Hale fire

“Anita! Where are you,” Andy answered gazing frantically for his wife amongst the frightened throng of entwined bodies dodging back and forth from the massive pieces of falling rubble.

“Anita, can you hear me?”
“Andy I am over here! Im over hear,” Anita yelled loud as she could, jumping up and down while waving her arms trying to catch her husbands attention.
“Dont move baby Im coming to you,” he hollered dodging more debris pummeling from the upper levels of their great city.
“I am honey,” she screamed keeping an eye on the large chunks of wreckage dropping to the foundations of their mighty city where they abode was located.
“Anita what are you doing standing there, you are going to be killed,” Arlene screamed as her and her husband Alan,( Andy and hers friends), grabbed Anita by her arms dragging her towards the entrance way which led to the upper levels.
“Stop it! I said STOP it.” Anita screamed yanking loose from her best friends grasp.
“Hold on Alan Im here,” Andy said.
“I am sorry Anita but we thought you were frozen in fear and we could not leave you behind,” Alan said.
“Okay line up behind me and we will try to work our way to the upper levels,” Andy said taking charge of the situation. “ Do not, I repeat do not, let any of the foul smelling liquid get on you because whatever it is, it will burn your skin like an acid!”
“Have either of you seen Luke or Henry,” Arlene screamed above the noise of the commotion of the panicked and freaked out Bottom Dwellers.
“I havent,” Anita, said studying the upper levels for the strange liquid and falling debris.
“I havent seen your brothers either,” Andy, said leading his wife and best friends around another group of Bottom Dwellers frozen stiff from fear. BottomDwellers… that was the name embellished upon all of them who lived below the surface levels of their mighty city. Thinking to himself as he halfway drug his betroth through the doorway of the passage way which led to the upper levels of their immaculate city. He knew every one of his small group were worried about someone that lived in the city. Brothers, sisters, moms, dads, friends, and family. He was worried too about his sister Amy and new brother-in-law Arty who lived two levels down from the surface level. While running to Anita, previously he had to steady keep his eyes on the surface levels to avoid rubble from landing on him and during this time of self-preservation, he scanned the destruction of the city. Much to his dismay, he saw the section of the city his sister lived in vastly destroyed. He wished her and her husband luck because that was the only thing he could do under the circumstances and hope none of the bodies which had plummeted from the high rise apartments were theirs.
“Watch out Andy,” Anita screamed breaking him free from his deep and depressing thoughts as she jerked against his arm making him dart to the right. Looking down for a brief moment as he sidestepped, he caught glimpse of a toddler who couldnt have been older than two years old.
“I didnt see you down there little fellow,” he said picking him up so the panicked crowd wouldnt trample over him.
“Wheres my mommy? Mister, have you seen my mommy,” the young one asked.
“I havent seen your mommy but we will look for her on the way to the top of the city. Whats your name little fellow,” Anita asked as she surveyed the little boy to make sure he didnt have any injuries.
“My name is Arnold.”
“Well Arnold Im sure your mommy is going to the surface level just like us so we will keep an eye out for her,” Andy said fearing some disaster had done took her but there was a chance his mother had lost him in the maddening throngs of Bottom Dwellers.
“We are fixing to be exposed to the central sanctuary of the city,” he said. “Anybody hurt?”
“Im fine if you dont count this breather,” Alan said wheezing.
“Im with him on the breather part baby.”
“Why are they attacking us and who are they?”
“Your guess is good as mine Arlene but there is one thing for certain they are kicking our buns right now. I am sure Queen Ann has our military leaders preparing a counter attack against whatever or whoever our foes are but its safe to assume all the Bottom Dwellers are on their own,” Alan surmised and deducted.
“We really need to keep moving if everyone has caught their breath,” Andy stated.
“Are we going to find my mommy?”
“That is at the top of our list Arnold. What is your mommys name,” Anita asked.
“Her name is mommy,” Arnold stated flatly.
“Makes perfect sense to me,” Arlene snickered.
“No Arnold not what you call her but what does your daddy call her,” Andy chirped in giving Anita a chance to regain her composure as she tried hard not to laugh at the preschoolers sensibility.
“My daddy doesnt live with us anymore. He lives with Agatha.”
“What do your mommys friends call her,” Andy asked once more hoping to retrieve the information so they could continue their journey.
“They call her Angel,” the frightened and confused infant said.
“Arnold I want you to ride on my back like I was a horsey. Doesnt that sound fun,” Andy said throwing the pre-kindergartener on his back.
“Yippee,” Arnold yelled with glee.
“Alright you hold on tight Arnold and the rest of you grab hands so we dont lose each other. Be sure and to call out for Angel in case we happen upon her. Okay lets go,” Andy, said stepping back into the flow of traffic up the incline of the passageway towards 6the surface.
“OH MY GOODNESS,” Arlene screamed aloud in horror pointing to the bridge, or where the bridge used to be, that spanned the auditorium of the central city. Wherever the putrid liquid made contact with the expansion bridge, it instantly dissolved along with all the Bottom Dwellers, which were unfortunately stuck and stranded. All of them stood frozen and motionless for a moment until quickly thinking Anita covered young Arnolds eyes from the ghastly and gruesome sight. Arlene followed in suit with Anitas thinking and started dragging all of them back down the incline to the small pocket of safety by the wall so they could regroup and rethink their predicament.
“Arlene I believe you just saved our lives honey,” Alan mumbled still numb from what they had witnessed.
“We cant go that way and I dont want us to expose ourselves into the open anymore so what are we going to do Andy,” Anita asked her fear showing in her voice.
“Im afraid we have no other choice but to use the old escape hatches from our last war,” Andy said dreading their one and only solution. He knew the tunnels were probably in shambles after the past few years of no use and there could have been cave ins but it was their one and only chance of reaching the upper levels safely. They were located on the outskirts of the city and whatever was attacking them was deploying its main forces into the center of the city so they should be by all rights unharmed.
“The way I see it, we have only one choice,” Andy said.
“The abandoned escape tunnel,” Alan inquired.
“But nobody has used them in years, baby. The lights probably dont work and they may have even been destroyed by now,” Anita said.
“There is a good possibility they are impassible from collapses,” Alan stated.
“I agree with all of what you have said but I cant think of another way out of here except by using them. I am open to any suggestions if anyone of you has one.”
“Mr. Georges hardware store is down this passageway on the left. I worked for him one summer in high school during summer break and if he is there he will entrust with lights and tools Im sure,” Arlene said looking intently at everyone.
“That sounds like the makings of a plan,” Anita agreed. “Well what are we waiting for, lead on Arlene!”

