Kate held tight to the fire extinguisher. “Go for it.”
Joe pulled the door open. Heat from outside flooded into the room. Kate triggered the fire extinguisher and used it along the ground. Steam and smoke floated up into the air. Stepping across the threshold, Kate took her time putting her foot on the ground. It felt solid and cold under the cooling agent. Leaning down, she gently touched the ground that hadn’t been hit by the spray. It felt warm, almost hot, but not enough to burn their feet. The full heat that had melted the rubber of the tires must have eased quickly.
“I think we are good. Just be careful as you walk.” She stood and turned in the direction of the clinic. “We should hurry.”
“Good idea,” agreed Joe, just behind her. “Keep an eye out though. If things got this hot, there has to be people injured.”
“No offense, Joe, but if things got hot enough to melt those tires, injuries are the least of our concern – or theirs.”
“You two are crazy.”
Kate turned to find Adam waiting in the doorway. “Stay if you want, but we’re leaving.”
Kate began to move. The roar had gotten almost deafening. She’d been trying to figure out what the sound was, but until now hadn’t seen what was causing it. She and Joe continued around the corner through the steady heat. The ground reminded Kate of hot summers on new asphalt, the heat almost too much for her feet to bear.
“Where is everyone?” Joe asked. “This place is usually busy.”
“I know.” Kate wondered the same thing. Crossing another street, they came to the window of one of the small cafés in the area. “Let’s take a quick look inside.”
Kate opened the door and entered. The seats were empty, but she heard something towards the back. Moving quietly, she led Joe past the counter area and to the back kitchen. As they turned the corner into the kitchen, the scent of burnt flesh filled the air. Kate grabbed a small towel and covered her mouth. Walking to the back of the kitchen, she found bodies all over the floor. She kneeled down besides the closest one.
“It looks like they were burnt, but the room is clean. What would cause this kind of damage?” Kate used the small towel to pick up one of the corpse’s hands. The skin that had been touching the floor was still smooth and intact. “It looks like they dropped fast and were burned just on the parts exposed.”
“Have you ever seen this before?”
Kate let the arm drop. “Never.” A bump came from farther back near the cooler. “What was that?”
Kate stood and walked toward the cooler. Leaning against the steel door, she heard a faint pounding from inside. Glancing back at Joe, she motioned for him to be ready. She took hold of the lever and pulled. The door came open and with it a wave of cold air flowed out. Kate pulled Joe into the freezer quickly.
“Joe, keep the door open just a crack. I want to enjoy this cold air for a moment.” Kate moved inside before noticing a body slouched along the wall. “Hello?”
“Who, who’s there?” The voice was female. “Don’t let the door shut.”
Kate moved closer. “What happened out there? What’s going on?”
The woman looked up, her face red with small blisters along her cheek. “I’m not sure. I was getting something out of the freezer. I heard something roaring, then I heard screaming.” The woman’s voice cracked as she spoke. “When I looked out into the kitchen people were running in from the main dining room and falling to the ground. The smell was so bad. I wanted to help but something hot hit my face and then the door slammed shut.”
Kate moved back to the door and leaned through the crack. Sure enough, on the outside of the door was an indention she’d not noticed before. Her hand moved across the surface. The metal felt smooth in comparison to the inner side of the door. She’d seen something similar long ago while going back to college. The professor had shown the class what happened when intense heat was applied to a metal surface. It melted as the heat was increased, but once it cooled, the metal was smoother than before. Somehow, that had happened here.
“We need to go.”
Kate looked at Joe. “What’s up?”
“I’d rather not hang around dead bodies. Besides, my hand is starting to hurt like mad.”
Kate nodded. “Right.” She turned toward the woman. “I’m Kate, this is Joe. We’re headed to the clinic. You should come with us.”
“My name is Beth.” She began to stand. “Is it still hot out there?”
“It’s hot, but not enough to be dangerous.” Kate answered. “Do you have a cooler we can take? Fill it with some ice and water. I want to be sure we have a way to stay hydrated.”
“Sure, here.” The woman handed Kate two good sized coolers. “Water is on the left. If there is any ice left, it will be in the bin next to the door.”
“There’s some, but not much,” Joe offered.
They took what they could carry, and left the café. Walking under the sun felt different. Looking up, the sky even looked different. It was no longer blue, but a hazy orange and yellow. Even the air had a dry feel to it. Walking around reminded Kate of opening the door to an oven on full blast. Something was definitely wrong.
“What’s that?” Beth asked.
