Free Burn District 1 by Suzanne Jenkins Page A

drove. The major highways blocked with piles of concrete, or bridges out, or burnout cars; they’d have to back up and turn around and find an alternative route, ending up taking twelve hours to drive what would normally had taken six. As daylight loomed, Katherine was horrified at what she saw around her; mile after mile of devastation. It was just starting to click for Katherine; Miranda might be on to something.
    “I don’t understand,” she said repeatedly, crying. “Who did this? Why?” Victor tried to explain it to her the first day, but it was beyond comprehension. She trusted the government; it had provided a profitable living for her husband, an honest, loyal man. He’d never agree to all the destruction, so for him to say the government did it just didn’t make any sense.
    “But why?” she asked over again. “What does it accomplish?”
    “If we had the time, I’d love to show you the areas that weren’t burned,” Miranda said. “Wherever the wealthy live, the houses stand.”
    “But what about our neighborhood?” she cried.
    “Except for our house,” Miranda said. “Your punishment for having a rebel for a daughter.”
    “Well, thank you so much!” Katherine hollered. “Couldn’t you have gotten a job, or found a husband like the other girls in your class? Why upset the apple cart? For what?”
    Miranda turned away. Maybe her mother didn’t get it, not yet. They’d zig-zagged for another day before coming to Ed Baker’s mother’s house just outside of Atlanta. Dunwoody was a lovely enclave of homes.
    “I guess I’m surprised it’s still standing,” Ed said, pulling into the driveway. “She’ll certainly be shocked to see me. Wait here and I’ll break the news that she’s entertaining tonight.” Ed got out of the car and walked up the path to the front door. He didn’t open it and go in, as Katherine had expected him to, but knocked and waited. Soon, a slender woman with curly salt and pepper hair opened the door. They could hear her cry of delight when she saw her son standing before her, with smiles and laughter, quickly changing to concern when he told her about the six people who were waiting to recover from a trip from hell.
    They watched as he jumped off the porch and waved them in. “She’s okay, it took her a minute to understand but we’ll clue her in and it will be fine.”
    Victor looked at Katherine and shrugged his shoulders as they got out of the car. Introductions took place, but he couldn’t remember who was who, the conversation swirling around him. He hoped he wasn’t having a stroke. Then it occurred to him that he hadn’t had any alcohol in forty-eight hours; perhaps the reason he was so disconnected.
    Feeling like a dishrag, hours before he’d put himself into a state of suspended animation when he realized the situation was completely out of his control, going with the flow, taking the punches as they came. The most difficult thing was seeing death. He’d grabbed Lexie’s head and pulled her into a bear hug so she couldn’t see the first burn they came to outside of D.C. Bodies were piled up everywhere, along the gutter, in the doorways of shops, hanging out of open car doors. Katherine seemed not to notice, as if she were in a trance. The smell was overwhelming, acrid and putrid at the same time. Danny retched and continued to heave until they got outside of town, but the smell lingered in their hair and clothes. Ed’s mother; Mrs. Baker, delicately put a tissue up to her nose.
    “Sorry mother, we need clothes and baths. Can you help us out?”
    “I have things for the ladies,” she said, her Georgia accent not quite able to cover her repulsion. “For the men, there might be something in Frank’s old room.”
    “My brother,” Ed explained. “Let’s go upstairs, shall we? Mother, can we use your bathroom, too?” The Garrisons followed Ed up the steep staircase to the upper floor, and the men went off in one direction while the women