Talen

On my left, the marketplace still burns with quick licks of flame.

On the right, the homes built of plastic bricks are nothing but stinking, melted plastic.

In front of me should be the steps where Keller screams at passersby, but I see nothing except black mounds and pillars of smoke.

As I enter the marketplace area, I see only blackened, indistinct shapes covering the ground. The flames have died down, but several places still smolder, and thick black smoke fills the air all around me. I walk slowly, trying to get my bearings. I recognize the blackened legs of Milinder’s baking cart, and I find the charred metal edge of the carving knife I’d given the new butcher.

I don’t see a living person anywhere.

“Ava!” I scream her name repeatedly, but the only sound I hear is the si

zzling of plastic and the echo of my own voice.

Every time I turn my head, I see another pile of burned debris. The firebreak consisting of rocks and sand stands between the north and south markets, barely scorched, but the areas on both sides are completely destroyed.

A few skeletons are sprawled out on the ground up close to the firebreak, while others are in mounds as if they were all trying to hold onto each other as the flames engulfed them. Near the edge of a large, stinking pile of melted plastic, skeletal arms are wrapped around a charred blanket. A few weeks ago, I’d given some fish I’d caught to a woman and her small child on the same part of the street.

My chest tightens, and I fight the urge to vomit. I tear my eyes away from the sight and press on towards the second market and the tent area.

“Talen!” Aerin catches up to me as I reach the area that used to be filled with carts and tents, but no one’s here. I only see more charred brick, more melted plastic emitting noxious fumes, and more human remains.

“Ava!” I call out in desperation.

Scattered all along the brick road are ashy, blackened bones in misshapen piles. The back of the charred circle where the tents used to be is devastated. The fire burned so hot and so fast that nothing is left to identify.

“Talen, there’s no one here.”

“They could have made it out through the river,” I say. “She could be nearby.”

I slow my pace and trudge through the debris to the very back of the area. I hear the gurgling of the river in front of me as I tentatively approach the spot where Ava’s tent used to be. I’m met with a mound of melted plastic, still smoldering. The fumes burn my eyes as I look down and see a small, clay teacup with the handle broken off.

Beside the cup is a pile of bones, the arms entwined. One skeleton is larger than the other one, with broad shoulders and long legs.

“Jonny…” I choke on his name as I drop to the ground on my knees. I reach out and gingerly touch the skull, leaving black smudges on my fingertips. As I reach for the other one, the pile of bones shifts, sending a puff of black soot into the air.

If the larger bones are those of the woodcutter, then the others bones can only belong to one person.

“Ava! Oh God, no.” My arms ache to hold her again, but I can’t bring myself to reach out and embrace her remains. Instead, I grab the broken teacup and pull it to my chest as tears run down my face.

The pain in my stomach is like nothing I have ever felt before. It’s as if someone had just reached inside of me to rearrange whatever was in there. I scream in short, choppy sobs, barely aware of Aerin’s arms around me.

“Talen.” She whispers my name as she pulls me to her chest. “I’m so sorry.”

I remember the last time I snuggled with Ava in her tent and how she made me tea.

In my mind, I see her smile.

I watch her cheeks redden at the mention of Layshell, and I imagine the weaver woman and her younger brother, huddled together as flames whipped around them. My stomach heaves, and I can barely keep from losing whatever is in my stomach.

Another set of remains, similar in size to Ava and likely belonging to Milo, smolder nearby.

“They’re all gone! All of them! It’s my fault! My fault!” My throat burns from the plastic fumes.

“It’s not your fault!” Aerin grabs my face in her hands and stares hard at me. “There’s nothing you could have done. This happened so fast. If you were here, you would have burned, too.”

“I should have been here to protect them! I’m supposed to keep them all safe. I’m supposed to keep her safe, and I failed! I failed her again!”

I cough, sputter, and nearly vomit. Aerin holds me against her again, stroking my hair as I cling to the cup. My mind conjures images of Jonny and Ava, locked in each other’s arms as the flames overtake them, and I cry out again and again.