Fireproof

The Scarcity War and the Fires indelibly changed what had once been the United States.

Fires set by both factions had left scarcely a family whole, scarcely a building untouched.

The Duprees lived in the kitchen of their burnt-out home because it still had part of its roof. Theeah, fifteen, and Paetty, ten, had moved their parents’ and sister’s charred bodies into another part of the house. Theeah was able to retrieve a bit of money from the fireproof safe and scrounge a few other things, but like so many others, the War and the Fires made them survivors.

Theeah remembered supermarkets and department stores. Now, she traded at The Shacks – wrecked buildings, old vans and food trucks in the old supermarket parking lot. It was about a two-mile walk, but Theeah didn’t mind. She enjoyed being out on her own. She knew the world wasn’t safe, but the danger never seemed much in their sparsely populated neighborhood. She took a small amount of money with her, just enough for the food and water they needed, and Paetty enjoyed the feeling of independence he got from staying home alone.

A young red-headed man arrived almost when she did. Theeah stood back and waited, but he turned to her. She was surprised; it was unusual for strangers to speak much unless it was necessary.

“I’m Joffe. I haven’t seen you around before. Do you live around here?”

Theeah, cautious as ever, merely nodded.

“What’s your name?” He casually turned to look at the scanty merchandise.

“Theeah.”

He made a few purchases: a water bottle, packaged food, and a shirt that looked too large for him. He turned back to Theeah.

“What do you need?”

She stared in confusion. Why was he asking her that?

“Well, I usually use the one down there.” She pointed at a rusted blue minivan near the end of the short row.

“Let’s go, then,” Joffe set off without looking to see if she was following.

She did follow, still confused. When she got there, she greeted the man sitting on the bumper, smoking some concoction of herbs wrapped in paper in place of the cigarettes he had once smoked. Trying to ignore Joffe, she told the man what she needed, noticing a small jar of the chunky peanut butter Paetty craved and adding it to her purchases. She reached into her pack for the money to pay for it.

“I got this,” Joffe held out money before she managed to get to her own.

“No- “she began, but Joffe interrupted.

“I came into some money. Let me do this,” he insisted. “Besides, you’re just a kid, you must be about – “

“I’m twenty,” she told him, lying, as she often did.

“My ass,” he said without heat, handing her the food and water.

“Thank you,” Theeah responded automatically. “But why – “

“Well, as it happens, I’m hoping you’ll help me out, too.”

Theeah stiffened. She’d seen this before, though it had never happened to her. What would he want from her?

“I just need a place to stay tonight,” Joffe said reassuringly. “My place caved in, and I’m headed to the city.”

He had helped them with a week’s food and water, and he seemed sincere enough. Letting him stay for a night seemed harmless enough. Still unsure, she nodded anyway, and after stowing her things in her pack, she silently turned and headed home.

They didn’t speak; Joffe seemed to sense Theeah wasn’t going to volunteer more information, so he simply trudged slightly behind her along the broken sidewalks. When they reached Theeah’s home, she stopped. “My little brother Paetty is inside, and I am warning you now: if you touch him or hurt him in any way, I will end you.”

Joffe nodded seriously. “Understood.”

She led him in, expertly stepping over rubble, making her way to the covered kitchen. Paetty was waiting for her, as she knew he would be. “Did you get peanut butter?” he asked.

She smiled for the first time that day. “I did! It’s even chunky.”

At that moment, he noticed Joffe. His face dropped and he got quiet.

“This is Joffe. He paid for our food and asked to stay the night. Don’t worry, okay?”

Paetty nodded, satisfied with the explanation but clearly uncomfortable.

They had a nice evening, eating peanut butter on crackers and sharing a bottle of water she had refilled at one of the remaining reservoirs. Joffe was quiet and kind, and even made a few jokes that made Paetty smile. He helped clean up the small dinner mess. By bedtime, they were all tired from the day and ready to turn in.

“Where do you sleep?” Joffe asked.

“Right here.” Theeah gestured at the warped linoleum floor. “We don’t have blankets or anything.”

“It’s summer.” Joffe shrugged and settled himself a fair distance from Theeah and Paetty.

Theeah habitually woke early, and she noticed Joffe was already gone. She decided he had probably just left early and reached for her pack to take a swig of water. It wasn’t there.

Panicking immediately, she looked around the small space. There was Paetty, still sleeping, his arm over his small face to block the light coming in. No pack anywhere.

“Fuck!”

“What?” Her loud curse woke Paetty up.

“That fucker stole my pack!” Theeah immediately searched the kitchen cabinets, where they kept their extra supplies and - more importantly - their extra money.

The cabinets were bare. “

“It’s all gone! Everything is gone. Food, supplies, the money. Gone.”

Paetty started to cry.

Theeah put her hand to her breastbone. Her heartbeat slowed when she felt the large, heart-shaped locket hanging under her shirt.

“Hey. He didn’t get everything.” She pulled the locket out of her shirt and showed it to her brother.

