I knew what needed to be done, even before the thought fully formed. In order to give myself a chance, I had to set the animals free. I hated the idea of them running terrified into the night, but consoled myself with the knowledge that they were faster than me and stood a better chance at survival free from their restraints.
Carrying my living baggage away from the road, I solemnly began to unburden myself of the weight that held me down. Setting the rat cage onto the ground, I pulled off the towel and opened the door flap, shaking the bars to jar them into action.
“Go.” I urged, but the normally sociable rats cowered in the back of the cage, too afraid to move. They would, when they had no choice.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, and I truly was. I’d tried. I really had.
Placing Winston on the ground next to the cage, I said a quick goodbye.
Next came Sweetpea. Opening his carrier, I gently pulled him out and gave him a kiss between his Yoda ears. He seemed too disoriented to go for my jugular.
“Save yourself,” I whispered to him. The Chihuahua stood transfixed looking to me for guidance. I had nothing left to give him. “Run, Sweetpea. Go.”
As I unhooked Herc’s leash, the Saint Bernard stared up at me with big brown eyes, so trusting in my ability to save him. I couldn’t. Just as his brother was doing now, Hercules stood beside me, refusing to leave.
Tears rolling down my cheeks, I patted his head for what I assumed was the last time, then shoved him away. “Go!” I screamed. “Run!”
But he wouldn’t leave. One look into his soulful eyes told me he’d be my companion to the bitter end. “Okay,” I whispered. “You boys can run with me if you want but, just know, I’ll only slow you down.”
Pulling the duffle bag off my shoulder, I had one last pet to free. Lucy—my spirit animal. My heart ached knowing I’d be sending her to her death. She had no experience in the outside world and no real chance at survival without me. With dread, I unzipped the bag and reached in to pull her out. But as she emerged, her terrified crystal blue eyes dilated to a dark black, I just couldn’t do it. Not yet. I still had some strength left in me for her. Keeping hold of her collar, I emptied my duffle bag of belongings until the only weight left for me to carry was the nine-pound cat. I zipped her back in and slid the bag over my shoulder once more before I started running down the sidewalk, Sweetpea and Hercules lapping at my heels.
We hadn’t made it but one house down when I saw the lights of a car flooding through the smoke. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining things until I heard the crunch of the tires against the asphalt. Screaming for the dogs to stay put, I dropped the duffle bag and ran screaming into the street, flailing my arms wildly in the air. The driver was moving fast, making me more determined to hitch a ride. But when it became apparent the car was barreling straight for me, my excitement waned. I hastily jumped out of the way as brakes screeched and the stench of burned rubber mixed with all the other scorching smells of the night.
As it worked to avoid me, the car’s left tire ended up on the curb before coming to a complete stop. I searched for the dogs, hoping they hadn’t been hit. In seconds they were once again crowding around my feet. The driver-side window lowered, revealing a man who looked every bit as traumatized as I felt.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his words heavy with remorse. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.”
I nodded stupidly, staring at him with unblinking eyes. A thick layering of ash had settled into his hair, giving it the same grayish tint as my elderly fiancé, Hugh. My gaze dropped to his bare chest, and further to his washboard abs. In any other situation it might have been a nice touch to be saved by a half-naked Abercrombie model. But he was no model. My rescuer was none other than Bodhi Beckett, ofAnyDayNowfame.
7
Bodhi: Like The Wind
If I thought the danger level would decrease the further down the road I got, I was wrong. It was coming at me from all angles as the tiny red ashes zipped by faster than my car could drive. It was because of this craziness that I almost missed the woman in the street, waving frantically for me to stop. I slammed on my brakes as she hurtled her body out of the way of my oncoming vehicle.
Reeling from the near miss, I rolled down my window to apologize, but the woman just stood there in a daze.
“Do you need a ride?” I asked. That was apparently the correct question to snap her out of whatever stupor she was in.
“Yes,” she answered, her voice cracking with emotion. “I…I need a ride.”
Along with a bleeding bump on her forehead, she had dried tear-trails etching lines in the soot on her face. Judging by her appearance and by the fact that she was escaping on foot, her evening probably hadn’t been much better than mine.
“Get in, I’ll take you down the road.”
“Oh, thank you so much. I have my pets.”
She motioned to the dogs standing beside her.
“Yeah, that’s fine. Get them in too.”
But instead of opening the back door she said. “I’ll be right back.” Before I could offer a protest, she told the dogs to stay put and took off up the street. The mutts didn’t obey, giving chase as she called over her shoulder to me, “Just give me one minute, please.”
One minute? In my newly acquired fire escaping experience, one minute was the time it took for a roof to cave in. “Wait! Where are you going?”
“I’ve got to get the others. Please, please wait.”
The others? There were more people escaping on foot?Well shit! You’d think she’d have led with that information.
