Disclaimer—See Chapter One
A/N: I just finished writing chapter 17, so still have one more chapter to write for this story. After that, I hope to be able to post more quickly. Thank you so much to MariShal, Fiery Feral, CatJerica, Rain, Lucy, Saphire Ravven8. I appreciate your feedback so much!! Quadrantje, welcome back! Sorry the story wasn't more clear for you! The idea behind the bugs and all the other little things, such as the smoke, streams becoming hot, earthquakes, etc are all meant to be hints of the volcano erruption. These are apparently precurors to erruptions. Insects can sense the coming danger and try to flee, causing plagues. I don't know what causes them to die, perhaps they are more sensitive to the gasses?? (Like how canaries were once used by miners. If the canary died, you knew trouble was coming and to get above ground). Sorry I can't answer that question better for you! :) Thank you everyone for your support!
Things More Beautiful—Chapter Ten
It was a day without sun. Instead the world was bathed in a blood red nightmare fountain of lava. Someone was screaming, that much was obvious. A woman ran by wildly, her eyes huge and bulging, her mouth gaping. But her scream was lost in the mountain's bombardment. With horror, Shalimar tore her eyes from the spewing volcano and exchanged grim looks with Brennan. Beside them, Jimmy was lying on his left side, eyes closed, and he wasn't moving. She watched as Brennan placed two fingers to his neck.
"He's alive."
Wordlessly, Shalimar looked back up at the sky. Even the pallid light was tinged red.
"There are no trucks left, Shal."
She nodded, taking count of the remaining agents. "There's got to be almost twenty people here, Brennan." Her voice was a whisper. "How do we get out of here?"
"Tsunami—"
Brennan and Shalimar glanced back down at Jimmy to see his eyes were open, wide and pale as he stared back at them.
"What?" Brennan's forehead wrinkled, bending down so he could better hear the man's pained words.
"Tsunami," Jimmy spoke tiredly. "If we go too far down the coast, we risk tidal waves. They are one of the common side effects. In the past, the waves have crashed all the way up to the outskirts of the jungle."
"What?" Brennan repeated harshly, then with a visible effort calmed himself. "But the others drove down that direction."
Jimmy's eyes fluttered, and Brennan rubbed his knuckles briskly into his chest. "Hey, wake up!"
"Fire or water." Shalimar's voice stilled his attempts to rouse the unconscious man.
"What?" Brennan was starting to sound like a broken record.
"We stay up too high, and we risk fire," Her eyes flickered nervously to the smoking volcano, "But we go too far down, and we risk drowning in a tidal wave." She sucked in a breath, stricken. "Fire or water."
"Our greatest weaknesses." Brennan swore under his breath, understanding. The earth gave another great rumble, and he thought he heard Shalimar whimper, but when he looked at her, she was calm, jaw clenched tightly. He forced a lightness to his tone. "I don't know about you, Shal, but I vote we go down. I fear fire more than water."
"Brennan—"
"We go down."
She bit her lip, before finally nodding. "What about Jimmy?"
"We'll have to carry him." Brennan stood up, wincing as he pulled the man over his shoulder.
It took them a while, but they finally got a semblance of order over the frightened group. In a ragged line, they picked their way through the jungle. They had just reached the end of the Dominion grounds and started down the trail the trucks had created when the ashfall started again. But this time, the ashes were alive. And then, like diabolical hail, small pebbles, some of them flaming blue, rained on them, mixed with the hissing ashes. Shalimar felt one, then two, sting her hand. She felt heat rising, her hand burning, searing.
"Stop!" She screamed. Brennan immediately halted and whirled towards her, dumping Jimmy on the ground none too gently.
Shalimar's jeans were on fire. She threw herself to the ground. She rolled. Brennan leaped to her and smothered the flames with his hands.
"Are you ok?" He shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders and yanking her so hard her teeth rattled.
"I-I'm ok," She sobbed in relief, struggling to keep control. I'm ok, it didn't touch my skin."
He sagged with relief, pulling her into his arms with a groan as she tried to hide her trembling. Chester huddled at their feet. Brennan buried his nose into Shalimar's hair, breathing in her sweat and fear, hunching over her, trying to shield her. "We've got to soak down!"
They stood up together, Shalimar huddling close to Brennan. She smelled fire and smoke and burning. She was more frightened than she'd ever been in her life. But she forgot her terror when she caught a glimpse of Jimmy on the ground.
"Brennan! He's—Brennan!" She raced past him.
Jimmy was lying on his back, facing up to the sky. Weakly, he was moving his head back and forth and spitting, trying to combat the burning grit as best he could. He blinked in relief when Shalimar dumped a canteen of water over him.
Tiredly, they trekked back up the mountain, to the hidden stream Brennan and Shalimar had found earlier. One by one, they all dipped down into the water until everyone was soaked. Brennan again slung Jimmy over his shoulder and shouted out a double time cadence that they all understood. They ran.
Behind them, lava spewed up about three hundred feet. Below it curled black smoke and flickers of flames in the darkness. The jungle was on fire.
