CHAPTER ONE
Kennedy
* * *
I didn’t do it.
I know that’s what all prisoners, say, but in my case it’s true.
I know they all say that as well, but… you just have to believe me…
Do you believe me?
Oh, that’s okay. No one else does.
“This is a big one!” the correctional officer in charge of my unit shouts as he walks down the aisle of the bus, looking like the Terminator behind those big aviator glasses. “Be shrewd or be barbecued.”
He chuckles at his own joke, but he’s the only one laughing.
I’m surrounded by a busload of other prisoners who thought it was a good idea to come charging into a wildfire with nothing but an axe to try and stop it from spreading through the mountains. We all thought it was a good idea to come out here in the burning mountains of California and risk our lives for three bucks a day. I’m surrounded by idiots.
Why the hell did I think I could do this?
It sounded like a good idea when I was bored out of my mind and lying on the cot in my cell. It didn’t seem so deadly then.
But now that the bus is bouncing along the dirt valley, heading straight toward the clouds of black smoke pouring off the mountains in the distance, it’s feeling very serious.
“Are you coming with us into the blaze?” one of the girls behind me asks.
The CO bends over, laughing his ass off as all of the girls frown at him.
“No, thank you,” he says as he lifts up his glasses to wipe his eyes. “I’ll stay in the air-conditioned bus.”
“Pussy,” I hear the girl behind me mutter under her breath.
I grip onto the seat in front of me as the bus starts really bouncing. We’re totally off-road now, heading straight toward the blaze that’s been keeping the local firefighters busy for days.
“Can we stay in the air-conditioned bus too if we change our minds?” I ask in the high-pitched squeaky voice that always comes out when I’m terrified.
He grins as he looks down at me. I can see my frightened reflection in his glasses.
“What the fuck do you think?” he bellows angrily.
“Yes?” I squeak out.
He laughs as he charges back up to the front of the bus while shaking his head.
“Five minutes until drop off,” he shouts before he sits down in the front seat.
“This is some bullshit,” one of the girls says as she peers out the window. “They expect us to go into that?”
I’m afraid to look.
“We’re going to be toast,” another one says. They’re all looking out the window at the out of control fire we’re headed toward.
The heavy smell of smoke comes drifting into the bus despite all of the windows being closed and I cough as it burns my lungs.
This is so bad.
I can point to many instances in my life where things have taken a wrong turn, but for once it’s my fault. I chose to be here.
I am an idiot.
The smoke is one thing, but when I feel the heat pouring in, my heart really starts to pound.
I can’t help but look.
“No,” I gasp when I turn and look out the windows across the aisle from me.
I shouldn’t have looked. I really shouldn’t have looked.
The whole freaking mountain is on fire!
Every tree, plant, and bush in the vicinity is consumed in flames and it’s moving at an unstoppable pace.
What the hell is a busload full of convicts supposed to do against that?
Nothing. We can’t do a thing.
They must be feeding us to the wildfire or something. Maybe we’re an offering to the fire gods. Twenty-three young women sacrificed for it to stop. I wouldn’t put it past the Terminator up there. He’d probably burn us all for free.
“One minute!” he hollers as the bus flies forward, making us all bounce around violently on the hard benches.
I start to panic, looking around for an exit. Any kind of exit. I’d kick my window open and leap out of this speeding bus if I could, but the windows are probably bulletproof, let alone kickproof.
Anyways, I’d have to break the chains locking my ankles to the seat and snap my handcuffs. That’s not going to happen unless I happen to get superpowers within the next few minutes.
“No!” I gasp when the bus rolls to a stop.
The fire is so close. We’re downwind, but I can still smell the thick smoke. It’s burning my lungs and making my eyes water.
“Everyone out!” Terminator shouts as he begins walking down the aisle, unlocking everyone.
My hands are trembling when he gets to me.
“What are you scared about?” he asks as he sticks the key in my handcuffs and lets me loose.
“Seriously?” I gasp as I look at the blaze through the windows. “I’m afraid of being burned alive!”
“Isn’t that an upgrade to rotting away in a cell for the rest of your life?”