by Donnie Light
Even in the dim light of early morning, Audra could see Galen’s face was nearly white. Sweat beaded on his forehead and ran down the sides of his face. His dark t-shirt had a wet v-shape down the front, soaked with perspiration. He breathed in heavy sighs.
Audra was breathing heavily herself. The snakes, translucent and white, were nearly at Galen’s feet when she had gotten to him. Their beady red eyes glowed fiercely as they slithered toward him. She had to fight with herself to approach them, even to rescue Galen. Her fear of snakes went back as far as she could remember. There was nothing she could think of that scared her as much.
“You…alright?” she asked.
Galen didn’t answer.
“Galen?” she asked again, placing her hand over his.
Galen still did not respond. Audra grabbed his shoulder and began shaking him. “Galen! Answer me! Are you alright?”
Galen looked at her now and she almost wished he hadn’t. A gasp escaped her when she saw the look in his eyes. They were so saturated with fear that her own fear nearly doubled.
She had left the accident and tried to follow him, losing him just after the first turn. Searching the adjoining roads, she knew he could not have gotten far. She had come upon him from behind. Slowing, she honked the horn. He acted as if he never heard it. She saw the orb steadily approaching him. That is when she stopped the car and jumped out.
He continued to look at her, eyes still dripping with fear but said nothing. Audra continued to drive ahead, having no idea of where she was, or where she was going.
“Galen,” she said. “Where should we go?”
He continued to stare, but said nothing. Audra felt he wasn’t even looking at her, but through her.
“Galen!” she yelled.
His eyes seemed to focus and she could tell that he heard her. She could see the transformation in his face as if he had been sleeping with his eyes open, then suddenly waking up. He shook his head and placed his hands at his temples as if nursing a severe headache.
“Oh, God…” he mumbled.
It was all coming to him now; the accident, the dead and the injured. He remembered the orb appearing. He remembered running. More than anything, he remembered those faces; those horrible, pathetic, suffering faces. Galen shuddered and began to weep.
“Oh, my God,” he cried.
“Galen, what’s wrong? What’s the matter with you?”
“All those poor people!” he cried. “I…I couldn’t do a thing! They kept calling me, but I was too afraid. I couldn’t go in there. Damn, Damn, DAMN!”
He buried his face in his hands and wept.
Audra, totally confused and scared, tried to get him to talk. “What people, Galen? What people are you talking about?”
“The people in the fire!” he cried. “They needed me but I was too damned scared to help them!”
“What fire? Galen, what are you talking about?” She began to cry herself. “Galen, you’re scaring the Hell out of me!”
Galen began to realize he was talking nonsense. He felt as if he had just awoken from a horrible dream, realizing the horrors had not really happened—except in his head.
He remembered a fire in Chicago where he had gotten his first full-time firefighting job. An apartment building had caught fire and Galen had gone into the building on a search and rescue mission. The air-pack he wore had felt tremendously heavy. The bottled air had been dry and heavy in his lungs. He climbed the stairs of the smoke-filled building with the other two members of his team, crawling on their hands and knees, lugging a fire hose along with them. Galen had felt the level surface of a landing and the team spread down the smoky hall. He had breathed so hard he thought he would drain his air supply and not make it back out. The team had come to a door and pushed it open.
Flames had been clinging to the walls of the room. Through the heavy smoke, Galen had seen a faint light where the windows were. The fire had swept toward the broken windows, searching for the air it needed to survive. The leader of Galen’s team had trained the hose on the rioting flames, sending the fire into retreat. Galen had spotted the burned bodies of three victims on the floor.
The bodies had been burned beyond recognition and Galen could not tell if they had been male or female, young or old. The team had battled the flames for control of the room. They had made their way toward the bodies. Upon reaching them, Galen had turned one over. The back of the body had been scorched, the hair burned off, the skin a dry, bubbly black. The body had been lying face down, and when he rolled it over, he could make out the face, unburned where it lay against the floor. Parts of the clothing had been sheltered from the flames by the body and the bright colors had looked odd in the colorless black and gray of the rest of the room.
The team, knowing the people were dead, had forced the flames back; back until they were just smoldering wisps of steam and smoke.
Galen had been unsure of his career as a firefighter after that day. It took hours of counseling before he realized he could continue being a firefighter. He had decided to leave Chicago and soon afterwards found his way to Willow River Fire and Rescue.
The nightmares of that day in Chicago still haunted him on occasion and Galen’s worst fear was that he may someday relive such a devastating scenario.
“You didn’t see the fire?” he asked Audra, trying to reassure himself it really had been some kind of dream.
“Galen, for God’s sake, what are you talking about?”
“The fire… I was running from the ball and when I looked back there was this horrible wall of fire creeping along behind me.” He took a deep breath. “I know this sounds crazy. It even does to me now. But then, then, when it was happening, it was so real, so damned real!”
Audra looked at him, her eyes swollen from crying. Tears caused her cheeks to shine slickly and her mouth hung open with a string of saliva stretching from her top lip to her bottom lip.
