Ravenous

   Bret and Abby made an attempt to grab hold of her, but she quickly catapulted out of their reach. Molly let out a soft cry of pain, but remained terrifyingly quiet as she plummeted out of view. “Molly!” Abby cried.

  “Hush!” Bret hissed sharply.

   “But…”

   “Shut up Abby, Molly did.”

   Abby grew quiet but I could almost hear her tears. My heart hammered in true panic. Was Molly ok? Had she been hurt in the fall? I had no way of knowing what the hell was at the bottom of the damn hill; I could barely see a foot in front of me due to the inescapable blackness. Were there rocks down there? Was the damn ocean down there?

   I chanced a glance over my shoulder; I could barely make out Cade and Aiden struggling down the hill behind us. Their breathing was loud in the oppressive air, but then, so was mine. My lungs labored, my throat burned. It could not be good to be inhaling this crap, but there was little I could do about that now. Little that any of us could do.

   A loud pop sizzled through the air. A bright burst of light and fire leapt high into the air over the burning glow behind the store. A propane tank perhaps? I tried to recall the buildings in the area of the bridge. There was the IHOP, a hotel; no there were twohotels, a laundry mat, convenience store, gas station, funeral home, tourist traps, woods, and plenty of homes. There were so many things to spread the growing flames, things that would rapidly catch fire without anyone to stop the flow of the fire.

   And the aliens would not stop it. Not when they knew it would flush out the remaining people like rats fleeing a flood. And that’s exactly what we were now, trapped rats that they would narrow in on quickly. Especially if we continued to head toward the water.

   My heart flip flopped; I tore my attention away from the hated flames. Was that the real reason the aliens had destroyed the bridge? Had they wanted to ruin any chance of escape, and set fire to the land in order to draw us out?

   I wanted to cry, I didn’t dare. We still had some hope, some time, no matter how small it was. We just had to get away from here before the flames reached us.

   I was so intent on my thoughts that I didn’t realize the ground had begun to level out. Molly came into view, standing at the bottom of the hill. She was dirty, disheveled, and her bottom lip was bleeding but she appeared otherwise unharmed. We raced across the street, fleeing into the backyards of residential homes, staying parallel with the railroad tracks that ran near the beach. The tracks followed the water and the roads, yet the trees surrounding them offered us enough protection to stay hidden from anything above.

   Our breathing grew labored, my lungs were burning from the arid air, but no one asked to stop. No one said they couldn’t go on. It simply wasn’t an option right now. I don’t know how long we ran for, pounding over unseen ground, trying to escape the dark ash and deadly flames. I didn’t dare look back, I didn’t want to know how close the fire was, didn’t want to know how much time we had left.

   “This way,” Aiden gasped.

   We followed silently as he took a sharp right; he darted through someone’s yard before stopping at the edge of the woods. I stared out at the dark parking lot before us. Dread filled me at the thought of ru

   Aiden and Cade dropped the equipment they had been carrying. They shuffled between each other, muttering softly, and then a small flashlight clicked on. “Aiden!” I hissed.

   His mahogany eyes were dark, piercing as he gazed at me over the beam. I was pi

   I bit my bottom lip as I finally turned back to the hungry fire. Above the tree line I could make out the angry glow of the flames. We had gained some time, but there was too much kindling and fuel in between the fire, and us, to think that it had been much. We had an hour, maybe two, before those flames came far too close for my liking.

   “Why are there only four tanks?”

   My head snapped around at Je

   But no matter how I turned that box, no matter how I twisted it in my head, I still only saw four tanks within it. “They were the only ones,” Cade said softly.

   “I saw at least ten tanks in that store!” Je

   Cade’s dark eyes were piercing; Je

   My heart plummeted; my legs suddenly became so weak I could hardly stand. I slumped to the ground, despair filling me, tears burning my already burning eyes. The ash was not as thick here, but it would be soon. I stared out at the parking lot toward the glimmering, beckoning ocean beyond. There were still some boats floating out there, bobbing silently on the small waves that lapped against them. They taunted me with their presence; they would be so useful right now. One of them could save us. But to climb on one, start it up, and use it would be certain death. We were trapped, stuck, and staring at the things that could rescue us.

   “What are we going to do?” Abby breathed.

   “Share them,” Molly answered simply as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

   I swallowed heavily at the suggestion. It was such a long swim to be sharing tanks, especially when most of us didn’t have a clue as to what we were doing. I turned to Cade, trying not to give way to my panic. His eyes burned into mine. Though he wasn’t within reach, I could feel the soothing caress of his presence on my raw soul. Simply looking at him gave me strength.

   “Is that possible?” Je

   “It’s going to have to be,” Molly muttered her attention riveted upon the contents of the box as she pawed through it.

   I watched with growing unease as she began to pull things out and lay them neatly upon the ground.

CHAPTER 17

   I felt like swamp thing/idiot as I walked/wobbled toward the edge of the water. I also felt completely exposed. It was only a brief moment that we would be in the open, only a brief moment in which there was a chance we would be spotted, but that moment was far too big for my liking.

   We had avoided the parking lot area, moving further down the shoreline to a more secluded spot. It was a long distance to the mainland from here, but we had all opted for a longer swim rather than longer exposure time. Molly, as the only one with experience, was the only one with her own tank. It would be better if she possessed it and was able to help out if something went wrong, or someone panicked. Molly and Aiden were also the only ones with compasses.

   I glanced at Cade, my eyes lingering upon the rope tying us together, tying allof us together, except for Molly. She would need to be free if something went wrong and her help was needed. I didn’t like this, not one bit. Though the ocean was vast and wide open, I could already feel a growing sense of panic at being trapped beneath its rolling waves.

   Aiden and Abby had been paired together in the front; Bret and Je