The sight brings all of the passengers of Flight 316 to cheer and even jump up and down in an overwrought display of joy. The fishermen stand off to the side as hugs are doled out in pairs and in groups, and an overwhelming sense of relief washes over them with the belief that their nightmare has finally come to an end. Atua and his family know that their dark days have just begun.
The pace quickens and their two orderly lines crumble, as they come to walk side-by-side. No one seems to mind the dust storm they kick up, like a stampede of horses charging up the thoroughfare. Over a foot of volcanic ash has accumulated and, even with their renewed enthusiasm, their pace is slow and cumbersome. Hearts soar when Max spots what appears to be a farmhouse off to the distance. It’s a tall three-story building with a wraparound porch that sits about 200 meters off the south side of the highway, all alone on a small hill. Nearby, a silo stands next to a red barn. It’s impossible to tell the building’s condition under the heap of grey ash, but the lack of tracks suggests that no one is at home. Nevertheless, they make their way to the farmhouse. Atua reaches the porch before anyone else, and he looks back at the others before rapping on the door. The others straggle up as Atua’s knocks go unanswered. Noah rubs a clear spot on a windowpane and peers through.
“It’s abandoned,” he announces. “It appears that it has been for some time.”
Luna goes around to the other side for a better view of the barn and silo that are stationed in the hollow. But when she turns the corner, she is met with a sight that halts her in her tracks. For off in the distance, in what she can only assume is the town of Shetland, are pillars of black smoke, like long black fingers reaching for the sky.
“Oh God, no!” she whispers.
Chapter 20
Noah stations himself on the farmhouse’s third floor, seeking a better vantage point from which to view the smoldering town of Shetland, a few kilometers in the distance. The perspective is a good one, but it doesn’t offer any new information. Even before breaking into the farmhouse, Noah could make out several different fires in varying locations throughout the town. They are the only discernible activity to speak of. It doesn’t sit well with him at all.
Hiroshi stands at his left, his arms crossed, staring down at the burning hamlet. Behind them, Evelyn, Luna, Patrick, Jacob, Max, Mia, and Atua are crammed into the modest-sized bedroom, waiting anxiously for his report. Meanwhile, Kaewa is pacing back and forth in the hallway outside of the room, worriedly wringing her hands. Noah hands the binoculars to Hiroshi who takes a closer look. He faces the ragtag crew, covered from head to toe in filthy black soot, like weary coal miners just getting off a double shift.
“What’s the verdict?” Evelyn asks, because no one else will.
Noah shrugs. For once he looks unsure of himself. “The fires could be from looting or maybe a ruptured gas line from the quake. I won’t know until I get into town and check it out for myself.” He looks to Atua. “How familiar are you with Shetland?”
“All of us are. We have family who live there. Maaka and Pango go there all the time —”
“To get shitfaced,” interjects Kaewa stepping into the room. My sister Tania lives in town.”
Atua nods. “Where are you looking to go, mate?”
“The police station for one and from there...”
“I’ll be your huckleberry,” Maaka interrupts with a low grumbling growl.
His sudden entrance startles at least half the occupants. He grins from ear to dirty black ear, an unlit cigarette wedged between two filthy fingers. He swaggers to the center of the room, as people shuffle to let him pass. He has neglected to dust himself off, and as he moves, ash wafts from his shoulders leaving a trail of smoke in his wake. His thick ebony hair stands on end, and the streak of white across his eyes is the only part of him not painted black.
“Superintendent Hurst and I go way back. He’ll be tickled to see me, I suspect.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” confirms Atua.
“Alright then,” Noah says. “We should…”
“I’ll go too,” Hiroshi adds quickly.
“So it’s settled,” Noah says, glancing at Hiroshi. “We should get ready. We have —”
“Pango comes with,” Maaka says, having now positioned himself in a far corner of the room. A flash of fire flickers across his raccoon eyes as he lights his cigarette.
