Fire Burns Indiscriminately

Mr. Midas erupted into a fit of laughter the moment Santo had left, clutching his stomach as amused tears dripped down his round cheeks. Miles stood still and stoic as a statue, his calm facade masking the conflict of emotions creeping in behind his sunglasses.

"Oh, boy! He's so clueless!" he shouted between laughs. "He doesn't know what's coming to him! How I wish I could watch the look on his face when the air raid happens!"

"It's within the next hour, isn't it?" Miles asked. "Will he be back at Nevertown in time to witness it?"

Regaining his composure, Mr. Midas wagged a finger and clicked his tongue. "Miles, Miles. You're a good man, but this is why you follow orders instead of making them. The air raid isn't going to be exclusive to Nevertown. It's going to start here and gradually make its way over there."

Miles's eyes widened large enough to be seen through his sunglasses. "H... Here, sir? I don't understand."

Mr. Midas shifted his gaze to the fireplace, observing the flames burn through the logs until they fell to ash. "It's simple. I had a notice sent to every home and business except Hephman Mechanics and Sunset, warning people of the incoming danger and setting up underground shelters for those that needed it. I also had someone leak to the terrorists false information about the planned air raid, making them believe that no government officials would be in the city during that time. They'll go after the rats who didn't receive the notice, and the air raid will shoot them down." He smiled proudly to himself as he imagined the plan set in place. "An excellent extermination, if I do say so myself!"

Miles was left with his mouth agape, baffled by this plan. It did explain why the roads had been quiet today, yet there had to be flaws to this plan. How could he be so confident it would go so smoothly?

As if he read his mind, Mr. Midas continued, "We already confirmed that all known bases have been cleared out in fear of attack. They think they're going to be so smart by having a leg up on them, going after the golden eggs left unprotected. Not realizing the eagles never actually left! As for the notice..." He giggled, playfully poking his cheek like a guilty child. "I described the terrorists as disguising themselves as rats, so all contact with them was to be avoided for everyone's safety. If no one talks to them, no one can warn them."

"Sir, that's..." Miles didn't even know what to say at this point. "That seems unfair to those people. At least in my opinion..."

Mr. Midas shrugged his shoulders and casually replied, "It's not a lie. That is their plan. Blending in with the trash to catch people off-guard. But it will be fine. Anyone who dies today would have died in the next week or month, so we're really doing them a mercy." He then stood up from his seat and dusted off his white suit. "Anyway, it's time. Let's get to the shelter. The missus already went ahead of us."

Miles knew following the man would be the smart decision, yet it wouldn't be the right one. There had to be something he could do. As he tried to sort out his thoughts, he pulled out his phone and started searching the internet for answers.

"Do you mind if I make a call before we go?" Miles asked.

Mr. Midas nodded and began to walk away. "That's fine, but do make it quick. I'll be going on ahead."

Miles waited for his boss to be out of sight and sound, then pulled up the number of a certain mechanic shop to call. He took a deep breath and kept his hand steady as he pressed the phone against his ear, praying the call wouldn't be missed.

Thankfully, after two rings, a man on the other line answered, "Hephman Mechanics. How can I help ya?"

"It's Miles. We met the other day when I came to pick up Judas."

"Oh, fuck! Thought I recognized ya. What's up?"

"Listen. You're all in danger. There's going to be an air raid and it's going to bomb both Glamour and Nevertown. He knows you and Freya are working for Santo. The children need to be taken to a shelter immediately!"

Silence. At first Miles was worried something happened, but a long sigh confirmed the man had heard everything.

"Shit," Talus cursed. Miles could hear the panic in the man's voice. "Alright. I'm heading over to Nevertown now. Thanks."

"So you believe me."

"Ya didn't seem like the joking type."

Miles cracked a small smile, taking whatever he could to ease the tension. "You're right. I'm calling Sunset next. Good luck."

"You too. Hope your boss doesn't mind ya doin' this."

"He won't be my boss much longer."

"Good."

They ended the call there, and Miles took off his sunglasses to see better while searching for his next call.

