Fire Fury Freedom

by Amanda Rose

  It didn’t last long; blue sky was disappearing from their line of sight. Green, brown and white hues imbedded within the grey funnel, obstructing the sky. The velocity of the wind was speeding up, and the sheer power was scary. It was starting to pull at them, into the fury of its wrathful gusts. Their bodies began to lift, only anchored down with the minor hold of grasping hands. Suspended in mid air they felt temporary weightlessness, and it was as exhilarating as it was devastatingly frightful. “I love you!” Vince yelled to Suako, conceiving of his more than probable death. She couldn’t have possibly heard him in all the commotion, but she could swear she had.

  Thud! Against the metal they fell, and the light faded. Only the agitating red light, now flickering horribly, provided any light for them. The warmth of the concealed tunnel thawed skin quickly. Aches and sharp dry awareness returned to their bodies. As much to their discomfort, as it was to their pleasure it came back, for the one good thing about pain was that it was the one assurance that they were still alive.

  As much as the twisters spun around, their mental conditions twirled about, the disorientation was strong. Every move felt odd and slightly out of their control. Limbs were still shaky under their guidance. They shivered and twitched as their nerves were revalidating their bodies. Odd prickly vibrations under the skin made them feel like blobs of cytoplasm, feeling all the functions of a cell at work take place.

  An unforgettable moan from Mack ended everyone’s self-directed attention; Mack was injured badly. Kato and Mei stood up, and glass tingled as it fell off them and hit the floor. They made their way over to Mack quickly. Jenko had been by Mack’s side the entire time, he had saved his life. “Jenko! Is he ok?” Mei asked looking down with a wrinkled brow in slight horror. “He’s is rough shape…” Jenko replied morbidly. “Shi’… Mack…” Kato looked down sympathetically.

  “Yu-Lee?” Jenko called over to the mangled mess of bags and protruding legs in the corner. They moved, and an undefined noise came from below them as she began to stir. Kairu pulled himself free of the grasping-shaking wreck Masumi, who clung to the floor still yet for dear life. Kairu went to help Yu-Lee, lifting the bags free, off her covered body, and offered her a hand up. On her feet, Yu-Lee felt light-headed, but it soon settled. She grabbed at Kairu’s hand and balanced on him as she lifted a hand to her head.

  “Wha…” Yu-Lee began to say, then shook her head and regrouped. “What is it Jenko?” she asked a few seconds later. “I need a cloth for making a bandage,” Jenko replied. “S… sure,” she nodded, and then turned to look for one in the baggage. In spinning around, she engaged the instability she had before and toppled over, luckily landing mostly on the soft cushy bags, but she also bumped against something blunt which she grunted about. Kairu helped her back up. “Thank you,” she said notching her neck. With a little body shake she straightened herself out and went back to look, carefully.

  Emerging, successfully and without another fall, she went over to Jenko and handed him the cloth. Uneasily, Jenko moved Mack’s hand away from his face, the muscles on the left side of Mack’s face clenched tightly. Jenko hesitantly pressed the fabric gently down on the gory mess, the cloth’s pure-white color absorbed the blood, migrating it to velvet red. Mack’s hand tightened to a fist, soaked in crimson blood, and protruding veins stood out on his fisting arm. Drip! Drip! As he squeezed the blood dripped onto the floor. Suako and Vince just sat there watching with sympathetic hearts.

  Mack eventually passed out; there was a final grunt and he lost consciousness, and his tensed muscles went limp. They were grateful for that at least. Jenko used some water to clean the wound, the gushing had finally subsided. Then he got Yu-Lee to get him find a fresh cloth. She handed him a small cotton washcloth. Jenko used some twine and tied it down over Mack’s eye.

  None of them could get back to sleep after the terrifying events. Masumi had released her death grip on the floor, but she was still in shock. They all sat around silently, nothing seemed to be the right thing to say. The red light continued to flicker, and the open cart was getting cold. They put on their coats and leaned against the walls. The space was now wide open, cleared of the once cramping wooden crates.

