Before getting too lost within the dark forest, I looked toward the tar-like puddle that contained what was left of the rifle-wielding hunter. He was threatening to shoot those kids if they didn't do what he wanted. My actions were justified, I tried to convince myself. Even though a bit of guilt rose from my gut to stay lodge in my throat.

Seeing that puddle and knowing the Scorcher disintegrated him to nothing but a steaming hot puddle of muck took me back to the beginning, witnessing all those innocent people become consumed by my imaginings.

Such a hard pill to swallow.

Had the city folks seen what I was capable of? Witnessing the creature and the power it had must have traumatized so many innocent minds. Have I tainted their view of me more than the prime-time news? Thinking of the city folks, I hoped Noel and Valerie bested the creature and escaped safely.

Speaking of imaginings, I wondered where Hermit was and if we would find him barely hanging on to his wound and his life.

"Take a look at that." Lilac pointed ahead at the pillars of black smoke that continued to rise into the dark early morning sky.

"Let's find Hermit and then check it out," I suggested.

"You want to get near those?" Lilac shook his head. His poor eyelid puffy and swollen shut. From a certain angle he didn't even look like himself. "It may be a bad idea to go near the smoke. We will end up worse than toast."

"Do we have a choice?" I rubbed his shoulder to instill a sense of comfort in him like he had done for me so many times. "It's not like we can just leave this place to avoid a fire or guns or whatever else threatens to kill us. We can't leave, so the only option we have is to defend our home."

Lilac dropped his head as if I had scolded him. He stood awkwardly, holding his elbow as if it were injured. "I don't know."

"What's wrong?" I stood before him to urge him to look into my eyes, but he didn't lift his head. "Come on. Talk to me, Lilac."

"What am I going to do if you get killed?" He finally looked up, and a lone tear traveled from his eye and down his bruised cheek. "I need you just as much as we need this place. Who knows if I can be like those creatures and live on without you, or even if I would want to."

I could see the worry and fear in his demeanor. I gulped, speechless. I didn't know what to say to ease his pain and worry. I grabbed the strand of straight hair at the nape of my neck and fiddled with it as I thought.

"Let's find Hermit and go from there," I suggested. "Maybe he will have some ideas that can get us somewhere."

We trekked side by side, being vigilant of our surroundings, but moving as fast as our feet would allow. Straight to the tree hut where we'd first encountered the doctor.

"Hermit?" I called to no answer. The hut didn't look occupied, but he claimed to have several tree huts spread out over the entire radius. Where were they located?

The next stop was Knoques. We were both apprehensive about going back to the place where intruders freely entered and assaulted us. Even the memory of those filthy hands over my mouth caused me to shudder.

We crept up to the entrance at the front of the hospital. The doors were wide open, but not inviting. The moonlight and brightening sky did its best to highlight certain areas within the space.

I entered and Lilac followed. My toes barley grazed the floor as I listened and looked for any signs of movement or life in general. Only the same old furniture and shadows were present.

"Hermit?" I whispered loud enough to carry within the room but not beyond it.

"He is not here," Lilac said. "Maybe the hunters took him somewhere?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, but what I do know is he's wounded. And if he managed to escape, where would he go but the hospital?"

"Hey, Mr. Hermit?" Lilac called out. His voice echoed down the halls and ricocheted off the walls. "Are you here?"

There was no response. "Come on," I urged. "Let's go to the doctor's quarters. They have to have old bandages and supplies somewhere, right?"

He nodded and followed me down the darkened hall toward our destination. I peered into every open room we passed, making sure no one or nothing jumped out to surprise me. After having those filthy hands on my mouth, I was prepared for anything.

"What were the hunters trying to do to us? Where were they taking us?" Lilac asked over my left shoulder in a whisper.

"I have no idea." I shrugged, peering into one of the vacant rooms. "I think they were trying to take us out of the radius."