---

Meanwhile, Talus scrabbled together everything he needed in a hurry to get ready to leave. Hearing the ruckus going on, Ceri curiously peeked his head out from the workshop, not sure if he should be concerned.

Seeing the boy come out, Talus frantically said, "Go down to the cellar and don't come out! I'll call you later when it's clear!"

Ceri tilted his head, confused. "What's going on? Can I help-"

"No! It's too dangerous. Just do what I say."

Ceri decided not to push it, seeing how badly it was affecting Talus. "I'll be waiting. Don't die out there."

Talus took a brief break from his panic to give Ceri a reassuring thumbs up. "I won't."

As soon as Talus got into his truck and drove off, he knew right away something was off. It wasn't until he passed the rusted gates that his fears were confirmed, as an explosion echoed from the city behind him. He realized it was in the direction towards the market, and he hoped Santo hadn't been there. He tried to call him while he was driving, but he didn't pick up. Since that didn't work, he changed to calling the Nevertown emergency phone lines. There was one for each dorm, so he was hoping someone would be inside.

His first try with the girls' dorms was a failure, but luckily the boys' dorms was a success.

"Hello?" Russell answered.

"Hey, Russ," Talus said. "We got a major problem. I need ya to get all the kids together."

"Are we in danger?"

"Very."

"Okay. I'll let everyone know. What about-"

The line got cut off after that. Something was interfering with the reception, and it likely had to do with whatever was going on in Glamour. Talus gripped his steering wheel and prayed that Freya and Santo were safe.

All of the children were standing outside the entrance to the chapel when Talus finally arrived, all clearly confused and worried about the situation.

"Okay, good. You're all here," Talus said, then looked up at the chapel. "This is the shelter, right?"

Melinda nodded and explained, "It has a lockdown protocol. We've practiced it before. But it can't be unlocked for twenty-four hours once it starts, so we wanted to wait until you got here."

Talus sighed and scratched at his head. "'Course he would come up with something that crazy..."

"It's not that bad. There's an escape hatch inside if we need to leave."

Chaz glanced back and forth at Talus and his truck, then asked, "Where's Mr. Santo? And Ceri?"

"Ceri's fine," Talus answered. "We got a cellar for him to hide in. But I dunno 'bout Santo. I would've thought he'd come back by now..."

Talus brought out his phone to try calling him once last time, yet like all the other attempts he had made along the way, it went unanswered.

Forced to give up on that method, but also seeing how scared the children were, Talus said, "I'll go look for him. I bet he got stranded outside of town or something."

Russell stepped forward and boldly replied, "I'll come and help."

"Me too," Chaz said.

Talus quickly shook his head. "Hell no. It's too dangerous."

"But what if he's lost in Glamour?" Melinda countered. "Wouldn't it be better to search in numbers? I want to help too. I can't just sit by and do nothing."

"Neither can I," Nina said, placing a hand on Melinda's shoulder as she joined her side.

Talus groaned and rubbed his temples. "You've got more important things to worry about. Like protectin' the other kids."

"I can take care of that," Wesley said.

"Me too!" Angelica added eagerly as she jumped up and down to get his attention.

Dennis and Freddie straightened themselves and gave a soldier's salute.

"We'll protect them too!" Dennis stated confidently.

"Y-Yeah! As guards do!" Freddie said.

Piper and Rydia exchanged looks with each other. They were both debating on whether they should volunteer to help find Santo or protect the children. While they knew about Glamour more than anyone else, the way John and Georgina clung to the hems of their clothes made it hard to consider leaving them alone.

Eventually, Piper made her decision and said, "I'll protect the kids too. Rydia, you should go. He'll probably be at the market, and you know how to get there."

Rydia shook her head. "You can go too, if you want! I don't mind staying! Georgina gets fussy 'bout canned food and I'm better at feeding her."

Piper looked down at her legs, barely kept up by her crutches, then back up at her sister. "No... I'd only slow them down."

Winona used this as her chance to choose a side, handing Jermaine to Wesley as she said, "I've been there. I'll do it. You keep Jermaine safe."

Wesley held Jermaine close and nodded. "Will do."