“There were people in the fire, Audra. They were burning up. They were still alive, but their bodies were ablaze. They called to me to help them, but I… I couldn’t do anything.”
Galen looked away from her and gazed at the farmland passing by his window. He felt somewhat ashamed that he had not helped the people in the fire, even though he knew now it could not have been real. Maybe it had not been real, but the feeling of terror remained in his gut, way down deep.
“Take me home, Audra. Please, take me home.”
“I don’t even know where we are,” she said.
The sun was now well above the horizon and they were driving straight toward it.
“We’re heading east,” Galen said. “We can find out where we are at the next little town.” He glanced at the gas gauge, which read less than a quarter of a tank. “We need gas and something to eat. Then we can head back to The Willows and call this guy Paxon.”
Audra nodded and began looking for a road that went south. She wiped the wet remnants of the tears from her eyes and concentrated on her driving. All that crazy talk about the fire and the people had scared her badly. She had only seen the white snakes and the ball, glowing as bright as a headlight. That had been bad enough. She had certainly seen no fire and no burning bodies. She wanted to tell Galen about the snakes, but waited. Maybe, she thought, they were suffering some kind of hallucinations. He, like herself, hadn’t had any sleep. Maybe it was a combination of stress, exhaustion, and the absurdity of the ball that had caused them to see whatever it had been. She had no sooner thought these things when she noticed Galen had leaned against the car door and had closed his eyes.
The next town to the south had turned out to be Oakton. The town bustled in its small town, early morning way.
A rotund little man swept the sidewalk in front of the local grocery, clad in his white apron. The donut shop on the corner had a steady stream of customers going in empty-handed and coming out eating rolls and drinking coffee. A telephone truck was parked on the wrong side of the road preparing to get the day started. Shops were beginni
ng to open their doors along the main street. Sorry, we’re CLOSED signs were being flipped over to read Come in, we’re OPEN.
Audra drove along, searching for gas and food. She spotted two cafes, directly across the street from each other. The town was too small for fast food chains to have moved in yet. She hoped to grab something quick, and eat it on the road. Instead, it looked like they would to have to sit in a cafe and wait for the food to be prepared. She had no idea how far behind the ball-thing was or how much time they had before it would find them again.
She spotted a convenience store and gas station combination and decided to get gas first. She pulled the Mustang up to pump #4. As she moved around the car she noticed Galen waking up in the front seat. He stretched his arms out behind his head and yawned deeply. Audra removed the gas cap and began filling the tank.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“Oakton,” she replied. “There are a couple of cafes in town if you’re hungry.”
He nodded and shuffled toward the building.
When Audra entered after filling the car, she found Galen at the checkout counter paying for the gas, along with a diet soda and a pack of Salems.
“Anything you need?” he asked her as she walked over.
“A toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste would be nice,” she said, opening and closing her mouth, indicating how sticky it was.
“Good thinking,” he said. “See if you can find two.”
The cashier patiently waited as Audra browsed through the aisles. After a moment, she appeared with the required items plus a bottle of Listerine. She placed two toothbrushes on the counter, (pink for her and blue for Galen, so as not to get them mixed up) and pushed them, the mouthwash and the toothpaste toward the cashier. She rang up their purchase and they headed back toward the car.
“Want me to drive for awhile?” Galen asked as they approached the Mustang.
“Think you’re up to it?” she asked.
“Sure, no problem,” he said, flexing the fingers of his bandaged hand. “It feels a lot better this morning.”
Galen sat in the driver’s seat, his knees hitting on the steering wheel.
“I didn’t realize you were so short,” he said as he searched for the lever to slide the seat back.
“I’m not short,” she said. “You’re just taller than me, that’s all.”
Galen managed to get comfortable and drove back toward downtown. He parked in front of one of the cafes and looked into the window.
“Looks kind of busy in there,” he said. He turned to look at Audra who was looking across the street at the other cafe. She was wondering if it was any less crowded and if so, why?
“How long did it take us to get here?” Galen asked.
“About thirty minutes, I guess.”
Galen did some quick calculations in his head, wondering how accurate they would be.
“Let’s not spend more than thirty minutes in here,” he said. “We should be safe with that.”
They got out of the car and walked to the cafe across the street. They entered and Galen lead them to the only unoccupied booth.
They ordered breakfast from a young girl named Jennifer and ate as they discussed their next move. They spoke quietly, not wanting to be overheard by the locals who sat all around them. Within the half-hour limit they were back on the road. Their stomachs were satisfied and their minds more relaxed after the meal.
Galen was driving as Audra looked at a map, searching out the shortest route to Willow River. Galen was watching the road, deep in thought.
“Did you see the ball while we were at the accident scene?” he asked.
“Yea. After you yelled, I climbed out of the ditch. It passed by me while you were running for the car.”
Galen nodded. “The car with no keys in it, I might add,” he said, heavily laced with sarcasm.
“Excuuuuse me!” Audra said. “I have a habit of removing the keys from my car when I park it. It deters auto theft!”
“Yea?” Galen said. “Well, it damn well could have gotten us killed in this case!”
