadn’t slipped into a fever while they’d been gone.
“I wasn’t expecting you all back so soon,” Susan said with clear alarm in her voice as she scanned to see they had all come back. “What happened?”
“We didn’t think it through,” Joe said. “It’s much too wet out there to start any kind of fire that would do real damage.”
“Oh,” Susan said as Sam got to her bedside and took her hand.
“We’re coming up with a new plan, though,” he said to her. “We can probably still burn it but we have to get to the diseased white trees to do it.”
“How?” she asked in alarm.
“That’s what we’re back in here to figure out,” Sally said, banging four glasses down on the counter and unscrewing the top of the brandy bottle. She poured four large measures as the others watched her; the glow of the fire in the liquid through the glass causing it to look like the most homely and inviting thing in the world right then.
Coming from behind the bar, Sally handed a glass to each of them and raised her glass.
“To good ideas,” she said. The others raised their own glasses in reply.
“No idea is too stupid to mention,” Joe said after they had all downed a swallow of the warm brandy. “You never know what will spark the right idea in someone else.”
No one said anything for a while as they searched silently for a solution.
“Is there anything we could use like a sling shot to fire something towards it?” Susan asked sheepishly. “I know it sounds silly but maybe there is.”
“It would be ideal if there was,” Joe said. “but I can’t think of anything that would do the trick.”
“I was thinking the same thing, like using the timing belt from one of the cars but I can’t think of a way to make it work.”
“What about something else we could use to spray it somehow, from the bed of a truck or something?” Susan said, and this was when Joe’s mind lit up with an idea. The others all talk
ed at once fobbing this idea off as fancy but wishing there was a way to use it. Joe said nothing at first but tried to follow the thread of his thought to its natural conclusion. When it got there, it would have been much easier for him to forget about than to resign himself to it and tell the others.
“There is something we can use to spray the gas,” he said and everyone fell silent and looked at him. He looked back at them with the fondness of a father and tried to think of one final twist that would mean he could carry his plan out alone but it didn’t come to him. “I think,” he said. “That Sally and Susan should take one of the vehicles and use the road as far down to Emerson as they can get.”
“What about you two?” Sally asked before he could go on.
“I’ll get to that,” Joe said holding out a placating hand. “You should get out then and...” then the idea he’d been looking for came to him. There was a way he could do this alone after all. “Scrap that, Sam will be going with you too.”
“What are you talking about?” Sam asked.
“I think Maul will protect Sally as much as he can,” Joe said, “and if you are all in the same car as she is then he will have to protect you by default.” Joe then turned to Sally almost excited with his new idea.
“We’re going to need all of your bottles, Sally, both the full and the empty, and every other glass container we can get our hands on in the next ten minutes,” Joe said, an excited edge to his voice.
“What have you got in mind?” Sally asked.
“Just like we already planned,” Joe said winking, “Fire.”
“What do you need all the bottles for?” Sam asked.
“He wants to get close enough to throw them at the white trees and start a fire that way,” Susan said. “That’s it isn’t it?” she asked looking at Joe.
“In a nutshell,” he answered.
“How were you planning on getting all these bottles up to the white tree line on your own?” Sam asked.
“I don’t,” Joe said. “But I will need some help before you all leave.”
“What makes you think we’re just going to leave you here alone?” Sam asked.
“My duty is to you people,” Joe said. “Your duty Sam, is to get Susan out of here safely, and your duty Sally is to go with them and hopefully be able to use whatever influence you have on Maul to keep you all safe.”
“Why can’t you come with us then?” Sally asked, not bothering to assert the lack of influence she felt she had over Maul.
“We need as many fires as we can get going at once for this to spread the way we need it to. That means you will be tossing flaming bottles into the white trees as you go and I will be getting as large a fire as I can going at this side of things.”
Joe looked about the room and though he could see it wasn’t sitting well with any of the others; they could at least see where he was coming from. Susan began to cry again and this time Sam only stood motionless, his face blank as he silently accepted Joe was right.
“You still haven’t explained how you plan to get the bottles to the trees on your own,” Sam said.
“I don’t intend getting too much up there,” Joe said as his plan solidified in his mind. “I’m only going to bring a few bottles up and toss them around, unlit.”
“What good will that do?” Sally asked.
“They will go up when the fire reaches them and give it a little boost in the process,” Joe answered.
“I still don’t understand what you’re planning to do,” Sam said. Joe looked around at their expectant faces and for a moment he felt like he would not be able to talk such was the lump in his throat.
“This is the plan,” he began. “We get all the bottles filled with gas and stuff, some with torn up sheets for firebombs. I’ll get as many as I can up on to the roof of the tavern — I’ll explain that bit in a minute. As you drive down the mountain I need you, Sam, to light the ones you bring with you and throw them all around in the white trees on either side of the road to get the flames going.” They all nodded along that they understood so far and Joe went on. “While you’re doing that I will spread some of the bottles and gas cans around the outskirts of the town and then come back here to the tavern.”
“Those vines will just crush the car like they did mine,” Sam said.