"That would have been ... bad." Lilac huffed. "Imagine being pulled over the edge and slowly dying. Just like Hermit said, he cannot leave, you cannot leave, and that means I cannot leave. We are bound to this place. And crazy enough, I never wanted to leave. I belong here."

"Exactly." I nodded. "Like I said, this is our home. We have no other place to go. Now we must defend it."

We went through the double doors of the doctor's quarters and entered the large room. Chairs, desks, broken computers, and equipment were scattered all over the room. Settling in awkward positions. Dried black muck covered most of the items and floor, causing everything to look much like the forest beyond.

Moving through the debris was surreal as the placement of the items seemed a bit different than they were in the red place. Careful to maneuver through the equipment, we made our way across the room to the other doors leading to another hall of rooms.

When we exited into the dark corridor, seeing ahead became more difficult since the windows at the far end were positioned so outside like could not illuminate the space.

"Hermit?" I called out, but nothing but my echoes responded. "Looks like we have to go for plan B."

"The explosions?" Lilac gave me an all-knowing look.

I nodded, focusing on his injured eye. "Will you be alright?"

"I will heal just like any other person." Confidence lingered in his voice.

"No, I mean are you ... alright?" I paused giving him my full attention.

"As long as you are." He stared at me, no expression but a hint of pain on his face.

I squeezed his hand. "As long as you promise to remain by my side, I will be."

He nodded. "Promise."

We braved the hall in the darkness, still creeping along so not to be taken by surprise by hunters or anything else deciding to jump out at an opportune moment. Amazingly, we made it through to the other side in the darkness and emerged into another room that resembled a second reception area. It connected to the recreation center we so frequently visited when I was able to participate in movie night and fun, imaginative games. Though we never went through the doctor's quarters to get there, always led through the alternative route.

The rec center contained a series of old-style TV sets that were donated to the hospital long ago but were in frequent use by the residents. The large boxy sets rarely provided variety in entertainment but was the most relaxing when a channel went static.

The window at the end of the dark hall was the closest exit, and after we pulled some of the vines out of the way, we carefully hoisted ourselves up and climbed through. I went first and Lilac followed.

Immediately, the distant roaring of helicopter blades whipping the air quickly approached and caught my attention.

"What do we do?" Lilac stared in the direction of the loud noise.

"We stay low and out of sight while we find Hermit." I crept along the side of the building, allowing it to guide me closer to the nearest pillar of smoke. The helicopter made it there first, as it circled around the smoke, shining a bright spotlight in the space around it.

Were they looking for the culprits? Were they filming? Were they trying to assess the damage, so they'd know how to stop it? Or were they getting a front row seat to watch it all burn down?

The thick black smoke indicated that the fire was still burning in a rage. Curiosity urged me to continue towards it to see for myself. We moved through the abundant trees, using them as cover, and a few feet beyond to see what was on fire.

An entire area of the forest was lit up in bright orange and red flames, the smoke was the thickest and blackest against the contrast of dawn's early morning sky.

"Oh, my goodness." Lilac nearly gasped at the sight.

I placed my hand over my mouth just as my jaw dropped to suppress my cry.

The fire seemed to cling to the root-covered ground and nearby trees and roared without destroying them the way a regular forest fire would. Was that due to the rumored chemical Valerie and Noel were talking about? The liquid didn't burn away as quickly as gasoline would. Whatever the accelerant was it burned the tall standing trees like a box of matches, keeping them on lit like a wick of a candle instead of quickly burning them to ash.

My jaw remained open from utter shock and awe as I witnessed the flames slowly spread and consume every tree and root in its path. I didn't move, think, or fully digest how my home was being ruined right before my very eyes.

"How do we stop this?" Lilac shook his head, staring up at the dancing flame and billowing smoke. The light from the fire reflected in his uninjured eye.

"I don't think we can." The words caught in my throat. "We can't do anything but stand here and watch it burn."

~~~

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