For hours, all around them, people ran. Voices shouted in hoarse baritones and occasionally cries split the air. The run, even though downhill, was exhausting. Every breath burned, searing their nostrils, scalding their throats. Though they'd gotten out of the range of the fountain's burning rockfall and live ash, smoke from the fires grew thick, enveloping them, blinding and choking them. Someone begged for a rest, and Brennan nodded, sinking to the ground with a gasping moan. Shalimar collapsed beside him, Chester clutched in her arms, and held out a canteen. Just as he reached for it, the now familiar swell of the earth's fury sounded, and the ground began to tremble. Shalimar was so tired, she just braced herself, her palms flat on the shifting ground, and dully waited for it to be over.
It lasted just a few seconds. An eerie silence fell, and for the first time Shalimar could hear the pounding of the surf. Everyone had fallen to the ground, shocked into silence. But that too, only lasted a few moments before the murmurs of panic began again.
Brennan squeezed her hand, gratefully taking the canteen and drinking the lukewarm water as Shalimar bent over Jimmy to see if he was awake. His eyes were wide open, mouth strained into a tense line. Sympathetically she wet a clean cloth and sponged off his face, which became the only glimmer of white in the leaden landscape. The cloth immediately received a covering of dirty ash, but he smiled in gratitude anyway.
The air was dyed a murky gray, the infernal crimson glare from above them made the scene visible, but it was no comforting light. Ghostly, gray figures, featureless and insubstantial, aimless and panicked, ran in and out of the writhing smoke. Screams broke the air.
Brennan sighed as he pushed himself wearily back to his feet. "I'll go check it out." Chester gamely trotted after him.
Shalimar waited, continuing to sponge Jimmy's face until Brennan returned, dropping to one knee beside her. "Whoever thought earthquakes would be the least of our worries?" He grunted sarcastically, running his hand through his hair.
"What's going on?"
Brennan's lips turned up into a grimace. "There's a stream ahead, about thirty feet wide and at least knee-deep and rushing fast." His eyes dropped shut in frustration.
"And?" Shalimar prompted, reading his expression.
"And it's boiling," He finally finished bluntly. "We're trapped."
"That would explain the screaming."
He smiled at her sarcasm, eyes opening as he reached out a hand and cupped her cheek. His thumb stroked her cheek in soothing strokes. "There are boulders still big enough to cross on, but it's going to take some big steps, or jumps. I don't know if everyone here can do it."
Her brow wrinkled. "Can we go further upstream?"
"Shal—" Warily he looked over his shoulder up at the menacing cinnabar glow that was increasing in heat and intensity as it neared the thick jungle. "I don't think there's enough time."
With a grim nod, Shalimar eyes wandered across the group. "We better cross then."
She went with Brennan to look at the river. The path downward wasn't steep, although the rocks had been loosened by earthquakes, making the footing tricky. As they neared, the heat blasted their faces. The stream gurgled greedily, and occasional air pockets in the shallow bed and porous rocks split, venting steam. Narrowing her stinging eyes to bare slits, Shalimar breathed through her mouth. It hurt in her nostrils, her throat, her chest.
"This is going to be difficult."
Brennan snorted at her statement.
She ignored him. "This wet heat can't be good either, it's very hard to breathe."
They looked at each other and then the frightened people around them. They didn't even need to say it, they were determined to try. There was nothing else they could do.
Several among the group were injured, including Jimmy, whose eyes stared nervously at the rushing water. After whispering back and forth, they decided to have Brennan carry Jimmy across first while Shalimar stayed behind to encourage the others.
Brennan gripped her hands, giving her a tender kiss. "I'll come back across and help you, Shal." His eyes were still lingering on the number of injured people.
She nodded, noticing some of the women were in flimsy heels. There was no way some of them could run or jump, and it would be dead weight carrying them across. It was going to take superhuman effort to carry so many across the treacherous hot stream. She pushed herself up on tiptoe, pulling his head down for one more kiss before forcing her hands to let him go.
He smiled briefly and then bent over, and in a quick motion, slid his arms under Jimmy's back and knees and stood back up. Jimmy gave an odd little moan, almost a sigh, and passed out cold. The lurid crimson glare on Brennan's face didn't distort the determination etched across taut lines.
"Ok," Brennan took a deep breath and stepped out onto the first rock.
Shalimar held her breath, watching as he slowly but surely started across the stream. Suffocating steam coiled around his broad figure. He seemed unaffected, pausing to steady his footing on each boulder. Shalimar noticed as she watched nervously that the steam rising from the hot river dissolved the smoke so that they could see all the way across. A hot wind blew in across the jungle. Blown sand, so fine it was like ground glass stung them. Though she dreaded to, she turned to look at the fire glow above. Such a wind would feed the fires, fanning them to speeding walls of flame.
