Free Running Away - A Post-Apocalyptic Novel (The Ravaged Land Series Book 4) by Kellee L. Greene Page B

right.
    I sat up and looked around the room. Everyone was still asleep and there was a strange yellow and orange glow that flickered and danced on the walls. What was going on?
    “Penn!” I whispered loudly, but when he didn’t answer I forced myself to get up and look out the window even though I felt scared. I pressed my palms against my scalp hard. It was like I wanted to make sure I wasn’t still dreaming. Outside of the house, all the dead trees and shrubbery that surrounded us were engulfed in flames.
    It crossed my mind, if only for a second, that maybe I should just go back to bed and let this be the end. I was tired. All we every did was fight and struggle, and maybe I was ready to be done with it. But I shook the thought away. Even if I could make that choice for myself, I couldn’t do that for the others. It just wasn’t my call.
    I shook Penn awake, and he looked at me with wide, unblinking eyes. He stared at me as if he had no idea who I was.
    “Look!” I said, pointing out the window towards the burning trees. He blinked hard several times and rubbed his eyes before he turned to the window.
    “Oh, shit!” he said standing up so fast he knocked the chair over onto its side. The noise caused the others to stir.
    “What’s going on?” Sienna said with a yawn.
    Dean swung his legs over the side of the bed and rushed to the window. He looked around the room, “Is the house on fire too? I smell smoke!”
    “I don’t think so. The smell is just slowly filling the house,” I said, even though I wasn’t completely sure the house wasn’t on fire. But it seemed like a fair assumption, considering the amount of grass, between the house and the trees, that wasn’t in flames. At least for now it was just the surrounding trees and shrubs, but it would eventually take over the house as well.
    “So are we surrounded?” Dean said glancing towards Sienna, noticing how close she was to Carter. He kept his eyes on them until Carter stood up and came to look out the window. Sienna narrowed her eyes at Dean and crossed her arms.
    “I think so,” I said watching the fire outside the window get bigger and brighter. I looked down at my feet, hoping that when I looked back up the fire would be gone. But it wasn’t. And if we didn’t do something soon, we’d be cooked alive. “Someone go get Alice?”
    “I’ll wake her,” Carter said, and disappeared from the room.
    “The water,” Penn said solemnly as he looked at the water. He walked over to the jug and started filling the glass as if it might be the last time he’d see water.
    “Penn, we have to get out of here,” Dean said pulling on Penn’s shirt. Penn chugged down the water and dropped the cup as he reluctantly left the jug of water behind. It was far too heavy and bulky. We wouldn’t have been able to carry it easily. It would have slowed us all down too much.
    “There’s time! We should each have one more glass,” Penn said pulling himself away and moving back towards the jug. I could see the flames rising up in the trees. The blazing limbs looked like fiery beasts reaching out their arms towards us.
    “There’s no time!” Dean said as Carter and Alice joined us in the hallway. Dean walked around me to go back for Penn.
    Alice looked frightened. It almost looked as though she thought she was dreaming. Carter held onto her tightly, as if he was afraid she might run away.
    We walked down the hall and Dean stopped at the window. He pointed down at the ground, “Look!”
    I looked over his shoulder and saw what appeared to be a shadowy figure running away from the fire. It looked as though he was carrying something. Something like a gas can.
    “What the…? Why would someone do this?” I asked quietly. Yeah, people were jerks, but usually they ruined your day because they wanted your supplies, not because they wanted to set you on fire for fun.
    “What did you see?” Sienna asked as she grabbed onto the railing and walked down the