Into the Fire Read Online Free PDF

cleanest, purest air you’ll ever breathe.”
    Jimmy ignored my attempt at lightening the mood. “I don’t think she can make it, Big Guy.”
    “I’m all right—keep going,” Delilah told us, but she was coughing so much no one took any notice.
    “You go on,” Jimmy said. “We’ll go back down. This smoke’s gotta clear sometime. We’ll follow you.”
    “ No! ” Delilah protested.
    I didn’t know what to do. If things got any worse, I wouldn’t bet on any of us getting through—yet it meant everything that we did.
    “We should stick together,” Lena said. “Whatever we decide.”
    I suggested finding some water, maybe wetting a handkerchief or something for Delilah to cover her nose; it might see her through. However, at that moment we saw this small group coming down the hill, emerging out of the smoke, coughing and spluttering, obviously in some distress.
    I didn’t know whether to speak to them or not—who knows who you might be getting mixed up with? But as they got closer, I thought I recognized one of them from the Island.
    “Hey!” I called over.
    They slowed but didn’t stop, I guess every bit as suspicious of us as we were them.
    “You’re Detainees, right?” I asked, a look of recognition coming to one guy’s face. “What’s it like up there?”
    “There’s no way out,” he told us, breaking off from the group. “The City’s completely surrounded by fire.” He just stood there for a moment, then kind of nodded apologetically, as if embarrassed to be the bringer of such bad news, before hurrying after his companions as they began to disappear down the hill into the smoke.
    For a few moments none of us could bring ourselves to say anything; the only sound was Delilah’s sporadic breathless hacking.
    “Shit!” I groaned.
    “At least that makes the decision for us,” Lena said, though there was real concern in her voice.
    “Why don’t I take a look?” I suggested. “There’s gotta be some way out.”
    “Clancy!” she said, a little irritated by my stubbornness.
    Again there was silence. I mean, she was right, of course she was. The only trouble was, we had no Plan B. Nor C or D, come to that.
    “This is worse than the Island,” Hanna suddenly ventured, as if she felt it was about time she gave her verdict.
    I almost burst into laughter. That kid rarely says a word, but when she does, she has a habit of hitting matters right on the head.
    “Just swapped fog for smoke,” Delilah complained, again starting to cough.
    “And we’re prisoners again,” Gordie added.
    “Hey, hey—come on,” I said, not wanting to hear all this negative talk. “How long can fires burn?”
    “These fires?” Jimmy answered. “Who knows?”
    “Nah! Bit of rain, change in wind direction, they’ll be gone. And so will we.”
    Nobody replied, and I knew why. It might not be that far away, but the weather on the Mainland’s completely different from the Island. Over there you can get four seasons in a day; here, with the surrounding hills, high pressure, things can get really locked in. This time of year, we might not see a change for weeks, maybe longer.
    “I’m hungry!” Arturo complained again, the way kids do, as if all this life-or-death stuff is of no consequence compared with the demands of their bellies.
    I paused, my eyes resting on him, my thoughts elsewhere, until it occurred to me that probably it wasn’t such a bad idea, that things might look better if we got a little food in us.
    I ain’t got an ounce of pride, not anymore, not after living on the Island knowing the sorts of things we had to do to survive, some of the stuff we had to eat. Thing is, if you’re not too fussy, you’d be surprised what people throw away. We know that better than anyone.
    I’d noticed this little restaurant on the way up: Il Pomodoro Rosso, recently painted but now looking a little smoke-stained, the big Italian flag needing a wash. The windows had been boarded up—I guess as