"Hurry!" She nudged the next person to begin once Brennan was half way across. Once the next person was on the fourth stone, she forced the next person out. Brennan had become a mere shadow, and she allowed her eyes to turn golden as she strained to see through the steam. He was barely visible, but he was standing. She drew another person out of the crowd to begin the crossing, watching as Brennan took another flying leap. His boot slipped down the side of the boulder almost into the water. Shalimar stifled a scream, and the effort made her choke slightly. The person just ahead of her froze on the first rock.
"It's ok!" She managed to call, encouraging her to continue on even as she watched Brennan, as he patiently, unhurriedly shifted his weight and pulled his foot up until he stood solidly. Behind him, the next person stood waiting, and they called back and forth. Finally Brennan moved ahead and made the final jump to shore, the next person close behind. They ran a few steps before sinking into the sand. Shalimar could see Brennan's shoulders heave as he took gulping breaths. The earth rumbled again, and she swallowed hard, nudging the next person across.
One by one, they picked their way across the steaming river. A few slipped, but no one fell, until at last there was just Shalimar left with the injured ones. She smiled gently down at one woman as she helped her stand and made her way over to the first boulder, only to stop as Brennan began to make his way back across.
"What are you doing?" She hollered at him.
"I'm coming back to help!" He didn't look up as he jumped from rock to rock.
"You don't have to!"
"Yeah I do!"
She flinched as the woman under her arm whimpered. She helped the woman sit back down and stared hard through the smoke and steam as Brennan neared the shore. When he finally made it, he bent over double, gasping for breath. Chester whined as she pushed against his legs, circling around him. Shalimar anxiously put her hand on Brennan's back, feeling the deep heaves shudder through his sweating back. He glanced up at her. Seeing his cracked lips and the swelling of tender skin of his eyelids, she frowned, hands rising to cup his face.
"I'm ok," He shrugged off her concern. "It's just hard to pull enough air into your lungs. It's so hot and the steam stings." He spied the woman she had left sitting by the river's edge. "I'll take her across, you get the next one ready."
Before she could protest, he disappeared. She growled, shaking her head at his protective gesture and turned to gather the few remaining people.
The fire was getting closer. She could feel the first waves of panic rise from deep within and suddenly understood why Brennan didn't want her to carry anyone across. She looked up at the ominous red glow in the sky, and then to the growing crowd of people waiting on the other side. They were almost there, she just had to stay calm. Her hands began to tremble against her will.
Brennan appeared back beside her, gasping for air, but talking fast to a hysterical woman who didn't want to go. She saw him glance at her furtively, and then unceremoniously toss the woman over his shoulder. She kicked and screamed and then passed out. Brennan looked relieved and then again disappeared, jumping across with growing confidence. Two more trips back and forth, and they had all the injured people across. She watched as Brennan dragged himself up the slope of the beach for the last time. Suddenly he turned and sprinted off to the left toward the tree line. She knew he was vomiting; she was only surprised he had gone this long, overheated, overexerted, and breathing the foul stench of smoke and sulphur, without getting sick. Wiping his mouth, his face grim, he returned to the shore, searching for her.
She hadn't moved, she was still on the other side; the last one. Her fingers tightened their grip on Chester as the little dog whined and licked her face. Shalimar could see Brennan's eyes sweeping the darkness beyond the stream, desperate when he couldn't see her, and she knew she had to go. She stepped onto the first rock and then the second until she knew he could at least see her. At the next rock, she hesitated, recoiling from the scalding steam rising off the superheated river rushing by her. Chester shook with fear, and she murmured comforting words to the tiny dog. Branches of trees and smaller rocks hurtled by, crashing haplessly against the large boulders they'd been using as a footpath. The rocks were lava cobbles, ancient chunks of black lava, rounded by years and years of tumbling water. They looked shiny and wet, and she swallowed hard as behind her, fire crackled menacingly. Her hands shook harder.
"Shal? You ok?"
From the shore, Brennan was watching her. He knows, she thought suddenly. He knows I'm afraid of burning…
She waved jauntily, though she could barely stand to open her eyes and her heart was pounding erratically. She denied instinct and forced her concentration on the rocks. Just jump. Nimbly, she leapt from boulder to boulder, and from ashore, it looked seemingly effortless. Triumphantly, she made the last jump to shore, and promptly her shaking legs collapsed under her. She laughed in relief, gulping in great lungfuls of torrid air as she hugged the wiggling little dog tightly in her arms.
No one laughed with her.
Surprised, the laughter died in her throat as she glanced up to see the grim faces of agents staring past her. Brennan crossed over to her from the back of the crowd, helping her to her feet and pulling her into his arms.
"We made it." His fervored whisper lacked relief. She ran soothing hands down his back, even as she pulled back to look over her shoulder. His arms stayed around her.
A thunderous black cloud was beginning to form over the mouth of the second volcano. It had streaks of lightening running through it as it loomed ominously above them. Deep shivering trembles shook their bodies, and Shalimar wasn't sure if the shaking was caused by her or Brennan or possibly both of them. The cloud looked all too familiar. In fact, it was the same cloud that had formed over the first volcano…right before it erupted.