Page 102 of Enraged

After shoving a table out of the way, I paused to listen out for his PASS alarm.

It’s not beeping so he’s moving.

Ignoring the pain, I kept on crawling, the panic starting to set in. A crash behind me confirmed the worst of my fears – the ceiling at the entrance had collapsed. With a terror in my voice that even I didn’t recognize, I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Jace!! We gotta get outta here!” As I inched my way, propped up on my elbows, I heard a beeping sound from somewhere nearby. The fire was behind me, but it was walking my way and taking away precious time with every inch that it spread.

“Jace! Stay with me, brother, I’m comin’!!”

I’ve got to find him. Not just for him and for me, but for Lena. That’s the love of her life.

His alarm grew louder, both a blessing and a curse, until I finally caught the reflectives on his coat with my flashlight.

Thank you, Lord.

“Jace! C’mon brother, we’re goin’!” I snatched him to his feet were he collapsed against me. Through his mask, I could see his eyes were closed. “Wake up, Jace. Everybody goin’ home, remember! We goin’ home!”

I dragged both of us towards what, I prayed, was a window since everything behind us was on fire.

Please, God, let it be a window.

Relief overtook me as I saw that it was, knowing we would make it out of the building.

“Almost there, buddy, stay with me!” I gasped, my lungs damn near close to giving up. “Tell me what you got me for Christmas!”

The fire was starting to roll over us, the sound of portions of the ceiling coming down all around us. With my elbow, I knocked the glass out of the frame. With what felt like the last bit of strength that I had left, I shoved him out the window.

He landed with a thud about four feet down. My lungs decided it was the end of the line as I went out the window behind him.

With what seemed like the last breath in my body, I used his mic to call out.“We out.”

Lying next to my buddy, I closed my eyes and gave in to the sweet darkness.

Jolene

“Welcome to The Southern Sizzler! My name is Anna. How y’all folks doin’ tonight?”

“Well, Miss Anna,” my daddy spoke up, “I get the pleasure of takin’ my two favorite girls out to supper tonight, so I couldn’t be better. How are you?”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the world does not deserve my daddy.

“I’m wonderful!” Anna beamed. “Thank you for askin’! Can I get y’all somethin’ to drink?”

We all ordered a Miller Lite. “Be back in a jiff,” Anna promised.

Mama turned to me. “How was your day, sugar? What did you do?”

“I worked with daddy on the farm for most of the day,” I started, “then, I met up with Cassie in the afternoon.”

They both stopped buttering their roll.

“How did that go?” Dad asked, giving me his undivided attention. I shrugged in what I was hoped was a nonchalant fashion. “She told me how long the affair had been goin’ on, and she asked for a truce for Dak’s sake.”

Mama rolled her eyes, but daddy’s interest was piqued. “How long did it go on?”

I sighed. “Three years.”

Daddy dropped his knife. Mama’s mouth hung open in disbelief.

Same, y’all, same.

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