  Mei leaned her head against Kato. Then pulled it back away, “Ouch!” the silence breaker drew everyone’s attention. She had a minor nick on her cheek which she touched with her hand then pulled it away to see a petite speckle of red. Kato tried turned his head to look at Mei, and then knew why she’d jumped away from him…he couldn’t turn his head. “Kato, you’re neck! Oh shit!” Mei looked at him fretfully.

  A piece of the shattered glass had wedged its way into the crook of Kato’s neck. He hadn’t even felt it until now, and it wasn’t bleeding much by any means. The muscle appeared as if it were a base to a trophy. The base incision was large, and forming up from the base the glass came to a point, making a pyramid. Mei ogled at it.

  “Ya’ need to ge’ it out,” Kato said, head facing straight forward. “Ok…” Mei got on her knees and prepared to pull it free. She reached up, nervously biting down on her bottom lip. Mei placed her fingers on it. “D… Does it hurt?” she couldn’t help but ask first. “Nope,” he replied, swallowing his fear, eyes forward. Mei pulled, and Kato didn’t even flinch. It came free with a gushy sound, which disgusted Masumi. It left a shallow two-inch gash, though Kato couldn’t feel any pain. It had missed the nerve they figured. Not knowing what else to do she handed Kato the glass piece.

  Yu-lee waddled over to him on her knees. She had a metal coil, which she’d straightened, and had some thread, which she untangled from one of her sweaters. Kato eyed the glass. “Here, I’ll sow you up,” she said attaching the thread to the improvised needle. Mei scooted aside to give them room. Kato looked down to try to see the gash before she began. Stitch, stitch, stitch…

  Uncomfortable hunger leered inside Masumi, but she refused to say anything. It felt selfish at the time. Oddly, she almost felt a bloating sensation in her stomach. The hunger was playing tricks on her mind. Her stomach grumbled, and she crossed her arms and leaned her head back against the wall with eyes drifting shut, trying to ignore it.

  Kairu wondered when Mack would wake up. There was a puddle of blood that his head lay in, and although Jenko was cleaning that up, it smeared across the metal ridges in the floor. The grotesque images revolved around in Kairu’s mind vividly. Flick! Flick! The red light finally went out and they were enclosed in a darkness that reflected on circumstance perfectly...

  Whooo-Whooo! The whistle sounded. They had reached Tomakomai at last.

  Commitment calls for self sacrifice...

  The natural world is collapsing… Are we too late?

  Chapter 21: Tomakomi

  They surfaced from the underground tunnel, and the bright light of early morning stung their eyes. After what may as well have been an eternity after the red light dimmed out, there was finally light. It took a while for eyes to adjust accordingly, and Mack was even beginning to stir. After their eyes adjusted they could see a light smog covered the sky like a fog. The black of the burning coal trailed upward.

  Vince looked up, and he felt like he might be looking unto heaven. It was so large and grand, more so than he had expected. It made him feel very small. In this foreign land, sitting there, Vince looked up and felt his breath leave him…. Tomakomai was unreal.

  Mountainous building stretched on and on, further than the eye could see. Sitting in the train cabin, Vince couldn’t see the bases of the buildings, nor even begin at this point to imagine them. The tops seemed to touch the sky they were so tell. The buildings were all reflective with glass windows, between their concrete structures, which sparkled like crystals under the bright sun. Structures of various heights towered upward, and many neon signs labelled the buildings. Tomakomai was quite the spectacle to new eyes.

  One place stood out in particular, it lay ahead, and was in the centre of all of the other buildings. It was taller, much taller, than the others, and at least
five times as wide. Something about the way the light reflected on it shone a spectrum of orange, pink, yellow and green that captivated Vince. The colors danced as the train moved him closer towards the building. Gold tints twinkled here and there radiantly, and he was lost in the bliss of colour.

  Suako looked on at the city; the immensity of the central building was unsettling. She wondered how anyone could ever construct such a thing. It had lacked feeling, it stood cold, and intimidating. The building commanded power, and obedience.

  Had they spoken about it, she’d have known Yu-Lee and Mei looked at it with the same regard. Masumi had never thought about it. It was always just a big city to her, some happy memory of a childhood excursion, but seeing it now, after all they’d been through, it struck her for what it really was. Kairu didn’t know what to think as he looked on idly without prejudgement. He simply absorbed the sights.

