Hermit staggered a couple of feet ahead of me and Lilac who remained motionless on the ground. "We have to go." He looked further behind us at the chaos. But I refused to, I stood and took one step toward Hermit and the struggle to stand and maintain my balance overtook me.

"You need to eat," Hermit said, worry in his eyes. "We need to eat."

I sighed as the emotional and physical exhaustion took over. My mind assured me I was ready to lay down next to Lilac and give up. When I stumbled, Hermit came to my side to assist me. Even as we both looked miserable, on the brink of defeat, he continued to try.

The officers' screams and helicopter noise faded away, and finally I looked back at what remained. The fire was no longer roaring, having been doused with freshly dripping black sludge. It oozed like melted wax from the remaining trees, forming puddles of sizzling goo.

The only thing left of the officers where their guns and badges.

I studied the scenery from where I stood, surprised at the Scorchers' ability put out the fire. The smoke was no longer black but white and spread out sporadically. And with most of the chaos and noise gone, I was able to hear the people's chant more clearly.

"Let them go. Let them be. If there's no peace, we won't leave."

I caught a glimpse of the look on Hermit's face.

He nodded, took a deep breath, and coughed. "Gotta get those nutrients."

With that, the sound of hissing caught my attention and I turned to look closer at the forming puddles beneath the nearest dripping tree. In the shadows, it was hard to see but as I moved closer, focusing on the spot, tiny moss-like roots began to grow and cover the burnt areas.

The new growth operated like a scab over an open wound, healing the charred and damaged parts. "Do you see that?" I went closer, using all the energy I had to kneel at the puddle. It continued to make a sound that was alien to me. Never had I heard the vines and roots hiss like a wild animal. It was unlike the sizzling and searing from heat, but the sound of rapid growth.

Carefully, my fingers slithered through the fine tendrils of the newly sprouted roots. Getting a handful of the silky threads, I ripped them from the hardening puddle and brought them to my nose to test the scent. It smelled exactly like the tasty roots and vines at the edge of the radius.

Without a second thought and with a sudden urge to eat, I shoved the vines in my mouth and chewed, already feeling the energy return to my muscles and frame. The compulsion to eat and fill myself was so intense I wanted to convince Hermit to partake, but the craving didn't allow me to stop chewing and swallowing the satisfying nectar.

So, I ate and filled my belly until Hermit made his way to my side on his own. He fell to his knees and ate from the earth like his life depended on it, and in every way it did. The sound of crunching and chewing was all that emanated around us for a while.

Even my saddened thoughts of Lilac were pushed aside due to my need to sustain myself with the dark nectar of the forest.

Finally satiated, my ears adjusted to the distant, rhythmic chanting and my heart grew heavy for Lilac. With much more energy in my system, I went back to his side. He lay motionless on the root covered ground. His swollen eye made my heart sink in the pit of my stomach as the sky overhead continued to lighten with the promise of a new day.

"Poor, guy." Hermit sighed. "You can bring him back, right?" The bandage around Hermit's shoulder was completely stained with rusty red, but he seemed to be more levelheaded and energetic despite his injuries.

I shook my head. "I don't know, but I hope so." I wasn't even sure how he appeared the first or second time, a third was absolutely over my head. "Do we just leave him here?"

"What more can we do?" Hermit's voice was soft and melancholy.

My heart ached at the thought of not having Lilac by my side. Even the gunshot wound in his abdomen made my head spin with several thoughts. The pain he must've been in. The fear. The fact that he specifically didn't want to go through such a traumatizing event again and I had promised he wouldn't. Before taking that bullet, experiencing such a dramatic death had already influenced him.

"I'm so sorry, Lilac." I placed my hand on his shoulder and whispered to him and the powers that be, "Come back to me."

The scent of scorched sugar was jarring. I looked behind me to stare down the massive creature's throat as its jaw scraped the ground, preparing to scoop us in. I stood, feeling the heat of the inky goo.

