Page 51 of Aftermath

The cool night air met them as they emerged.

"Oh, God." Sean let out a breathless sob as they ran toward a barn about five hundred feet away.

"Don’t stop!" Tim grabbed Sean by the arm and made sure they kept running.

To anybody else, it wasn’t a "cool" night. It was dry, hot, and a thunderstorm could be heard in the distance—something very common for the Mojave Desert in the middle of summer. That was where Austin guessed they were. It had to be.

Nevertheless, the slightest breeze felt like an icy chill to the guys who had suffered months of stifled humidity in a basement.

The barn had seen better days; the front side was almost completely gone, wooden boards missing and rusty nails littering the ground. The doors being gone, too, left two gaping holes, one from the ground, one from the hay loft.

It was shelter, though, and all the men ran inside, just barely giving a crap about the nails and screws on the ground. They were all barefoot, and several other clothing items were missing, as well. Austin stood in his torn sweats that clung to his hips, Cam wore his coveralls—the arms still tied around his narrow waist—Victor was only in boxer shorts and a work T-shirt, Sean wore holey jeans…everything was torn and threadbare.

As the house they'd escaped was swallowed by flames, seven survivors stared blankly at the destruction while catching their breaths. Grime, blood—old and new—sweat, and some soot covered their features. Streaks from salty tears joined the mix, making trails down their cheeks.

"I…I can't…" Cam gasped and bent down to rest his hands on his thighs. He couldn’t believe any of this, Austin knew. And Austin couldn’t, either. He couldn’t grasp the reality. They were free, but the knowledge wouldn’t sink in.

Glancing around them, Austin took in the classic desert landscape. As far as he could see in the night, only the burning house and the barn stood taller than the small bushes, rock formations, and the occasional Joshua tree. Without knowing where in the desert they were, the guesses could pile up endlessly.

Austin wasn’t a stranger to the desert, but when his father had taken him camping when he was younger, they stuck to trails and tourist spots, only venturing into the empty wilderness for shorter hikes. You did not want to get lost out here.

Temperatures could go to the extremes in both directions, depending on season and elevation.

"I suppose it's too risky to get that truck over there, huh?" Lance jerked his chin to the old Chevy that stood close to the house.

"Don’t even think about it," Tim affirmed. "We don’t even know where the keys are."

Just a moment later, the truck caught on fire, too.

Austin took a deep breath, his lungs expanding with the late-afternoon air. The windows were rolled down in his Mercedes, creating a nice cross-breeze, and the car stood in the shadow of a couple trees.

He reminded himself that he never had to go through that again.

Riley had always been an active girl, enjoying the outdoors and so on, but due to what Austin had been through, he'd actually denied her when she asked if she could get her own computer at Austin's new place. Partly, he thought she was too young to have her own, but it was mostly because he wanted to encourage her to go out and play with her friends instead of texting and PM-ing them—or whatever it was called these days.

For being called social networks, they sure involved a lot of time spent holed up alone.

He'd promised her a dog instead, which had certainly cushioned the blow of having to switch schools. Perhaps it was a dirty trick, but Austin couldn’t care less about that. He'd take the responsibility. Hopefully, he'd return to work soon, too, and then he could always hire someone to take the dog out midday.

There was a lot of adjusting coming Austin's way, but he was ready. It couldn’t be worse than other shit he'd had to adjust to.

When dawn approached, the men were sedate and silent in the barn. Sitting on the ground, Cam and Austin leaned against each other for support and comfort. Sure, they could rest against the walls, but they preferred not to run into any snakes or worse. In this climate, there was no doubt what hid underneath rocks and wood.

"Do you guys see that over there?" Sean asked before yawning.

Tiredly following the man's gaze, Austin squinted and thought he saw a trail of dust. But it was too far away, so he couldn’t be sure.

"Think it's a car?" Victor asked.

"I fuckin' hope so," Chase muttered. "We don’t wanna be stuck here when the sun comes up."

They all knew what he was talking about. Throughout the night, the fire had raged on, and if that light hurt their eyes, the sun would blind them and scar them for life. Already, Austin could feel his eyes stinging with protective tears, and the sun was barely touching the horizon.

He hadn't thought about his reading glasses in a long time, but he supposed he'd get new ones soon. His vision wasn’t far from 20/20, but he often got headaches from straining his eyes, so his glasses helped him. And now? Well, he knew if the sun did any damage, it might impair his vision.

People might think these men should be jumping for joy now that they were finally free. But how could they? Austin himself felt like a shell, and he was sure the others felt the same. He couldn’t really muster any feelings other than dazed and tired. Jesus Christ, was he tired. Like the rest of them, he was also malnourished, in a severe amount of pain, and it wouldn’t be long until dehydration kicked in, too. Not in this heat.

The air felt kind of fresh, though. He liked that.

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