Noah frowns, his patience having worn thin, and then continues yet again. “We have just over three hours of light left so we should leave immediately. Atua, do you know how to get to Wakefield from here? That would be off the main road?”
“Wakefield?” He ponders for a moment and then his eyes quicken. “I do, actually. There’s a bike trail through the woods not far from here, but Wakefield’s over ten kilometers away.”
“I’m aware,” says Noah and motions for Eve to come closer.
“Now listen,” he begins, his voice low as he addresses both of them. “I don’t know what to expect when I get into town, and if for any reason we are not back here within five hours, you will need to lead the others to Randall’s. You will be safe there.”
“Who’s Randall?” Atua whispers.
“He’s an old family friend and the reason we came to New Zealand,” Evelyn answers, her voice distant. She looks out the window, her mind spinning in overdrive.
“If you are forced to go there, it is
imperative
that you avoid going through Shetland at all costs and take the path less traveled to Wakefield. Do you remember where Randall’s house is?”
Evelyn snaps to and nods. “Yes, I do.” She looks at Atua. “It’s actually just outside of Wakefield.”
“But… this is just a precaution right?” Atua asks, his eyes probing.
Noah gives him a reassuring pat on his shoulder. “Of course it is.”
Mia hangs on their every word. Something is clearly off — or at least, that’s what her gut tells her. And based on the worried expressions that most of the others carry she is not the only one who thinks so. In fact, the only one who
doesn’t
look concerned is the hideous Maaka, who stares at her and blows huge smoke rings in her direction. She gives him a cold look of disgust and walks over to Hiroshi, who is zipping his jacket and getting himself ready to go back out into the volcanic ruin.
“Can I please have the binoculars?”
Hiroshi pulls them from his jacket pocket and hands them to her.
“Thank you.” She aims the binoculars toward Shetland proper and feels immediately underwhelmed.
It’s a one-goat town, and that’s only because the horse already left.
It was a phrase coined by her father, whom she misses dearly. The town is asleep, even as it burns — or better put, dead. There is no sign of life, and certainly no glimmer of rescue. She pans to a far corner of the town and practically jumps out of her skin, shrieking so loud that everyone in the room jumps, herself included. The binoculars crash to the hardwood floor.
“For God’s sake. Are you alright?” Noah’s royal blue eyes glow against his blackened face.
“I’m sorry, I… I hope I didn’t break them.” She backs slowly toward the door, looking as if she’s seen a ghost.
Hiroshi hands Noah the binoculars off the floor after a cursory inspection. “Don’t worry about that. Did you see something out there?” He looks back toward the town, the binoculars none the worse for wear. He sees nothing. When Noah turns back to Mia, she has already left the room.
“That is one strange pussycat,” concludes Maaka, snuffing his cigarette against the stained yellow wall before strolling away, presumably to find Pango.
“I’ll go check on her,” Evelyn says quietly.
Noah gives one water-filled backpack to Atua. “I’m leaving this with you. It’s got almost seven liters of water left in the bladder and I’m holding you responsible for rationing it.” He turns to face Hiroshi. “Meet me downstairs in five minutes.”
When Evelyn finds Mia, she is staring out the window of a second-floor bedroom at a vast open field of dingy, grey deadlands. The occasional cluster of trees appears lifeless, burned and haunted. “Mia, are you alright?” Evelyn whispers, trying not to startle her.
Mia rolls her eyes; she has grown so tired of that question. “
Yes
. I’m sorry if I scared everyone. I’m fine.” She turns to Evelyn who has left the door open a crack, to spy down the hallway. “I’m afraid I have to go into town with Noah and that asshole Maaka.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Evelyn says uneasily. “I don’t have a good feeling about any of this.”
“Neither do I,” Mia snaps. “But unfortunately I have no choice… I saw her.”
“So when you say
her
,” Evelyn begins slowly, “you really mean…
you
… right?”
“As crazy as that sounds, yes.”
