The guys nod, but their jaws clench. It isn’t safe to go off alone, but as squad leader, I’m making the best decision I can. We need to get this walled off so the fire won’t spread any further.
I grab a couple extra water bottles, some protein bars, and head off in the direction the woman showed me. Praying I find this woman alive. The possibility is grim, but I have to try.
TWO
LARISSA
The coughing is getting worse,and the tears never stop rolling down my cheeks as my eyes burn from all the smoke. I don’t know where I’m going, and I’m doing everything possible not to have a panic attack. This trip is turning out exactly like my life, a crap shoot.
Beth moved here a couple of months ago and wanted us all to get together. I didn’t realize how worried they’ve been about me, not until Hayley saw me, and they wanted to get me out in some fresh air. Try to convince me to make some changes in my life. But hiking when there’s a fire in the mountains was the worst idea. I kept telling them it wasn’t safe, but they were adamant we’d be fine.
Ha! The part they forget is that I’m jinxed. My life is far from fine, and I’m bound to bring bad luck upon anybody who comes within a foot of me.
The coughing picks up, and I want to cry as I’m out of water, walking with no destination in mind. I’m pretty sure the fire is behind me, but I can be wrong. The wop-wop-wop of the helicopters was thrilling at first, but now the sound makes mefatigued, because they can’t see me. I won’t be saved. I only hope my friends can make it out of here.
According to my watch, I’ve now been separated from them for twenty-four hours. This is where it’s all going to end.
I find a large rock and take a seat for a minute. My feet have blisters on them, and every muscle in my body aches. I didn’t get any sleep, too worried about getting stuck in the fire or trampled by scared animals. The only thing I’ve been able to do is to follow in their direction. I’m assuming they know where they’re going. But it’s been a bit since any animal has run anywhere by me.
Being off my feet feels good, but I can’t get too comfortable. Another coughing fit overtakes me, and the smoke seems to get heavier. I wrap my rain jacket around my mouth again. I hope to keep some of the smoke out, but I don’t think it’s doing me any good.
The energy to keep going is fading fast, so I force myself to stand up and put one foot in front of the other.If only I could find a path, something already made, then I could follow it out of here, but the only thing I know I’m doing right is that I’m going downhill. Anything to get me off this mountain. I’m over the mountains and want the busy city life of New York. No more nature for me.
Never thought I’d hear myself say that. I never wanted to move there, but when my boyfriend and I graduated from university, he got a job on Wall Street. As a marketing major, it was better for me to find a job there than anywhere else. Plus, I had nowhere to go home to.
My parents retired, sold our family home, put their limited belongings in storage, and started travelling the world. Now, if I want to see them, they send me a plane ticket. Which has been exciting to a point. I’ve spent the holidays in some amazing places I would’ve never seen otherwise. But there’s something to be said about going home for the holidays. I love the idea of rootsand community. Where everybody knows everybody and helps a neighbor out. I’d be lucky if somebody would open a door for me while I tried to carry a chair into my building.
Six months ago, my life became a dumpster fire. It started with losing my job. Turns out my bosses were not on the up and up with working with their clients. They embezzled millions of dollars from them and delivered inferior quality marketing plans. I showed up to work one day, only for the FBI to come storming in, telling us to stop working while they seized everything.
Working with that company made other marketing or PR firms unwilling to even glance at my resume. I even tried getting into the mail room, but nope. And I had to show my work experience because I wasn’t fresh out of college anymore. I had to show I did something for a year. Truth was, I’d only been an entry-level marketer during my employment, but I was paying my dues, which is a glorified version of an office bitch. I didn’t have enough experience under my belt for anybody to consider what I’m capable of. My career blew up before it even got started.
Thankfully, Howard, my boyfriend, was making good money to help with my share of the rent for a bit, and I hit the ground running with any job I could find. I delivered pizza. I was a messenger for a day, ever do that job in the city unless you’re athletic. I eventually got a job cleaning office buildings, including the one where Howard works..
Depression took hold and the stress had me eating more. I’ve never been the thinnest woman around, but my curves were sexy. But the curves turned to more of a handful, with an additional forty pounds I couldn’t afford to gain. Howard ended things two months ago. He didn’t say it, but I could tell he didn’t find me attractive anymore. We dated for five years, starting from our freshman year of college, when we met in statistics class and were paired as partners for the semester. I fell in lovewith him and thought it was forever. Sure, he could be selfish, but he always took care of everything, so I didn’t have to worry about it. He was my first everything, and I assumed he was my happily ever after.
Coughs burst out of me as more tears streak down my cheeks, and I can’t tell if I’m crying or if it’s from the smoke anymore.
He was “gracious” enough to let me stay for the rest of the week until I could find a place. Which is impossible in the city, especially when you have a limited income. But I found a small room to rent, basically a closet with four other roommates. However, unlike them, living in the closet, I don’t have to share.
A month ago, things got worse. I was working a double shift and was cleaning Howard’s building and floor when I overheard a man and woman going at it in the copy room. I accidentally walked in, and the woman he was fucking was gorgeous, the complete opposite of me. She's runway model worthy. Howard froze when he said my name, with a deer in the headlights look in his eyes. He didn’t laugh, but he didn’t run to try to soothe me. The woman laughed and admitted that they had been sleeping together for over eight months.
Eight fucking months.
I ran out of there as fast as I could. My heart, broken. More like shattered. I loved him and trusted him. When I didn’t talk to my friends, they started hounding me, and Hayley even flew to New York to check on me. As soon as she saw me, I broke down. They all convinced me to come here. They even pooled together and bought my plane ticket.
So here I am, facing death. Which is just perfect. What a glorious end to a shitty year!
Another coughing fit takes over, and I can’t stop it. I’m hacking up a lung, and it hurts. I hunch over, resting my hands on my knees as I work through the coughing.
“Larissa!”
I lift my head. Did I just hear that?
“Larissa!”
Oh my God. My friends are safe, and they found somebody to search for me.
“Over…” I cough and try to clear my throat so I can yell. “Over here.”