"Stop!" I yelled with a strong voice and the demeanor to match it. Standing with my chin up and spine lengthened, I stared into the deep, black maw and willed the towering creature to halt in its tracks. It was not about to hurt me or my friends. I wouldn't allow it. And with that thought, it paused inches from my flesh, nearly stunned by the word that had spilled from my tongue. The heat and the bitter stench that radiated from it was harsh to my senses, but I stood my ground. "Back away. Now," I went on, swallowing the lump of fear in my throat and dismissing it almost instantly. "Leave us be. You hear me? Leave!"

With its mouth still agape and it's dripping eyes resembling dark, molasses tears, it obeyed and changed direction on a dime, facing an unseen challenger hiding within the trees.

Behind the bulky trunk hid a large man in a dark blue police uniform. His badge announced his authority on his left breast pocket. He raised his firearm toward the creature as it approached him. With the first couple of shots, Hermit and I was startled at the unexpected noise and sparks that emitted from the weapon, ducking down out of the way of the gunfire.

Bullet sized explosions splattered some tarlike goo from the creature's body as the shots made impact, but they didn't slow the Scorcher one bit.

I turned away just as the creature clamped its sopping mouth over the entire officer where he stood. His muffled screams of fear and agony only lasted a couple of seconds.

"Let's go." Hermit grabbed my forearm and pulled me through the forest and far away from the creature as we could go. "We need to get to the edge."

"No," I complained. "People are out there, and the gunshots are on our tail. We can't put them in harm's way."

"I think those people our only hope to keep this from getting crazier," he said, urging me toward the sound of the young girls and boy's protests and rallying calls.

"We're trapped here." I snatched my arm from his grip. "There's nowhere else to run or hide. Our only home is to prevent them from burning this place down and trying to kill us." My head and chest ached. "Poor Lilac."

"Listen." He possessed a no nonsense look on his blemished face. "As long as this place stands, there will be people trying to get rid of it. There will be excuses, reasons, even lies to make this place look as horrible as possible. We will forever have to fight to prevent that. And the only way to avoid it is with the help of some allies."

"Valerie and Noel?" I shook my head. "I can't keep putting their lives in jeopardy, Hermit. Don't you get it?"

"There will be no danger with their help," he assured. "It's because of them and their friends that this place haven't been nuked. Listen." He pointed toward the sound of the chanting. "Just listen to them."

As he brought their vocalizing to my attention, the words, "If there's no peace. We won't leave," was heard and hit me hard. They were protecting us. They were protecting the Scalded.

"Let's go," I relented and rushed toward the edge of the radius.

A bit out of breath from the quick trek, we emerged from the trees to be greeted by a massive crowd of young men and women. Possibly high school and college students around my age. Although none of the faces were familiar, the crowd stretched along the line that separated us from them and continued even further around the edge.

Their chants continued to fill the air, while some of the people resorted to pointing and jumping up and down with excitement. "There they are! There she is." Was heard amongst the crowd. "Just like on the news. Oh, my god. It's really her."

The excitement and healthy apprehension turned fascination, caused some in the crowed to go silent and just stare. Some of their large homemade signs they wielded had statements like: "stop the spread of hatred," or "let them live," and "peace for all."

"Kyla?" Someone called out from the crowd. "We're here for you, Kyla."

Amazed at the amount of support at my doorstep caused my heart to swell with appreciation. They got it. They understood. Maybe through them we could learn to live side by side. The longer I watched and listened, the more I began to believe Hermit could be right.

Scattered around were news vans, lights and live cameras pointed in the Scalded's direction. In other areas there were red and blue flashing lights that came from police cruisers.

Someone in a dark suit and tie stood behind the open door of one of the police cars with the microphone to his mouth connected by a long, coiled chord that sent his voice through the car's loudspeaker.

