Intermix Nation

Cayus also stands, causing everyone in thehut to rise apprehensively. “Even the intermix of the slums are notimmune to the gossip of the world,” he says, looking curiouslybetween the two of them. “You come here and ask me to forgive.Nazirah Nation, daughter of Kasimir Nation, lover of Adamek Morgen,how have you forgiven him?”

Nazirah opens her mouth, completely preparedto lie to the best of her ability. But Cayu rushes franticallyinside the hut, cutting her off. “Father!” he screams, pointingoutside. “The ca

Loud booms shake the ground. Cayus pulls theflap of the hut entrance open, disappearing outside. Nazirah cansee plumes of black smoke rising in the distance. The Medi vehiclesretreat, as a huge fire begins to eat up row upon row of huts.Nazirah watches breathlessly as hundreds of intermix men runtowards the ocean, preparing to fill wooden buckets with water.

Aldrik and Adamek run outside to help.“Nation, stay here!” Adamek shouts at her, before sprinting towardsthe massive ball of flames.

“Let go!” Cayu screams, trying to break freeof Casha, who holds onto his tiny wrist. He clearly wants to helphis father. Casha looks overwhelmed, trying to handle her smallchildren, but Nazirah ca

“I’ll be back!” Nazirah yells at Casha andrushes out of the hut.

Nazirah darts down the rows, searching foranyone who may have been trampled in the chaos. Getting closer tothe inferno, Nazirah feels the heat scorch through her body. Smokefills her lungs and she coughs into her hand. The acrid smell ofburning wood, metal, and flesh sears the air. Sweat and fear soakher clothes. Several meters away, she sees Adamek and Cayus joiningthe massive effort to quell the flames.

Men surround the wall of fire, beating itdown with wet rags, towels, and clothes – anything that willsuffocate the flames. Others form a human chain, an endless systemtransporting buckets to and from the ocean. The fire has alreadydecimated dozens of huts and is quickly engulfing more,incinerating everything in its path.

Squinting, Nazirah sees Cander and severalEridians rushing down the shoreline to help. The smoke is thickernow, heavier. Nazirah’s arms are red and blistering. She bendsover, trying to catch her breath, just as a small boy sprints pasther. Nazirah doesn’t need to look twice to know who it is. “Cayu!”she yells.

Nazirah races after him, screaming his name.But he’s too far gone, already several yards ahead in the distance.Nazirah musters every last ounce of strength she has, ru

Nazirah ploughs forward, tripping over adead body in the lane. She gags but doesn’t stop. Someone grabs herfrom behind, slings her over their shoulder. “Put me down!” Nazirahscreams, kicking furiously.

Adamek drops her harshly and grabs hold ofNazirah’s arm. His face is full of ash, but his green eyes blazebrighter than the fire, furious. “What are you doing here?” hegrowls, yanking her forcefully away from some falling debris. “Itold you to stay put! You never listen!”

“Cayu ran here!” she cries. They both duckas the hut beside them collapses. “I have to find him!”

“I’ll find him!” he yells. “Get out of here,Nation!”

“No!” she shouts, wrenching her arm from hisgrasp. She runs away from him and back towards the wall of fire.Adamek shouts her name, chasing after her. Nazirah doesn’t knowwhich of them is the faster ru

Nazirah runs in the direction she last sawCayu, jumping over burning pieces of debris. Adamek is right behindher. He tries to grab her, but she ducks into the adjacent row ofhuts. Nazirah spots Cayu right at the encroaching wall of fire,about twenty huts away. She watches in complete horror as Cayuthrows some water from a small pail onto the flames. He’s sofocused he doesn’t see the collapsing hut until it’s too late.Moments later, he’s trapped underneath the rubble.

Adamek comes up behind Nazirah, spottingCayu only a moment later. They look at each other andsimultaneously sprint to Cayu’s aid. Nazirah is fast, but Adamek isfaster. Adamek reaches him with Nazirah a step behind, and pulls anunconscious Cayu from the rubble just as the fire begins to catch.Nazirah leads them away from the heat as Adamek holds Cayu in hisarms.

As they run, Nazirah can see that Cayus hasintentionally destroyed dozens of huts near the blaze, clearing thedebris in order to starve the fire of more fuel. Through therelentless efforts of intermix and Eridian, the flames are beingsuffocated. By the time Adamek and Nazirah reach Cayus’ hut, thefire has mostly died, leaving only smoldering remains and a thickblack plume of smoke.

Casha waits at the hut entrance, where theair is still breathable, holding a wailing infant in her arms andlooking petrified. She nearly faints when she sees Adamek walk inwith Cayu. Adamek gently lays the boy on the floor of the hut.Casha hands the infant to an already frazzled Nazirah and thenrushes over to her son and cradles him in her arms. The three ofthem exhale when Cayu coughs and his breathing steadies.

“Thank you!” Casha sobs, bordering onhysteria. “I can never repay you for this!” Nazirah is frankly moreconcerned about the finicky baby in her arms. She tries to sootheit, wincing as it pulls her hair with its tiny fists.

“It’s not a bad look for you,” Adamek says,absurdly trying to lighten the mood. Casha quickly pulls the babyaway, cooing.

Nazirah runs her fingers through her hair,laughing a little insanely, completely unable to process thesituation. Cayus and Cander walk inside, weary and exhausted. Theyboth have minor burns on their arms and faces. Aldrik enters last,hacking loudly and collapsing onto the nearest stool. Some of hishair has burned off, the rest still sizzling, and he has lost hiseye patch. As soon as Cayus sees Cayu, he falls to the ground,kneeling before him and sobbing.

“He ran off,” Nazirah explains.

“You saved my son,” Cayus says softly toher.

She shakes her head, then nods silently atAdamek. Cayus looks at him, bewildered. Nazirah can see theamazement behind his eyes, and the sadness as well. Cayus returnsto his son, stroking his cheek tenderly.

“Well,” grumbles Aldrik,coughing loudly and rising in pain, “we will leave you to mournyour deaths in privacy.” He looks at Nazirah and Adamek pointedly.“We should go.”Nazirah knows what Aldrik is really implying – that this fire wasnot meant for the slumdwellers.

The three of them, along with Cander, exitthe hut and stand awkwardly before the entrance. Nazirah nervouslywipes the ash from her face with the back of her hand. She can’tleave yet. There’s something she has to do, something she has putoff for far too long. “Excuse me, Aldrik,” she says, immediatelywincing because he is bound to know something is up. Nazirah isnever this polite. She clears her throat, trudging on. “This isCander Caal, Cato’s older brother.”

Aldrik eyes her suspiciously. “We metyesterday,” he says, “at the meeting.”

“Right,” Nazirah mumbles. “Well, you see,his family is like family to me … you know how close I am to Cato …and I haven’t seen them in so long. I was hoping I could walk backwith Cander to his house and visit them quickly … just for a fewminutes … and then Cander will walk me back to the i

Cander and Adamek look at Nazirahquizzically, since they both know she’s lying. She tries to look asi

“Of course,” Cander lies smoothly.

“Fine,” Aldrik concedes. “But don’t be long,Nation. And don’t be seen! The Medis know of our presence in Rafu;we’re not safe here anymore. We leave in an hour. Morgen, I’ll bewaiting in the car.” He hobbles away.