“I see the number 2 on the door,” Arlene shouted looking over her shoulder at her husband and smiling. She had saved the day! For once in her life, her extra small frame had come in handy because the one place in the tunnels that had collapsed had left only a small hole at the top of the tunnel. Andy had tried in vain to squeeze unsuccessfully through the petite opening to venture farther down the tunnel to investigate if it was passible but seeing he couldnt do it he tried to reason with them to go backwards and locate an open tunnel. Finally, after fussing and putting her foot down she convinced the big strong men to let her try. Crawling on her belly for about six or seven feet through the tight hole she emerged to find it was quite accessible on the other side of the little gap at the top of the tunnel. Telling the rest of them it was soft dirt, she started enlarging the hole on her side as they did the same on theirs. After fifteen minutes of back breaking work, they had enlarged the aperture to allow the others to cross over to her side, upon their arrival, they took a five-minute break and ten minutes later they were, here standing at the door unsure if they wanted to venture through it to the unknown!

“Well Im not getting any younger,” Alan said stepping up to the door twisting the handle, cautiously pushing it open and to everyones surprise there wasnt a soul in sight but you could still here the frantic commotion continuing on the other side of the wall.

“The noise sounds more prominent to our right so that must mean a doorway of some kind,” Andy said.
“I have to go pee,” young Arnold said grabbing between his legs and for a brief moment, they forgot about their dire situation and burst into fits of spontaneous laughter.

Holding onto each other tightly Andy guided them out the doorway amongst the squirming throng. Glimpsing intently at every member of the throng they fled with the crowd hoping to see a familiar face they recognized from their apartment complex down below in the now destroyed city. Andy glanced over his shoulder smiling andgiving Anitas hand a firm squeeze reassuring her it would soon be all right, while he came to the sobering fact that a lot of their friends and neighbors werent as fortunate as they were. As their small troop drifted into a trance like state remembering their wrecked homes and lives, they heard a member of the crowd shout their freedom was in front of them that their journey of escape was at an end or so they hoped. They all stepped up on their tiptoes searching for their salvation when instantly out of nowhere there was an extra bright light……

“WOW!”
“Did you say something Pete,” the grizzled old man asked. “Wow, Mr. Hale that was big__ and __beautiful,” young Pete replied

with his jaw still dropped from the explosive power of the gasoline. “I told you it would be spectacular, didnt I?”
“Yes sir but I never even imagined it would be so big!”
“There is one thing for certain Pete. Them mean ole ants wont never

bite little Sara again.”
“Mean ants, mean,” little Sara said in her cute two year old voice. “That is right Sara them ants bit you bad, didnt they,” Mrs. Hale said

lovingly to the precious little petite blonde headed girl who, along with her brother, was left daily in her and Rogers care. They loved Sara and Pete so much that wouldnt except no money for babysitting, besides their mom Sherry was a waitress at the local hometown restaurant and what little money she made she needed ever since her good for nothing husband ended up in the state prison for armed robbery and attempted murder for shooting the owners nephew.She didnt want charity even though they insisted, so on her only day off she made them Sunday dinner as payment for their services. Every once in a while Roger and her would lay down the law and make her go out on the town with her friends so she might one day replace herincarcerated ex with a fine decent man because she wasnt but twenty six and very attractive.

“Mean ants hurt me here and here and here,” Sara continued to point at the ant bite bumps on her legs and hands, sometimes pointing at the same one over and over again.

“These ants arent going to hurt you ever again Sara cause Mr. Hale burnt them up. Hey, Mr. Hale is this what the preacher meant last Sunday morning when he spoke of…… HALE FIRE.…..?