Another fire, this one so much closer to town. A dreadful suspicion entered my mind, but I joined the medics, quickly ensuring we had the supplies we needed before I jumped into Owen’s car. The mix of sirens wailing made my ears throb as we drove to the site.
We were headed for the trailer park. My heart leaped into my throat when we got closer. My old trailer was in flames, black smoke billowing. I jumped out of the car and raced to the nearby trailers. Mrs. Howell was bedridden from pain most days. Had she gotten out?
I slammed open the door, not bothering to knock. Faint, terrified cries reached my ears, and I raced down the narrow hallway. Mrs. Howell was trying to pull herself into her wheelchair. I quickly helped her into it, lifting her frail body with surprising ease. Then I wheeled her out of the trailer. Across the street, Jane struggled to carry her twins and a diaper bag to her car.
I pushed Mrs. Howell to Jane and helped her get the twins into their car seats, then Mrs. Howell into the front seat.
“Go to the college,” I told her. “The priestess and nuns will look out for you.”
Jane nodded, face pale, and drove away. I turned back to watch the firefighters. They worked in tandem with Owen among them. They’d already put on their gear and had the massive hose blasting water onto the flames. Already, the fire was smaller than when we had arrived. Just to be on the safe side, I went into Jane’s trailer and grabbed a garbage bag that I shoved clothes, toys, and foodstuffs into. I stuffed this into Owen’s car before dashing to Mrs. Howell’s home again and getting some of her things.
Two more omega families fled from their trailers, closest to my old one. Others were slower, watching from their porches as the firefighters put out the flames. It took over an hour, but finally, the last of the flames died away. My shoulders slumped. I guess I’d overreacted by invading Jane and Mrs. Howell’s homes.
Owen broke away from the other firefighters as they continued to soak the remains of the trailer. I ran to him and threw my arms around his neck.
“That’s it, then,” Owen said, wiping his brow. “We need to get to the forest fire and—"
There was a whooshing sound behind us. We whirled to find Jane’s trailer engulfed in flames. They rose twice as high as the ones on my trailer had been, tinged with blue and green.
All the air left my lungs. That had come from nowhere. It went too high. These weren’t ordinary fires at all. I hugged Owen tighter, staring at the magical flames.
The firefighters started to turn the truck on the new trailer when Mrs. Howell’s burst into flames, too. I broke from Owen and raced to the car. He shouted orders to help evacuate,and I drove to another trailer, where I knew two elderly omegas who no longer drove lived.
The trailer park was soon evacuated, but the flames didn’t stop there. As the smoke grew thicker all around us, my heart sank. My vision was coming true, after all.
***
The town might have been lost, but the people were safe.
As I stared at the scattered tents and vehicles, my head pounded. The smell of smoke clung to my skin, and I kept vacillating between wanting to find Owen’s car again, curl up in the backseat, and cry, or to get back to working with the pack, trying to help settle everyone.
It had been a chaotic, terrifying time evacuating the town. In the end, we’d ended up getting help from both the Burgess and Hammond packs. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have been able to get out at all. Fortunately, between the three packs, the fire had been beaten back enough that the Tyrell pack was able to escape.
The most difficult had been the prisoners. Now that we didn’t have any cells to store them in, they were all tied securely to trees, wearing blindfolds so they would hopefully stay calm.
I hadn’t been able to save anything from the home I shared with the four alphas. I wasn’t even sure if it had burned. At least I’d gotten a lot of baby clothes from Jane’s house. It was enough to pass out to all the families with young children and let them have a clean outfit to change their babies into.
Two rugged trucks pulled into the large clearing where we’d set up. It was in a tiny corner of the territory, because despite their help, the other packs didn’t want us to be in theirterritories, and the pass that Owen had hoped to escape through was now engulfed in flames.
Alphas Julian from Hammond and Franco from Burgess exited the trucks. I headed for them, knowing Owen would reach us soon.
“We brought food and water,” Franco told me as I approached. “We figured you’d need it.”
Julian gave me a distrustful look, but turned to Owen when he arrived. They started to distribute everything while Franco handed me a small packet. “From Penny. She wanted to come, but we all agreed it was best if she stayed in Burgess, especially since the baby has a cold.”
I thought of the illness that had been sweeping through Tyrell lately and winced. It was likely just a cold, considering Penny had already cleansed the Burgess territory. “Thank her for me.”
“I will. The last word we got of the fires is that things are nearly out, so with any luck, you’ll have a respite, at least,” he said comfortingly.
I nodded, but I didn’t know if I could believe it. The darkness was increasing its attacks on us, and I still had no idea how to save everyone.
Franco returned to helping with the distribution of food. I tried to join in, but when people kept giving me frightened looks, proving that they still blamed me, I retreated to the car. There, in the cool, cramped interior, I finally opened the packet that Penny had sent. Inside were several sachets of herbs. Lavender, mint, chamomile, and a few others.
They were all types that I was using in my experiments for the calming tea. It was just enough to brew one more batch. But how should I make it?
I soon grew restless being stuck in the car and stepped out. Shortly after, the other packs’ alphas left. I didn’t want to be among the pack, putting them on edge, so I went a little way into the forest. Penny had taught me a bit about foraging, so maybe I’d find enough for my supper and save more of the food for the others.
I found a few bushes with some berries, but I walked past them. All of a sudden, the only thing I wanted to do was to go back to town. Maybe the book the priestess found hadn’t been burned. Maybe I could find it, and inside, the full answers.
