James Coording

"Heave!"

Six people tugged hard on the rope. The creature's corpse slid across the Ash beneath it, and I watched as it neared me. I didn't know how we were going to get it back to town, but it would be impossible to deal with it here. Not knowing what else to do, I repeated the command. The others pulled again, and it inched closer. I realized there was no point in continuing.

"Stop. Let it go."

Some of them did. Most didn't. I saw groups of eyes watching me, in disbelief of what I'd ordered.

"I said let it go. We're going home. There's no way to get it back as is."

All but one let go. Anger flew from Brian's face. He wouldn't let go. Finally, his tongue reflected the harshness in his eyes, challenging my order.

"After all of this, you want us to just abandon our prize!? Not gonna happen, brother. You aren't the boss of me."

I began to approach him. The others moved out of the way as Brian continued to pull fruitlessly on the rope. The monster didn't budge. Once close enough, my hand wrapped around his arm, and I pulled his face to mine, only whispering the words coming forth from my lips.

"Since you happened to forget, I am in charge of you. Now, if you know what's good for you, you'll let go of this rope and get ready to go."

Anger left his eyes, there was no doubt, but I couldn't place what was left in its stead. Still, he never dropped the rope, only looking at me to say, "James, we can't just give up now. We have to be almost half way there. I'll pull it the rest of the way myself if I have to, just don't make me let go."

I grasped my brother's hand, and looked at his eyes, green like mine. He was only fourteen, struggling to make sense of everything happening around him, something I seemed to forget the longer time grew on. I sighed, seeming to shed my impatience, my hurry. Still, I held strong to common sense.

"You know as well as I do that if we take too long, the smell will attract more of them. We don't have the resources to fight another Tracker, let alone a pack of them. There's nothing we could do. I took us too far out. We need to try again tomorrow."

That's when Brian first noticed the glare of the sun hovering near the peaks of the western Ash, waiting until it could give us enough light to almost get home before abandoning us to the stars. The rope slipped from his fingers, well-calloused from the life we led. He nodded, as if to not trust his voice to speak.

Then his hair blew in the breeze. Everyone noticed it at the same time. My eyes turned west again, but for a completely new reason. The sun's light wavered in the face of our greatest fear. I knew I didn't have to give the order, everyone had seen, but I still felt it necessary. I had to do something.

"Double time! Ash Wave!"

Brain forgot the rope, and his feet carried him alongside me as our steps sunk into the loose Ash beneath us. No one could help but run; years in this desert taught everyone to run in the face of a Wave. Those who didn't died. I had seen it myself.

I could tell the Wave was miles off. Still, we couldn't have had more than five minutes. Scoops of Ash were thrown up by our feet. Only I dared to look, being the only to truly know what they could do. The Waves were my greatest fear, and my people's constant foe. I could see the city bursting through the Ash, taunting us as it proved to be much too far away.

Brian had taken the lead, and motioned for us to follow. Most followed in fear, but I followed through understanding. If anyone knew of a checkpoint, it was him. A short Ash mound stood to be the only obstacle on his path, and once we crossed it we saw the packed walls buried amongst the Ash. All seven of us dropped down into the trench and ran through the packed Ash to the nearest cave, notified by the shingles blowing in the wind. As we all piled into the checkpoint, Brian turned and grasped a root dangling from the ceiling. With a sharp pull, a mountain of Ash crashed down in front of the exit, blocking us off from the outside world.

In the darkness, I could hear the group slowly find their ways to the back of the cave. As we huddled together, the sounds of the Wave began to grow.

"What about the others back at the city? Will they know about the Wave?"

I knew my answer, but no one else heard it as the roar of the Wave blocked out all sound. The Ash beneath our feet shook from the force of the wave, and small amounts of Ash fell from the ceiling. Then the wave passed overheard, and all of us plugged our ears.