He nodded, sniffing back his tears. “What do we have to do? We don’t have any money or any food.”

Theeah straightened her back and looked him square in the eye. “We go to the museum.”

Paetty’s eyes widened. “In the city?”

“Yep.”

“But…what about Mom and Dad and…” His voice trailed off. It was too painful to talk about their little sister.

Theeah spoke gently. “We’ve talked about this. Those bodies are not them. They are far away now, in heaven, all together. Now, come on.”

“Now?”

“What were you going to do first, play video games? Yes, now.”

After they had each visited the privacy of the back yard to relieve themselves, they set off. It wasn’t hard to find their way: the city skyline was easily visible, about ten miles away; they just had to walk towards it. In midsummer without water or food, it was going to be a hard walk, but Theeah trusted they could make it.

The locket gave them a little hope. It was valuable: antique gold with a reasonably sized diamond embedded in the middle of the large heart-shaped locket.

What was really valuable, though, was inside: a small brass key. The key opened a fireproof lockbox entrusted to the History Museum in the city. They knew the building had been burned, but Theeah hoped to find the lockbox in the rubble: it contained three ancient golden figurines that, her father had told her, were priceless. Her grandfather had entrusted the box to the museum with the understanding that one day, the family would open it and allow the museum the first option of purchasing its contents, but for some reason her father had never done it.

Theeah knew with so many artifacts destroyed, uncovering and unlocking the box could provide for her and Paetty for the rest of their lives, including a decent place to live. The only reason she had not done it yet was that she and Paetty had needed time to acclimatize to their new situation before they could undertake such an uncertain adventure.

The walk to the city was brutal; temperatures had reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and the asphalt of the old freeway was hot under their worn shoes. They made it by late afternoon and had even met a nice woman who had let them each take a swig from her water bottle.

As they walked into the city, stomachs rumbling from hunger and throats parched, the first thing they saw was a row of Shacks converted from old food trucks. Hoping one of the owners might help them, Theeah led Paetty to them. As she walked nearer to the husk of the high-rise that the Shacks were situated near, her locket swung out from under her low-cut shirt and hung in full display as they headed towards their destination.

A woman walked out of the high-rise, swinging a surprisingly clean Louis Vuitton from her arm, dressed in dirty but previously fashionable clothing. Like everyone else, she didn’t have running water and couldn’t bathe, but somehow carried herself in a way that made her seem high-class.

She noticed Theeah and Paetty immediately; they weren’t from around there. It didn’t take long for her eyes to zero in on the bright diamond glinting in the middle of Theeah’s locket.

She immediately made a beeline to them.

She touched Theeah on the arm lightly; Theeah instinctively jerked away and whirled around.

“It’s all right, dear,” the woman said soothingly. “I’m Seandy, and I just happened to notice your beautiful necklace. I haven’t seen you around my building before, and I would remember that necklace.”

“Your building?” Theeah replied aggressively. “Looks like the same kind of burned-out shit we all live in, so you can get off your fucking high horse.”

“There’s no need for language, dear,” Seandy replied gently. “Now, how much would you like for your necklace? I have money.”

“It’s not for sale, lady.”

“I’ll pay you one hundred for it,” Seandy persisted.

Theeah hesitated, thinking of Paetty’s hunger, but then shook her head defiantly. She needed the locket.

Seandy noticed her hesitation and her glance at her traveling companion, just a child. She correctly guessed that they were hungry.

“One fifty,” she said confidently.

Theeah hesitated again, apparently thinking it over. Finally, after what had seemed an eternity to Seandy, she nodded slowly, her eyes filling with tears.

Seandy was excited; much of her jewelry had been ruined, and the locket was both beautiful and unusual. She opened her purse and counted out the money and held it out to Theeah - a real sign of trust.

Theeah pocketed the money and allowed her voice to tremble.

“May I…hold it one more time? It was my mother’s.”

“Yes, yes,” Seandy said a little impatiently as Theeah unclasped the locket and took it off. She felt the girl was making a bit much of holding it in her hand, stroking it, but since it didn’t seem as though she was going to run off with it, she waited with only a slightly annoyed exhale.

“Here,” Theeah said, handing her the locket. Surprisingly, there were no signs of tears or reticence anymore, but Seandy barely noticed as she took the locket, thanked Theeah, and quickly walked off.

“What did you do?” Paetty whispered as they turned back towards the Shacks, now with enough money to buy anything they wanted.

“Hush,” Theeah told him, and went up to the first Shack. She ordered peanut butter, crackers, water, dried meat, and even two pieces of candy and led Patrick to the curb to eat and drink.

“Not all is lost,” she whispered, and opened her fist. There, in the middle of her small, dirty hand, was a brass key. Paetty grinned, and they dug into their treats and guzzled the water, knowing they could afford more.

Done eating, Theeah and Paetty confidently walked back to the Shack she had shopped at just half an hour before.

“Excuse me? Could you tell me where the old History Museum is?”