External (Book 1&2)

Book 2|Chapter 3

|Arson|

The walk back is uneventful, but the tone is one of relieved. We had walked twenty miles out just as the sun hit center in the sky. This means we did what Cayden wanted and we would be heading to headquarters soon.

The snow had stopped an hour or so ago. But by now the ground is covered in a thin layer of white. Thankfully, it's not enough to cause any really problems though. Just enough to leave our footprints layered behind us.

As we reach closer to camp the sun lowers in the sky. A smoke rises in the distance, showing us we are close. My legs feel numb from the amount of walking we have done and every step I take feels like the amount of twenty.

"Does that-." Caleb had stopped behind William and I and began to talk. I look behind me when he trails off to see him staring up at the smoke in the sky.

"What is it?" I ask him, not knowing if I heard him clearly.

"Does the smoke look like a lot to you?" Caleb asks not taking his eyes from the thing in question. I look back at it and study it. The smoke is the regular color of brown, but it does in fact look like a lot of smoke for the usual nighttime fire.

"They must have made the fire too big." William says, shrugging it off.

"That is one large fire." Kevin speaks up.

"Let's just hurry up and see what's going on." William says and with that we all pick up our speed, racing back to camp.

As we near the smoke enters our airways. It is much more than we had previously anticipated. I cough heavily and cover my mouth and nose with my sleeve as an attempt to filter the toxic air. You don't have to be a medic to understand the dangers of smoke inhalation.

William looks over to me with wide eyes. He too is covering his breathing with his shirt. He obviously wasn't expecting this much smoke as much as I was.

I step passed the forest wall and enter the small clearing that has become our home. My eyes tear up from the smoke and I blink to try to get rid of the pain, but it comes with no prevail.

Looking up I can see nothing other than the cabin, the one we all pitched in to build with our bare hands, up in flames. The heat protruding from the cabin almost burns me as I begin to sweat. I gasp at the sight, not understanding how this could have happened. Did Cayden build a fire to close to the cabin? That wouldn't makes sense since we have a specific place for our fires. Maybe it was caused by a stray ember being brushed away by a strong gust of wind.

At the thought of the rest of the group I look around to try and locate them, but they are nowhere in my sights. I look back at the three men in distress.

Kevin is coughing madly in back, keeled over completely like he is going to throw up. Caleb stares at the fire in confusion and worry. But William, William is nowhere to be seen.

I look all around me, spinning in circles to find the man. The smoke blurs my vision and I can't see very far in front of me with the darkness of the fumes. I walk further into the fire, despite the protests of Caleb behind me. I have only one thought on my mind- where had William gone?

The smoke wraps around me, suffocating me. I suddenly feel very claustrophobic, bringing me back to the small tunnels in the facility. I cough again and continue to until my throat feels as if it itself is on fire.