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Wherever You Are

Fire & Ice

By Jessica JPublished 3 years ago 8 min read
1
Wherever You Are
Photo by Courtnie Tosana on Unsplash

The sun is setting with pastel pinks bleeding into deeper purples without any clouds to tarnish the beauty. In the distance the sirens song of the ice cream truck plays and on my block, chubby toddlers and their sibling laugh manically as they run through the sprinkler set up in the street. Everything about today is beautiful and carefree, except it’s all a mirage. The laugher covers a blanket of thick anxiety among adults listening intently to portable radios crackling with static because despite today being a gorgeous day, it’s December 17th in New York. As I walk into the yard, the radio on my phone begins giving a forecast: “In other news, the heatwave hitting the Northern continents has turned into an ice wave in the Southern continents. Scientists are working diligently to understand the root of the issue but have warned us to expect the warm weather….” By the time I go to bed it’s 9pm and the sunset is still happening.

Upon waking up, the room is stuffy and I realize neither my fan or air conditioner are on. My phone also isn’t charged. Then the realization that the powers out hits me. Checking the thermostat I also find it’s over 100 degrees. I’m outside in my yard under the gazebo reading when the screams start and then the smell of burning rubber mixed with chemicals follows. In the front yard I see where two cars collided, except there are tar like substance track marks. This isn’t good. My radio sounds fifteen minutes later: “In other news, the heatwave is just getting hotter. Residents are urged to remain at home as the pavements are so hot tires are melting. Scientists are warning that this is not close to being over and are beginning to look into a shift near the equator due to climate change. Everyone is advised to move anything that could possibly melt outside.” My fear of this worsening proves correct over the next three days and a message of “GO EAST. LOVE YOU. PHONE BATTERY DONE” brings about panic I had never felt before. My phone on 75% is turned off for emergencies.

By the time a week passes the entire town is on edge and the supermarkets have begun rationing the amount of supplies per family. We’re inside making popsicles when an earsplitting scream comes through the window, followed by another, and another and more. My blood runs cold as I watch the neighbor’s skin melting away like a candle on fire. The smell of charred flesh and bubbling blood drifts through the air. Craning my head along the windows in the house I can see multiple skeletons. My family quickly work on calling the rest of our loved ones with what little battery we have left in warning. Not many of them answer the phones. God help us all. That night there’s clear panic on the radio: “For the love of God stay inside. Government officials are stating many of the cabinet members have perished.” We make sure the windows are all closed despite sweating profusely.

Three days later I find myself thankful for not putting away my winter clothes because it’s cold outside. Cars are back on the street going to stores, police are directing traffic and there have been overworked EMT’s collecting remains littered throughout the area. In my mind the Robert Frost poem “Fire & Ice” replays Some say the world will end in fire, others in ice. It's ironic that his poem is true, but that the fire and ice have teamed up to take over the world. Several hours later there’s another broadcast: “Scientists and political officials are urging everyone to remain indoors. The weather has become so cold organs are freezing within moments. Thousands more are presumed dead including the White House cabinet. The president has declared a state of emergency.”

Two days later I watch as hail the size of golf balls fall from the sky only to be melted by the time it reaches the ground. Steam rises from sidewalks as the cold and warmth intertwine like star-crossed lovers. “It’s time to leave” I say turning to my sister and parents “right now. We need to go east and pick up the others on the way.” We pack the essentials. I stare at a picture of two people lovingly looking at each other and grab a chain from my jewelry box that is a piece to a whole locket. It represents a promise of love and a future that I am unsure exists anymore.

THREE MONTHS LATER:

Some wet is dripping down my wrist as a pain in my clutched hand wakes me. Unsettled I look around, gaining my bearings as the events of the day catches up to me. The space the family’s in is small with bodies draped on top of one another for warmth and the storage room door is closed with my uncles laying in front of the shelves we used to barricade ourselves in. Tiredly I wipe the hand on my still damp jeans and wrap a piece of torn cloth around the palm tying it with my teeth to stop the blood flow. The half locket that cut me is tarnished and jagged from using the point to scratch into surfaces. Everyone says that I am crazy for doing this, but I want to tell others we're here, that a group has survived. A small part of me is also hoping he made it. That the world didn’t go to complete shit. That there is still an epic love story in this godforsaken place. That I can still be soft when having to adapt a hard exterior for survival. Opening the locket a small paper with chicken scrawl flutters to the ground. My heart is wherever you are. I process the lives and futures stolen from us.

I must have fallen asleep because upon waking the room is empty and there’s a thermos of water next to me along with two protein bars and a bruised apple. The supply room door is also fully open and I can hear heated arguments from my uncles about a community 20 miles away. One by one we head back out into the drizzling day, sloshing our way through the muddied rusted water puddles. It doesn’t take long for the weather to hit us. Beside me the others lug their way slowly through the frozen grounds twining our way through cars buried under ice, or melted into the sidewalk.

On the way we pass frozen bodies, fresh and new. They must not have been able to find cover when the frost hit. Car garages are on fire from the melting of inflammable chemical inside and smoke billows sideways rather than upwards. My sister has a burn on her legs and one of my cousin’s fingers is almost black from the cold since she lost a mitten. I myself am sneezing uncontrollably. My clothing is so stiff from the rain and snow that it’s brittle while my feet feel like they have been near a fire too long. Still, despite all of this we trek on knowing there’s a camp somewhere further ahead.

Finally after another day, we come across stacked sand bags ten feet tall with barbed wire across the top. A large double chain-link fence was built in between a large opening and is locked. How the group managed to build and create this entry amazes me. A woman with intense green eyes seemingly missing any life or light sees me. Wearily she walks forward and stares through the gate as I apprehensively let go of the necklace I have been clutching on the way here. An expression of incredulousness crosses her face for a moment and the gates are demanded open. “My name is Lynn,” the woman says in a sad voice “I believe this is for you Mell” as her hand pulls a mirror necklace from her pocket “He said you would come”. Tears blur my vision as reality sets in. Charlie is gone. My heart is wherever you are. I grab the fragile chain and two magnets inside connect, forming a perfect heart shaped locket. Each side unique and each side with a different message within. Both written with care upon purchase filled with words of love.

Before I could get any words out a deep rumble sounds below my feet. Asphalt begins cracking and my foot gets sucked in. Violently and desperately Lynn and I try to get me free, but the grey clouds above begin etching themselves together as thunder cracks loudly. “GO LYNN!” I scream and push her as a drizzle starts “Protect them!” I demand staring at my family who are under an awning. Lynn doesn’t hesitate and pulls them into the safety of a building despite resistance and arguing. They’re safe. Ignoring the welts on my skin from the fiery water I continue futilely to get my sneaker off so I can run to shelter. It’s no use. There is no running, no hiding and no surviving for me today. For the first time in a long time, I realize the world is not godforsaken; it’s filled with beauty and love and even pain is beautiful in its own way. We’ll be together and our hearts will be wherever they are. I picture myself and Charlie looking over our families until they're ready to see us again. Tranquility runs through me. The welts on my body are spreading the skin is cracking open washing away red. Some say the world will end in fire, some in ice, but it seems the world ends with love still very much alive.

THE END

Sci Fi
1

About the Creator

Jessica J

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