“Oh dear,” Evelyn sighs. She looks around the room nervously. “Is she with us now?”
Mia laughs weakly. “No she’s not here. She’s waiting for me. Out there.”
“I see.” Evelyn looks relieved, and nods at a person standing just outside the door to come in.
Noah enters and looks grimly at Mia as he shuts the door. “Did you have a vision?”
“I wish,” she jests. “No, I saw my
friend.
” She sighs.
“Ah... of course.” He glances at Evelyn for a split second before whipping back to Mia. “In the town?”
“Yeah. That was weird, actually.” Her eyes widen. “It’s never happened like that before, and why I jumped when I saw her. I mean
me.
”
“I can imagine,” Noah says, even though he can’t. “Well, I guess that means you’re coming too, then.”
Evelyn tugs at Noah’s arm. “Have you gone mad? She’s not going anywhere. Certainly not with you! We have no idea what’s going on out there. This stinks on ice!”
“I understand your position, Eve. Really I do. But, please listen to me. We can’t keep her from going out there. By doing so she may be endangering her life, but by
not
doing so she may be doing more harm. Do you understand? She
has
to go.”
“He’s right. I have to go.”
Evelyn shakes her head in protest. “...I still think this is a horrible idea,” she says, even as she surrenders.
“Agreed. But we need to know what has happened here. It may not matter what lies in Wakefield if it’s anything like this. At the very least we can ransack what’s left out there and bring it back here, for the push to Randall’s.”
“Well I’m glad that’s settled,” Evelyn snaps.
“Mia will need to sneak out after we leave and then meet us before we enter the town. That way we will have no choice but to take you with us. You can manage that right?”
“Yeah, I can do that.”
“Mia, I need to speak to Noah privately. Besides, you should make yourself visible for the others before you scurry off.”
Mia leaves the room, and Eve holds her tongue until she hears her walking down the steps. “I can’t support this, Noah. I have a bad feeling about all of this. If anything happens to that girl, I will never forgive you, I swear it!” Her voice is nothing more than a hushed whisper but it cuts through the air like a rapier.
“I will protect her,” Noah promises. “And I won’t lie to you. I don’t like the look of that town one bit. But we have no food and not enough water and if we can just get to Randall’s, we will all be safe. It may be the safest place in the world right now. I have to get moving. But promise me, Eve, if we’re not back in five hours, you know what you must do.
Do not wait for us under any circumstances.
Are we clear?”
“As mud.” She wipes the pad of her thumb across his forehead and shows him the results. He offers a weak smile, and then she leans in for a long kiss goodbye.
*************
“What exactly was that little prank all about? I’ll have you know you scared the living shit out of me.” Mia speaks aloud to seemingly no one as she walks alone across an endless wasteland of whirling dust, her outer shell caked in grey flaky ash.
“Why are you asking me?” she asks herself, sounding defensive. “You put me there.”
Mia comes to a dead stop on the road, a path of freshly plowed ash in front of her. She can’t see Noah and the others, but she knows they’re out there, moving invisibly against the drab landscape that confuses the senses. Her fur-lined hood, once a magnificent white, is now matted and singed. Underneath, her entire neck and head are wrapped hijab-style so that only her eyes are free. But even they are covered with Max’s wraparound sunglasses.
“What the actual fuck are you talking about?” she asks herself, dumbfounded.
The other Mia shakes her head in frustration. “Never mind. Just follow me.”
*************
Back at the farmhouse, Max stands at a first-floor window, staring at the barn and silo, which consume most of the view. In the next room over, Sarah and Josette are getting cozy near a fire that Patrick has built. With help from Jacob, they have gathered plenty of dead timber from outside to stock the numerous fireplaces that are located throughout the drafty abandoned home. On the top floor, away from the others, Atua tends to Kaewa who is distraught over the fires raging in Shetland. He tries his best to calm her fears in regards to her sister Tania, but with little success.