The Burning Fields (Surviving the Fall 5)

Pressure, fuel and flame met and intermingled, causing an explosion that tore across the valley. Rick could feel faint heat from the explosion on his exposed face and hands and he watched in horror as the still-moving aircraft was completely and utterly destroyed along with everyone on board. He was shivering again by the time he realized that the storm was intensifying and he ran back to the Humvee and threw it into gear.

Rick tore down the mountain road, bouncing in his seat as he drove far faster than was safe under the current weather conditions. The Humvee slid back and forth on the snow, glancing off of the guardrail more than once. Rick was no longer concerned over his safety, though, as he wanted to get closer to the wreck and see if—somehow—there were any survivors.

The ride down the mountain in the Humvee took several minutes but the flames and smoke were still as intense as they had been when he started. A small “scenic view” pull-off and dirt path leading down into the valley were near the wreckage and he skidded to a stop, nearly turning the Humvee all the way around due to how far it slid on the snow-covered pavement. Rick grabbed a jacket from the Humvee and his pistol and ran towards the dirt path to see how far he would have to go to get to the wreckage.

Rick stopped near a simple wooden structure at the start of the dirt path with a pair of bathroom signs out front and looked out over the valley. He was near the bottom of it but the view was spectacular—or it would have been had the storm not gotten worse. He could see smoke rising from the wreck several hundred feet out along the path but the flames appeared to be slowly dying down due to a lack of easily combustible fuel and the steadily increasing snowfall. Rick looked back at the Humvee hesitantly before running down the dirt path and plunging headfirst into the unknown.

It didn’t take more than a few minutes for Rick to get close enough to the wreck to realize that his attempt at rescuing survivors was a fool’s errand. Smoldering pieces of the plane littered the ground for hundreds of feet in all directions. Dozens of trees had been virtually vaporized from the impact of the crash but there were hundreds more that had been knocked over, snapped in half and turned into splinters. Rick stepped over and under the wreckage and the trees, trying to figure out where to start searching for survivors. He stopped in a small clearing to rest for a moment and happened to glance down at the ground in front of him.

A small hand rested on the ground, severed just above the wrist and covered in burns and soot. It was smaller than Ricks by a significant amount and the sight of the extremity made Rick’s stomach turn. He knelt down and reached out, getting ready to touch the hand when he noticed a small form lying a dozen feet farther away amongst the trees. Rick’s face turned ashen at the sight and he vomited uncontrollably onto the ground.

***

An hour later, though his stomach was devoid of all food and liquid, Rick’s stomach and throat muscles still heaved as they tried to expel contents that were not present. He had spent the time combing through the wreckage for survivors but his search was in vain. Sixteen intact bodies and pieces of several more had turned up and each time he saw one the image of the small child’s body flashed across his mind, causing him to retch uncontrollably.

Night was falling, the fires from the wreckage were nearly extinguished and darkness was settling in over the valley when Rick finally worked up the fortitude to give up his search. His body was soaked from the snow, he was trembling and shivered from head to toe and he felt more hollow inside than he could ever remember feeling before in his life. He walked up the dirt path back towards the road slowly, casting weary glances in every direction in one last-ditch effort to find anyone who could have survived.

After changing his clothes and huddling underneath his pile of tablecloths it took Rick two hours to warm up with the help of three heating packs taken from MREs from the back of the Humvee. Once he stopped shivering and started getting the feeling back in his fingers and toes he returned to the driver’s seat and slowly started moving his vehicle down the road. The darkness obscured the smoke still drifting into the sky from the wreckage and the fires that still burned were small enough that they appeared only as the faintest glow through the trees.

Rick paid no attention to the wreckage as he drove on, feeling completely and utterly defeated by his fruitless search. The joy and wonder he felt at seeing the beauty of the valley and surrounding mountains was gone, replaced only by an emptiness that was as deep and wide as the valley itself. Each person he found—and the many he didn’t—served as a reminder of the horrors of the world he lived in.

For one fleeting moment he had found peace and a semblance of hope but as he left the

valley behind he felt only numbness inside his heart and soul.

Chapter 12

The Water’s Homestead

Outside Ellisville, VA

Freshly scrambled eggs, sausages, slightly stale toast—made from frozen bread—and a bit of butter and jam made for a surprise breakfast for the children. Jason, Sarah and Dianne were all up and cooking when Mark, Jacob and Josie got up. The six ate a relaxing breakfast before getting on with the business of the day.

“So.” Dianne wiped her mouth with a napkin and passed her plate to Jacob. “What do we need to get from your house to get you all set up to stay here?”

“Stay?” Jason raised one of his bushy eyebrows. “Dianne, while we appreciate the hospitality we can’t be an imposition like that during times like this. You have three to watch out for and feed. We can’t add to that.”

Dianne glanced at Sarah and gave her a slight grin. “You really don’t have to argue with every single thing. You know that, right?” Jason gave a harrumph and tossed his napkin on his plate as Dianne continued. “We’re all set up here with power, food, defenses and more. We have room for you both and we could all stand to help each other out during this… whatever it is. We’ve known each other for long enough that I trust you both and I know you can both handle a gun.”

“I can.” Sarah spoke softly and Dianne could barely catch herself from laughing at the remark. “My husband here couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn based on how he was shooting yesterday.”

Jason harrumphed again and was about to say something when Dianne interrupted. “Now listen. I’m not going to take ‘no’ for an answer. We need to pool our resources with each other. You can take the spare room upstairs and help us out with tending to the hydroponics, cooking, taking care of the animals and keeping watch and on and on. That’s going to be a hell of a lot easier than you two trying to fortify and take care of yourselves and us trying to do things on our own, too.”

Josie, who had been listening to the conversation more than her brothers, ran over to her mother and nearly shouted in excitement. “Are Mr. and Mrs. Statler going to stay with us?”

Dianne ruffled Josie’s hair and smiled at Jason. “They’re thinking about it, sweetie. Go back and keep helping your brothers, okay?”

“Okay.” Josie smiled at Sarah. “I really want you both to stay here with us. It’d be so much fun!”

Josie ran back to the sink to keep helping with the dishes. Sarah leaned forward and lowered her voice as she spoke to Dianne. “I’m glad to see they’re holding up well.”

Dianne leaned forward as well and spoke quietly and candidly to both Jason and Sarah. “Cards on the table here, you two. We could really use someone else around here. Not just to pool resources and share the workload but just for general company. Those kids are going stir-crazy with just me here and I’m starting to talk to myself more and more. I understand if you want to do something else but as far as I’m concerned—and if Rick were here I know he’d agree with me—you two are welcome here like family.” Dianne paused and grinned at Jason. “So long as you don’t shoot at me again.”

Jason couldn’t repress his smile as he shook his head and tried to keep a straight face. Sarah, meanwhile, smiled and nodded. “As long as this one agrees then we’d be happy to stay. We’re not going to freeload, though.”

“Damn straight.” Jason clapped his hand to his mouth apologetically as he looked over at the kids. “Sorry. Darned straight. We’ve got a lot of dry goods at the house and some spare clothes, bedding and pillows. Lots of books, tools and other equipment, too. Oh, and guns and ammo of course. If we take one of the trucks over we can probably get most of it in one go. We might be able to get the fuel cans, too. I added stabilizer to them when I filled them last and we’ll probably need them at some point in the near future.”

Dianne nodded, impressed by Jason’s short list of supplies. “You know, I grabbed a few things from your place a while back when we got the chickens but left most of it there. It’s been a while, though, so hopefully nobody’s looted it.”