The Trail

Chapter 19 | In the heart of the heat

We sat in the car, watching the sky be set ablaze by morning light. Dark clouds hung over us, but far away, the sky burnt red. The storm held no intention of withdrawing as it kept pounding away over our heads. It hovered in wait for us to leave our cover so that it could bring its doom upon us.

The raven, struck by lightning, had smoldered with smoke as it had landed onto the windshield. Owen had tried to get rid of it by turning on the wipers, which had only made it worse. Now, we were left with a view of black feathers, smudged blood and an ominous sunrise.

"Isn't there something about that if you're ever in a thunderstorm, a car is the safest place to be?", I said, just to break the ice.

I could not stand the silence between us anymore. Nor the voices that kept growing louder in my head.

As I looked over at Owen, I found that he was asleep. Leaned back in his seat, and with his right arm across his chest, he drew deep breaths. Juniper was asleep, too. Her snores rang loudly through the car. Every now and then, she began to whimper in her sleep, her legs and paws twitching as she dreamt.

I felt enclosed, being the only one who could not find my way to sleep. The nightmare from before still hung over me, and I could not let go of the sight of my own, distorted face. The dreams of me physically changing had haunted me for weeks now. They always began as pleasant, beautiful settings before they ended with a changed, twisted version of myself. It scared me even more, as I the last few weeks had felt something inside of me coming to a change as well. I was not the same person that I once had been, nor did I expect to be. Not after everything that had happened.

But it frightened me how it slowly felt as if I was loosing the grip of myself. It was as if my own mind escaped me, slowly being replaced by dark, twisted fragments of the former Charlie Rhod. Afraid of what I might become, I felt as if I was running out of time. I could not afford to lose myself in my own mind, not before I had found the answers that I sought.

Suddenly, a streak of lightning splintered through the air as it reached down its narrow arm towards the ground. As it lit up the dark surrounding us, I realized that we found ourselves amongst dry, withered trees and thick growing bushes. The rage of electricity exploded as it hit the grey silhouette of a lonely tree. In mere seconds, it had turnt into a flaming torch, quickly spreading across the ground plagued by drought. Licking flames devoured the ground in the same speed of which the lightning had traveled, the cause of the spark that had ignited a raging forest fire. It spread from tree to tree, building up to become a ferocious wall of heat.

The sound of rolling thunder had woke both man and dog in an instant. Without a word, we left the red, rusty pick up to its fate before we hastily climbed the wall of sand on our left. Behind us, the licking flames intertwined with the burning sunrise that had been painted across the sky. In a riot of dark clouds that was in deep contrast to the explosion of colour, like a phoenix spreading its wings, we sprang across the expanse of white sand. It was torn from the ground and ripped up around us in a trail of white smoke. Juniper extended in long, swift moments before us, while we fought to keep up with her. The pulsating heat closed in on our backs, threatening to scorch us alive, while smoke rose to the skies, blending with the clouds above.

Led by pure instinct, like a pack of deers, we fled the burning scene as a new dawn rose from the ashes of yesterday...

***

The heat of the inferno closed in as we, exhausted by the lack of nutrition and rest, were forced to slow down. Juniper seemed as if she could keep going for eternity, but it was worse for Owen. He wheezed and coughed, both from the smoke seeping into his lungs, but also because he was weak from being trapped in that cage for so long. I turned around, just in time to see him collapse onto the ground. A cloud of dust particles rose around him as he did, being lit up by the flames that made their way towards him.