“What do you mean, us? You were about to save your own skin and leave me there with that thing!”
“It was after me! What did you want me to do?”
“It would’ve been nice for you to have thought of me. What would I have done if you’d taken the car and the thing turned on me?”
“The same damn thing that I did. Run your ass off! And then I would have…” Galen realized she had done the same thing he would have done. “… come and found you. Like you did for me,” he said, now sorry he had gotten so upset.
Galen looked at Audra who had turned away from him. He could not tell if she was hurt or angry, without seeing her face.
“Audra, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get upset with you. It’s just that—”
Audra looked at him and Galen still could not tell if she was mad or hurt that he had yelled at her.
Maybe that’s why his first marriage had bombed. He just could not seem to read a woman’s face. He also seemed to be able to get into an argument with a woman over the stupidest things. He hadn’t meant to bring up the thing about the keys. It just came out.
“It’s okay, Galen,” she said. “We’re both under a lot of stress right now. Who wouldn’t be? Let’s just drop it and get back to The Willows. I’m tired and I’d like to sleep for a few minutes on the way back. Okay?”
Galen nodded. Yep, she’s pissed, he thought as she turned back around and leaned against the door. He couldn’t blame her. If he had a nickel for every time he had done the same thing to his first wife, Laurie, he would be a rich man.
He remembered having a nice pleasant conversation with Laurie that would suddenly become hostile. He would say something that made her feel stupid or inadequate in some way. He did not mean to do it and was always sorry for it afterward. But a woman could only accept sorry so many times.
He liked Audra a lot and really thought she was a bright, intelligent woman. He had thought the same thing about Laurie or he wouldn’t have married her. If I can’t learn to keep my foot out of my mouth, I’ll never be able to keep a good woman around, he thought.
They drove the rest of the way to Willow River in silence. Audra leaned against the door and slept. They entered The Willows at mid-morning. Galen drove straight to his house and woke Audra.
“I’m gonna take a quick shower and change clothes,” he told her. “If you want to do the same, why don’t you just meet me back here when you’re done?”
Audra got out of the car and walked to the driver’s side.
“We can go over to Al’s and try to call this Paxon guy,” Galen continued.
Audra reached for the door handle and hesitated.
“I’ve been thinking,” she started, “I might just take my chances alone. I don’t want to slow you down, Galen.” She pulled the door open.
“Don’t…” Galen bit his tongue before blurting out the rest of what he was about to say. Don’t be stupid, Audra! He had almost done it again.
“Don’t go, Audra,” he managed to say instead. “I’m sorry for what I said back there. I really am.”
Audra was drawing little lines in the gravel driveway with the toe of her shoe while leaning against the open door.
“I don’t know, Galen. Maybe it would be better if we—”
Her words were cut short when Galen slowly, but firmly, grabbed her arms and pulled her close to him.
“I want you with me,” he said.
Their chests were touching, sending a certain excitement through them both. Audra looked at him uncertainly and started to pull away. Galen gently pulled her closer and could feel her resistance fade away.
“I can’t think of anybody I would rather face this thing with,” he said, “except… maybe, Superman.”
Audra giggled and they looked into each other’s eyes. A moment of uncertainty passed between them, just before Galen kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head
against his chest, squeezing him tight.
“I changed my mind,” Galen said.
Audra looked at him, uncertain of what he meant.
“Not even Superman,” he said, and kissed her again.
– Chapter 10 –
Tobias shrieked as the young Indian swung the hatchet. He heard the hatchet bite into the tree and shuddered as he felt the bindings around him loosen.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the young brave grinning wide and nodding at him as he backed away. His body was dark in the light of the fire. His long, black hair was riding on his shoulders. Within seconds, all of the warriors were gone. Tobias could hardly believe they had actually been there, except the bodies of Vince and Luke were still lying near the fire. He could hear the horses in the distance as the Indians led them through the woods.
The Creeks, Tobias thought. The tribe lived in and around the great swamps of the southeast where their ancestors had built a way of life they still knew. He had heard stories of the Creek Indians. They had been known to help runaway slaves. Sometimes, they had even taken the slaves into their camps and protected them. One story told of a Creek Chief who had taken a slave girl as his wife. He had found her as a runaway. She had become a Creek, living with them as one of their own.
The Creeks were also enemies of the white men. The whites were stealing their land. The native tribes and the slaves had a common bond; their battles against the overpowering white men. The same white men who sought to steal the way of life from those who had a different colored skin.
Tobias sat for a few moments; wanting to be sure he wasn’t dreaming. He pushed away the loose ropes and stood up. The pain in his side caused him to slump. He was unable to stand fully erect without the pain becoming too intense. He palpated his aching side, certain his ribs had been broken.
The slave hobbled over to where he had dropped the pouch. Sinking to his hand and knees, he felt about for it. When his probing fingers brushed against it, he felt a shock travel the length of his arm. Picking up the pouch, he placed it in its now accustomed resting spot; nestled between his right arm and his side. The energy coursed through Tobias as he rolled over onto his back. He basked himself in its warmth and felt the power of the gods pumping through his veins.