"We need this crowd to disburse immediately," the person said. "This is Mayor McKinsey, and you are all in danger. Please leave the area and return to the safety of your homes."

"That's not true." I shook my head violently. "We won't hurt you. I wouldn't dare put you in danger." I looked to Hermit for assistance. It was apparent no one heard my pleas above the chanting and the mayor's repeated orders.

Without warning, a hunter emerged from the trees behind us with his rifle raised in my direction. He slowly approached, sporting his matching camouflaged clothing from head to toe. "There ya'll are. I knew I'd find ya'll sooner or later."

The chanting stopped and the crowd gasped. Some people screamed at the sight of the man and his weapon.

"What are you doing?" Hermit shook his head in astonishment. "Don't be stupid. You're making a huge mistake."

Startled by his actions, I raised both hands, slowly backing away from the man and his deadly firearm. "Please, don't do this." I looked over my shoulder at the hundreds of young women and men behind me. "Please don't do anything you'd regret."

"Regret?" He shook his head and laughed until tears ran from his swollen eyes and down his dirty cheeks, clearing a path through the muck on his skin. "What about my brothers, huh? You regret siccing your soggy creatures on them?"

"Please." My mind was solely on the people at my back and how any bullets fired would hit the crowd if not scar them from the death they would witness. Some of the people were already scattering as I continued to move backwards, keeping a safe distance from the man.

Hermit moved out of the way, causing the man to switch his aim between us. One then the other. "Put the gun down so we can talk about it," Hermit said, but the man just aimed the gun at him instead.

"We should've gutted you while you were tied to that tree." He scowled, anger, hate and grief showed clearly on his face.

"Please, sir," I started, and the gun was back on me. 'Please, think about this." I continued to back up, seeing the crowd disburse and move further away from the corner of my eye.

He growled. "Why don't you just do us all a favor and die." His hands trembled so bad the entire rifle shook.

Hermit ran forward to tackle the man just as the gun fired with a deafening pop, pop, pop. I stumbled back and fell on my rear, surprised and shocked that I was so close to getting a bullet in my skull and ending up with the same fate as Hermit and Lilac or worse.

It wasn't until my breathing became more labored that I realized I was no longer within the Scalded radius. My skin tingled before it burned, resembling a fire slowly crawling over the skin of my entire body. Starting from my feet, my appearance became blackened as the many vine-like veins crept under the skin.

As Hermit fought the hunter, I instinctively reached toward my home which lay only a few feet from my fingertips. The baby roots at the edge of the Scalded began to grow rapidly under the soil in my direction.

It was then that I realized the new growth didn't have a mind of their own, but I willed them to grow and move toward me. With that knowledge, I urged them to move faster as my eyesight rapidly became tunnel vision. My flexibility decreased as my body petrified and stiffened.

Screams and commotion around me added to my rapidly increasing confusion and I continued to reach out to Hermit, the roots, or anything and anyone to release me from the dire predicament I was in.

Finally, as the first of many roots and vines touched my body, a relief washed over me, my breathing became easier as I inhaled rapidly, trying to fully fill my lungs with oxygenated air. I knew then, the Scalded was built from me to keep me alive in all facets, not just through nourishment and shelter, but also protection if I learned how to use my ability to my advantage instead of letting them use me.

I took a deep breath and stood. Hermit continued to tussle on the ground with the hunter. They both covered in inky stickiness. Even as Hermit's injured shoulder continued to bleed and drip from the bandage, he tried to wrestle the gun away.

With every deliberate step closer to the radius, the newly grown vines and roots receded with me, disappearing as my feet left them behind.

The hunter managed to kick Hermit off him. Hermit lay on his side wincing in pain.

The hunter stood, aimed the rifle at me, and placed his finger on the trigger. His shaking hands did nothing to prevent him from handling the weapon. With what felt like his final words, he growled. "Go back to where you came from." And pulled the trigger.

~~~

Only 4 more chapters until the end! 

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