Kate turned and followed her line of sight. In the distance, the air looked off. As the air anomaly seemed to get closer, the buildings it passed shook. Windows shattered and street lamps bent. It was unlike anything Kate had ever seen in her life and it was coming in a wave towards them. About a hundred feet away, Adam was walking their way, in front of whatever was heading towards them.
“Adam, run!” Kate shouted. He looked at her confused. “Move it now!”
“What?” Adam shouted back.
“We need to get inside again,” Joe said. He was already heading back into the café. “That’s going to kill us.”
Kate tried to wait for Adam, but he wasn’t moving fast enough. When he was about forty feet away, the wave hit him. His body shook for a moment before his skin caught fire and turned to dust, his cries of pain filling the air. Turning away, Kate rushed back inside. She didn’t have much time before she would be incinerated just like Adam. Moving around the counter, she heard the others in the back.
“Hurry up, Kate!” Joe shouted. “It’s getting close.”
Rounding the corner, Kate’s foot caught the edge of one of the bodies. She lost her balance and came face to face with a blasted corpse. Kate tried to dislodge her foot and move, but the wave was already there. The heat that hit her skin sent pain racing through her body. She wanted to scream but found her voice gone. Blackness enveloped her, and she prayed for a quick death.
***
“Kate?”
A familiar voice filled her mind. Opening her eyes, she found brown carpet beneath her. Lifting her head, she noticed she was no longer in the cafe. She was in her own office. Above her stood one of her co-workers, Janice, reaching down to help her get up. Kate stood, and everything around her spun for a few moments.
“What, what happened?” she asked. She could still feel the sting of the heat on her leg. “Did I black out?”
“We all did.”
Kate turned to face Janice. “What do you mean everyone did? Was there a gas leak?”
Janice shook her head. “No, I mean everyone did. All over the world.”
Kate touched her head and felt a sticky substance. Pulling her finger away, she saw blood. “Well that explains the headache.” She leaned on her desk for support. “Wait, everyone passed out? Do they know why?”
“Nobody has a clue, at least that’s what the news is reporting. It’s weird though. Even though they say everyone passed out at the same time, how long they were out varied.”
“That is strange.” Kate moved around and sat on her chair. “Oh God,” she began. “How many do they think died?”
“What?”
Kate tried to shake the dream from her mind. “Think about it. If everyone passed out at the same time, there would be ac
cidents all over. Cars, planes, trains, everything. Has anything been announced?”
Janice looked out the window and shrugged. “Nothing yet. I know I heard sirens, but I didn’t think much past that. Hopefully not too many planes were in the air.”
“It’s a Friday, there were quite a few. God, this is a nightmare.” Kate glanced at her desk and noticed a picture of Adam. It had not been there in her dream. Looking at her calendar, she noticed the date. May 25th, 2013. Kate closed her eyes and tried to remember what she’d seen in her dream. It wasn’t spring or summer yet, she was sure of it. It was closer to fall, but the year had been farther ahead. The harder she tried to recall, the more her head hurt.
“Kate, are you okay?” Janice asked.
“I’m fine, just a bad headache.” Turning to face her co-worker, she knew she had to ask. “When you were out, did you have any dreams?”
Janice was silent for a moment before speaking. “I think so, but it wasn’t very long. I remember being in the office and hearing something really loud. It got really hot but that’s about it. Why?”
Kate’s body stilled. “Nothing. I was just curious.”
“Hey, Kate, good to see you awake. Head okay?”
Kate turned to find Jim looking in from the hall. “Yes, I’m fine. We were just discussing our strange dreams.”
“Oh, those. Everyone had some, but none of it made sense from what I’ve gathered. Anyway, here is a new case that we just got. It’s going to be a hard one. I need to make sure this one stays safe. File it in the dungeon.”
Kate took the file from Jim, her eyes reading the name. Bronson. Kate’s breath held in her lungs. Suddenly, the dream she’d had took on much more credence. She’d never heard about this case until now, yet she’d dreamt about it beforehand. That meant something was going on, something that was going to destroy her town, if not the world. She needed to find out how to stop it, if that was even possible. Standing back up, she grabbed her purse and headed down the hallway. She needed to get this filed, but more than that she needed to find Joe and see if he’d had the same dream as she had. If so, maybe they could try and piece things together. If not, the world might be in for a world of hurt.
#
RG Porter knows we’ve pissed Mother Nature off enough by now. Apocalypse is inevitable.
Read more about RG Porter and her books at rgporter.net or follow her on Facebook and Twitter
Keepers of Water
Two worlds, one planet, tons of trouble.
The Eclective
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Emma Jameson
P.J. Jones
Shéa MacLeod
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Alan Nayes
R.G. Porter
Tara West
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