“Maybe,” Joe admitted. “But perhaps the fire will cause them to either flee or else confuse it somehow. And then there’s Maul.”
“I don’t put too much stock in Maul Thorndean helping anyone,” Susan said bitterly.
“I’ve seen him save Sally already,” Joe said. “I think we all have. We just have to hope he’s able and willing to do it again.”
“And if we can’t get through?” Susan asked her eyes hot with an anger Joe knew was borne of fear.
“Then you’ll be no worse off than you are here, but at least you will have tried to survive.” Susan didn’t say anything back to this.
“Why do you need to get things up on the roof?” Sally asked to bring the talk back to Joe’s plan.
“That’s where I’m going to start the fire from,” he answered.
“You mean you’re going to let the white come all the way to the tavern first?” Sam asked.
“That’s right. There are some spray cans around and I’m going to use those to spray the trees from the roof once they are white and then set them alight. Once that’s started I’m going to throw out those firebomb bottles in every direction as far as I can. My hope is that all of these fires will begin to join up and then when they reach the bottles and cans I leave around the place they should explode and send fire in all directions, spreading it even farther and faster.”
“You think you can kill it like that?” Sally asked.
“It’s the only way I can imagine it can be done, but there are no guarantees,” Joe answered.
“You think there’s any way you can survive being in the middle of all that?” Sally asked now and her face too flashed with anger.
“I don’t intend surviving,” he answered tapping his gun. “But I hope to take this evil with me. Like I said, this is my duty, it comes with being a police officer.”
“We won’t let you do it,” Sally said. “Will we?” She looked to Susan and Sam.
“Sally,” Joe said before either could answer. “I know this is very hard, but this is how it has to be. If I go with you three and we don’t make it, this thing could live on to kill who knows how many more people. This way, we have a slight chance of you getting out to warn Emerson about this thing, and also a real chance to stop it in its tracks.”
“A slight chance,” Sally said sullenly.
“Our only chance,” Joe corrected her.
The wind sounded through the door and the fire crackled in the grate as they all looked around the room for what would be one of the last times. It was hard to think of Mercy gone but that was the most likely outcome this night.
“If we’re going through with this, we better get started now,” Sally said shedding one bulbous tear and wiping it away with her sleeve.
“Let’s light up the night,” Sam said defiantly.
Chapter 31
Sam and Joe moved all the gas to the tavern as the two women filled the bottles and cut up the sheets and soaked them. It was grim work, and the smell was powerful enough they had to open the window to let some cool clean air in.
“Don’t be too careful with that,” Sally said to Susan. “This building will go up in flames too so we can afford to have some on the floor.”
“I’m sorry you’re losing your business,” Susan said looking sadly at her.
“I’m sorry we’re all losing our homes,” Sally replied, “but that’s a small price to pay if we get out of this alive.” The last was said in the most upbeat tone Sally had been able to muster for what felt like a lifetime but in reality was only a few hours, a day at most. She could see Susan’s eyes on her and she knew there was a question behind them. “What is it?” Sally asked.
“Do yo
u think Maul did save you specifically?” Sally thought for a moment before answering,
“It certainly looked that way,” she said.
“I suppose you were the only one who ever was kind to him.”
“I suppose,” Sally said dipping another rag in gasoline and planting it in the neck of a bottle. “But then, I’m the only one around here who he never gave cause to treat him any different.” Susan nodded slightly at this answer but said nothing more on the subject.
Sam came in again and puffed out air in exhaustion.
“Joe’s gone off planting some of his bombs and he wants me to start putting some of these bottles in the car,” he said.
“Which car are we taking?” Susan asked.
“I suppose Jeff’s truck is the most rugged of what’s left,” Sam shrugged. The two women nodded in agreement and Sam took up a box of bottles and went outside.
“Have you noticed how much, I don’t know — happier doesn’t seem like the right word, but...”
“How changed Joe is since he came up with this plan?” Sally finished for Susan who nodded that this was indeed what she had been trying to say. “I have. I think his plan has given him a sense of purpose he’s probably never had before — and a determination to see it through to boot.”
“You can see in his eyes that his mind won’t be changed,” Susan said.
“He’s a brave man,” Sally said. “Foolish,” she added, “but brave.” They both smiled.
“Brave? Someone talking about me again?” Sam said joking as he re-entered. The two women extended their smiles to him.
“How many of these are we going to take with us?” Sally asked, referring to the bottles.
“I suppose two boxes will do it if we’re going to leave enough for Joe.”
“Right; you carry this second box out and I’ll get up and sweep some of the snow off the roof,” Sally said getting up.
“How are you going to get up there?” Sam asked in surprise.
“There’s stairs down the hall with a door than opens out. The roof is mainly flat up there and slopes around the edges. I don’t know who designed the place or why but I’ve always kept a yard brush up there for heavy snow in case the roof might cave in one day. I go up every couple of days when it’s like this; I was only up there day before last.” Susan and Sam looked at one another with amusement; neither of them had known any of this before.
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