  Jenko peered up to look, and at the same time, he took in a nice clean breath of air; it was revitalizing to be under a dome again. He wondered how this ‘City of Light’ could be so different from the dark depths of Torusan. Mack strained his right eye to see, though from the floor not much presented itself in his line of vision, but he had seen the glorious light. Mei stared at the city with one thing in her mind… revenge.

  Vince darted toward the vent, and he pulled himself up and looked out the slits. Sparkling buildings glittered the way leading up to the climatic city. He could see marvellous homes around the outskirts of the city. The houses had frosted windows, and were mostly three stories high. Beautiful yellows, rich maroons, cactus greens and soft blue hues colored the houses splendidly. Parks that were filled with glorious hedges, benches with black metal that curved into slender vine-like patters, and trees of all sorts pruned to look perfect. These parks were interspersed here and there as they based through the residential area, and even in the winter, covered in snow, they contained a few people walking through them. Vince could see the people in their extravagant clothing; fur coats, cashmere, suede, leather boots, wool hats and gloves. Sparing no expense, these people got the life that everyone deserved to get.

  Then, further inward into the metropolis, minor factories from which bellows of white steam and smoke rose, scattered around freely. They were quaint in their setting, and from these factories, many roads began to open to the rest of the city. Vince was flabbergasted by all the automobiles, back in Torusan, only in Grid One back in Torusan had he ever seen an accumulation of them, but this was much different. There were hundreds of cars that he could see from the distance he was at. Yet further inward towards the city center began the tall building of mirror glass, and finally, the central mega-building from which the entire city spiralled outward.

  Vince inhaled the images through his eyes; it was like a breath of fresh air for his soul. The images kindled his heart. He had previously imagined that he’d be coming up to a dark place from which hatred spawned from. But this was no such kingdom of evil, at least not visually.

  Vince felt his sleeve puff in as a gentle hand placed itself down on his upper arm. Suako decided to share the view. “It’s so beautiful…” she said in a breathless exhale. Her eyes glossed over; this was a moment she would never forget.

  Mesh fencing obstructed their view suddenly. Whooo-Whooo! The whistle went. Then it repeated itself again, and they could feel that they were slowing down. The train station approached not far in the distance, the same deep dark green covered this one too. “Time to leave,” Jenko said getting to his feet.

  Jenko and Kato helped stand Mack up. Their leader was light-headed and slightly woozy. The others collected their things and prepared to disembark. Mei yanked at the large metal door, her muscles flexed and popped the veins to the surface and she exuded the strength needed to pull. Twang! It finally came loose and opened. The sudden momentum of it practically dragged Mei along with it. She regained her footing quickly, then swiped her fingers through her short hair, the intense red of it highlighted by the magnifying sun.

  A gust of snow blew inside causing squints all around. The scenery passed by still with much speed, and they knew had to wait a little longer before they could jump. The cushion to their fall would have to be the snow, which all and all, didn’t seem that bad. They would have to judge wisely, not jumping while the train was going too quickly, but also not waiting until the train was too close to the station. Either fault could be fatal.

  The smearing of objects in the eyes slowly stopped as the train slowed, things stopped flashing by, and finally took shape. There were plenty of trees nearby to take cover in. The whistle blew again. Mei stuck her head out to look forward and could see the station was approaching. There was no time left to wait for the train to slow down; they had to jump now.

  “Everyone’s let’s go!” Mei yelled over the clanking metal of the wheels as they chugged along. Mei helped everyone out. The falls weren’t as soft as they had anticipated; bruises were sure to show up the next day. Jenko and Kato got Mack out as best they could, cushioning his fall. Lastly Mei fled the cabin, tumbling into the hard snow below.

  Their bodies felt stiff, and each of them would have loved to have just lain there and recuperated, but it was not an available option. They gathered their scattered luggage and headed for the sanctity of the trees. Mack, under the natural light, looked quite pale, and rather yellow. The two men helped him carefully away, disappearing like shadows, they vanished into the trees.

