“It wasn’t like the whole river was on fire or anythin’, but there were these bands, like ribbons of fire strung out across the water from bank to bank. They’d zip up and down stream, crossin’ each other, breakin’ up and then formin’ again. Some of them were blue and green, but most were red and orange, and they was bright. It was hot just to look at them. Even from up on the bridge I could feel sweat breaking out on my forehead. While I was sitting there, just idling in a little BMW I’d picked up, I saw one of those ribbons break off a piece of fire and head over to the shore. Once it hit ground it zipped up through the tops of trees like a fuse. It din’t burn the trees up, but it traveled across them from limb to limb. When it got really close to the bridge, I couldn’t see it anymore. I was about to jump out to look where it went when it flipped up over the rail and started burnin’ right on the road surface at the end of the bridge.
“It was still just a single piece of flame, like a little column from a candle, but about ten feet high. I put the Beemer in reverse and ease into the gas, hoping the fire wouldn’t notice me. My eyes was locked on the flame, but movement in my rearview caught my eye. Directly behind me, two flames came up over the rails and were milling around. Before I could step on the gas, those little torches zipped over and started to burn up the back of my car. It went from a nice fall day to Africa-hot faster than I could yell. I got out of the car and ran right for the edge. I guess I was ready to jump over the edge, but I din’t have to.
“Those flames only cared about the BMW, and they only cared until it stopped running. They din’t torch the thing, really, or make it blow up. One of them went around to the hood, disappeared under the engine and then the next thing I knew, the BMW was shut off. I was still grippin’ the railing of the bridge as the flames wandered away. One went back over the edge of the bridge and through the woods. The other one made its way to the other end of the bridge and joined the first flame. They were both orange and red, but when they joined together they burned hot and blue, like a butane torch. I could feel the heat double when they combined.
“I didn’t go much further into the city. The flames were everywhere and if I even started a car, they’d show up and put it out. I rode a bike for a while, but they caught on and snuffed that too. They burned up the tires and fused the chain to the chainring. So I walked and walked.
“The first living thing I saw was a horse. He was stomping around his paddock, lookin’ half-starved and thirsty. Really fancy house and barn and pastures right there inside the beltway. I din’t know such a thing existed, but I guess when you have money anything’s possible. I found him some hay and managed to draw some water with a hand-pump—got him squared away. In the barn they had a whole harness and cart thing, but I was afraid the fire would come after that too. I tried him with the saddle though. That bastard horse is so big, it’s like riding a damn couch, but he’s good under saddle. The two of us went north—the fire seems worse to the south and west—and we came all the way up through Pennsylvania, New York, and then east through Massachusetts until we turned north and ended up here.
“I found a place though—a big farm in the hills of upstate New York. I mean to go back and settle there. It’s got good visibility and a herd of horses who din’t disappear like everything else. I figured I’d throw it out there. Thought maybe some of you would go with me,” Luke said.
“To where? New York?" Ted asked.
“Yes, that’s what I said,” Luke said.
A low murmur spread through the group as if they, like Ted, were just starting to grasp Luke’s proposal.
“Why is New York better than here?" Sheila asked, straightening up in her chair.
“Like I said, there’s horses there and a farm on a hill,” Luke said. “There’s a pond out back the horses drink from, and pastures. There’s plenny of room for a summer garden, and a greenhouse next to the barn. The place still has life in it.”
“That might just make it the next target,” Ted said.
“Like we’re not a target here?" Frank asked. His voice sounded a little frantic.
Luke patted the table next to Frank to settle him down. “I covered a big chunk of ground in the past couple of months, and I’ve only seen a couple signs of life. There’s a band of scattered souls here, where the snow is only a coupla inches deep, and then there’s this pocket down in New York. You folk up here are livin’ right on the edge. You got corpses a few miles south, and lord-knows-what up there in a snow drift covering most of the state. Personally, I’d prefer to put some distance between myself and those things.”
Another wave of whispered comments swept through the crowd, but to Brad the approval seemed to shift towards Luke.
Ted stood and waited until the sound died down and the eyes turned back to him—“Thank you Luke and Brad for sharing your stories. I don’t see any other new faces tonight, so I’d like to get back to what I was saying about Rob’s ideas. He has some thoughts about our situation and he’d like to share them now.”
Brad looked over at Robby, and followed Robby’s gaze over to Luke. Luke folded his arms and settled into a deep slouch.
“I agree with Luke,” Robby said. “I definitely want to put some distance between us and the corpses and whatever is up in the snow.”
Robby waited a breath before he continued.
“But the world we knew has ended. We have to assume it ended everywhere. We can’t ignore the strange forces that brought us here. We can continue to be victims of it, or we can try to find a way to stop it. I suggest we first drive out the cause of the world’s destruction, and then we can sneak off to New York and settle in the hills,” Robby said. As he spoke the last sentence, he looked directly at Luke, as if his statement were an accusation.
“How you gonna fight things we don’t even understand?" Luke asked. “Have you seen the columns of fire that chase down anything mechanical and burn it up? Have you seen the smart water trails that eat up anything that touches them? What about Brad’s rock monster? You have a way to drive out rocks?”
“I do,” Robby said.
During the verbal sparring, Brad had felt solidly on Robby’s side. But Robby’s last statement went too far. In Brad’s opinion, the young man possessed the preposterous confidence only youth could grant.
“Huh,” Luke said, voicing the group’s doubt.
“The short version is this—we go south and gather as many corpses as we can. We’ll need at least a several hundred; a thousand would be better. Then we head northeast. We’ll find the main encampment somewhere near Kingston. That thing wants to use the corpses, but not yet. By bringing them early, we’ll be able to drive off whatever brought the snow, the rocks, the fire, and the cleanup liquid.”
“This ain’t some movie, kid,” Luke said.
“Rob,” Judy said. She waited until he locked eyes with her before she continued, “There are some problems in life that don’t have a solution. Sometimes you just have to get by the best you can.”
“Let me walk you all through the steps of my deduction,” Robby said. He looked around and continued, “I wish I had a whiteboard. I could draw it all out for you.”
Luke rose and backhanded Frank’s shoulder.
“Me and Frank are leaving in the morning,” Luke said. “I know how to get past the water things, how to avoid the fire creatures, and I’ll take us out to the ranch in New York. Only bring what you can carry. We can get most of what we need on the way. We’ll meet up at the Jetport parking lot at ten tomorrow morning. Who’s coming?”