Free Borderland by S. K. Epperson Page B

got off the bed and picked up one of his sandals to use as a prop until he
could find something suitable. Once he opened the window his nostrils caught a
whiff of something familiar. He stared out into the night and he kept staring
until his eyes found the source of the smell. He dropped the sandal and bolted
for the door.
    On the
way down the stairs he banged on both walls and started shouting for Vic.
    Vic
appeared in the hallway with the shotgun in his hands. "What the hell is
it?"
    Nolan
raced past him. "Trailer's on fire."
    As Nolan
left the house he heard the frightened cries of the startled little girls and
Vic shouting at them to stay inside. He ran down the gravel drive on bare feet
and leaped at the trailer door. It was locked. He banged on the windows,
shouting and finally used a garden brick to smash through the big picture
window at the north end. Smoke poured out. He knocked out the biggest shards of
glass but still managed to slice open his thighs as he pulled himself in. He
looked around and saw that he was in the main room. The fire was in the
kitchen, and the hall with the bedrooms was beyond. Through the smoke he could
see two burning human forms on the kitchen floor.
    Nolan
backed away from the approaching flames and heard Vic shout at him from
outside. He threw open the door and saw Vic on the steps, the shotgun still in
his hands. "We're too late," Nolan gasped. "They're
already—"
    "Help!"
    The cry
came from the back of the trailer.
    Nolan
grabbed the shotgun from Vic. "You get the TV and whatever else you can
save."
    "What?"
Vic said incredulously, but Nolan was already past him and running outside to
the opposite end of the trailer. He clawed out the screen and swung the shotgun
like a bat at the first window he came to. Alter knocking out the shards with
the barrel he climbed in and found Myra bent over in bed, coughing and trying
to get up. Nolan slung her over his shoulder and dumped her out the window feet
first. She went down like a sack of potatoes and curled up, still coughing.
"Cal,” she gasped.
    Nolan
took a breath and prepared to follow her out, but another shout for help
stopped him. Frowning in confusion, he left the window and ran into the short
hall of the trailer, coughing as the smoke began to affect his own lungs.
    He
nearly tripped over Cal. The boy was crawling down the hall toward his mother's
room. Nolan grabbed Cal's arm and dragged him into Myra's room to shove him out
the window. Nolan went out next and felt Vic's hands slip on his bloody thighs
as his friend tried to catch him.
    "Vic,
did you see the others?"
    "What
others? I got the TV. Are you all right?"
    "Water,"
Nolan said. "We can save the stuff in the bedrooms. Cal, where's the pump
and a hose?"
    Cal was
still gulping in air. "Not enough. No water pressure. Drought."
    "Where
the hell's the pump?" Nolan repeated. "We can at least try to save
some of your clothes."
    Cal
leaned his head back and put a hand on his mother's ann. Myra was drinking in
air as if it were the water they were talking about.
    "The
goat's tethered to the pump. The hose is beside the well house."
    Nolan
looked around for Vic. He was gone. A bundle of clothes flew out the window.
    "Vic,
get the hell out of there!" Nolan shouted.
    A
jewelry box and a drawer full of undergarments came out next. Nolan gritted his
teeth and ran to find the hose and the pump.
    Nolan
was the last to leave the still smoldering trailer. In the house he passed
through the living room and saw a grimy Cal asleep on the sofa. Vic slept in a
nearby chair, his girls curled up at his feet. Nolan sighed in exhaustion and
entered the hall. When he opened the bathroom door he found Myra trying to wash
up. She was wearing a sleeveless undershirt and white cotton underpants.
    "Sorry."
He started to back out, but she caught his arm and pulled him inside. After
seating him on the toilet, she took a clean washcloth from beside the sink and
dipped it in the basin. Without saying a word she