  A safe distance away, laying Mack down, they were finally able examine him properly. Jenko removed the bandage; it was messy. “Mack… Mack we need you to open your eye,” Jenko told Mack. With slight apprehension he complied. The lid opened up, and Jenko covered Mack’s right eye with his hand. “What can you see?” the grim question came from Jenko. His mutilated eye searched around. “Nothing,” Mack replied, then closed his eye. There was a solemn feel in the air. “Mack…” Mei lips parted as she drearily looked to him. Suako took his hand in hers. “We’re so sorry…”

  Jenko re-bandaged Mack’s eyes to prevent infection. Yu-Lee had pillaged the train for the nuts before she’d left, and she fed Mack once Jenko was done. He needed to regain his strength; as unpleasant as it was, they had to keep going. Mack would have to heal up quickly, bite the bullet, and continue onward. For now, though, they’d let him grieve his blind left eye.

  Pain gripped at Mack occasionally. It was dull mostly but the odd sharp needle like throb would occur, and those spasms were the most discomforting of all. Their first bit of business would be to find some medication to prevent infection. Being winter, there weren’t any herbs freely about to pick. They’d have to search within the city limits. That afternoon Mack declared he was ready to go, and though they were weary with his discoloration, he insisted they leave.

  Mack denied any help, he would walk on his own. and he was persistent. They finally caved and let him do it. Besides the frequency of his walking into objects his peripheral vision could no longer pick up, he did quite well on his own. Yu-Lee continued to have him fed, as stubborn as he was to have his way, she was just as forceful to feed him. His color improved by it, and she was not one he found easy to trifle with; her willful nature was too strong.

  Along the outskirts of the city limits they saw no one. Still they hid in the nearby brush as they walked, they had come too far had they come to risk it all now. Suako kept her gun handy. She took the rear and kept an eagle eye watch in constant motion of all directions. Kato watched the front with a silenced pistol; there was no room for discovery in their plans.

  They followed along the train tracks, and after twenty minutes of forest bound hiking, they reached the end of the fencing. With dedicated observation they checked out the area. No one was close, a few people in a park ahead, but they were specks in the distance. They prepared themselves to cross into the city. Masumi halted them.

  “Wait!” she held out her arm in front of Kairu who was just about to go. “What is it?” Kairu asked startled. Masumi huddled the group toge
ther. “What is it Masumi?” Mei seconded the question. “It just dawned on me, you can’t enter the city. Not wearing those clothes. We’ll be noticed,” Masumi explained. They looked at themselves and supposed she was right; their clothes were torn and dirty from their travels. “She’s right,” Yu-Lee said gazing at her robes, “Good eyes little one,” she smiled commendably.

  “Ok –S’ what d’ we do?” Kato looked up, rather peeved at the complication. “Well…” Jenko started and then fell silent, “I, uh, I dunno,” he turned away and scratched his head. “What if,” Masumi began, eyes envisioning her plan, “What if I go in and I can get you the garments? You could just wait here until I come back. I should be back by nightfall…” she suggested. “It’s risky,” Kairu cut her short. “But it’s a good idea,” Vince commented, seeing no other way, “besides, she’s dressed like everyone else here and she didn’t get her clothes messed up in the fighting. It isn’t all that risky, really.” “I agree, It’s the best option,” Mack spoke up. Kairu uneasily said no more. “Good, it’s settled then.” Masumi pulled her loot bag free of her backpack.

  Before she ran off Kairu pulled her aside, his guardian instinct for her was in full gear. “Listen Masumi, make sure you go to different shops, that much for that many different people, you know sizes and that, well it’d look suspicious, with the war on. Be safe,” he hugged her. A warm tingling sensation overcame Masumi. “I will Kairu. I’ll be back soon,” her eyes speaking deeper meaning than he saw. As she left, Vince stopped her a few feet away from the others, and they discussed something no one else could hear.

  Off she went. Dark against the snow, she quickly got across the open area. Up the hill she climbed, crossed the train tracks, and circled around the fence. Running at full tilt she reached the start of suburbia. Between houses she entered, and from there she left Kairu’s sight.