Jermaine's sad expression as he was handed off was heartbreaking, his lower lip quivering as he held back his tears. Winona reached out a hand to gently stroke his cheek.

"I'll be back soon," Winona tenderly assured him. "Be good."

Seeing where this was going, Talus threw his hands up in surrender and begrudgingly said, "Okay, fine! That's all the kids I can fit in my truck! The rest of ya are stayin' here. Now move."

Ayako and Nina exchanged a good luck hug before Nina got into the truck. Wesley gave Chaz a fist bump with his free hand. Russell held out a hand for Melinda to help her get on. Lastly, Winona waved to Jermaine, who meekly returned the gesture as he watched her go. The truck drove around and back out of Nevertown, off to search for Santo and leaving the children to fend for themselves.

They didn't waste time standing around. Everyone went inside the chapel and Wesley locked the double doors behind them. Ayako went to the hidden control panel behind the podium, while Piper and Rydia investigated the supply room. The supply room had enough water bottles and canned foods to last everyone up to three days if sorted properly, so that was what they intended to do in case the worst was to come.

Once the lights were turned on, Ayako input the password and initiated the lockdown protocol. Fortified steel rolled down the windows and the doors, blocking out the sunlight and anything else from the outside. The control panel lit up with a twenty-four hour timer ticking down, locking them in until it either went down to zero or Santo used his admin key to overwrite it.

Judas suddenly appeared from behind Ayako and said, "Oh, so that's what that does. I saw it earlier but didn't know anything about it."

Ayako nearly jumped from the surprise, yet she managed to avoid bumping her head. "Ah! Um... yes. The older children know about it. We don't tell the younger children."

"Huh. I see..."

Rather than further comment, Judas returned back to Timmy, who was trying to dry out his fluffy, blond hair with a towel after being interrupted while showering. Dennis and Freddie were sitting near him on one of the benches.

"I-I thought you took showers at night," Freddie said. "Did something happen?"

Timmy averted his gaze. "Y-Yeah. I got... um... dirty."

"We were playing here and got carried away," Judas answered while slinging an arm over his shoulder. "We cleaned it up though! You wouldn't even know anything happened!"

Dennis narrowed his one eye. "You're a slippery one, ain't ya?"

Judas smirked. "You know it. Now c'mon, Timmy."

Judas then dragged Timmy along over towards the escape hatch. Seeing this, Wesley stepped around and blocked their paths, crossing his arms with a firm stance.

"Where are you two going?" he asked.

"Checking the situation, obviously," Judas replied nonchalantly. "We'll come back once we're sure it's clear. It'd be bad if we didn't look and we wound up in some kinda trap, wouldn't it?"

"W-We're used to being fast," Timmy added. "We won't run into any trouble!"

Wesley thought about it for a moment then sighed, moving aside to let them go. "Get back in here in an hour, ya hear? Otherwise I'm comin' after y'all."

The two boys nodded, then started their climb down into the tunnels. With things sorted out for the time being, the older children pulled out some board games and toys for the younger children to play with to pass the time. Angelica showed Dennis and Freddie how to play her favorite game. Georgina, John, and Jermaine sat on the floor while waving their stuffed animals around and playing pretend.

"Bunny want cookie!" Georgia said while holding up her pink rabbit.

John raised his green dinosaur and growled, "Dino want cookies too! Raaawr~!"

"Let's bake cookies!" Jermaine said as he swung around his teddy bear.

Rydia and Piper smiled as they watched the children play from the sidelines, relieved to see them giggling and playing despite the circumstances. Piper then shifted her attention to Rishi, who was sitting alone on the bench.

"Do you think Rishi is okay?" she asked.

Rydia looked over to where Rishi was, frowning a bit from concern. "Bless his heart. He must be worried about Mr. Santo. This is our first time doing this without him..."

As if to confirm their suspicion, Rishi burst out into an ear-splitting wail, causing everyone to stop what they were doing. Piper quickly limped over to see what was wrong. Wesley also readied himself nearby in case it escalated.

"Hey... Rishi," Piper said calmly as she sat down next to him. "It's okay, buddy. Santo should be back soo-"

She was cut off by a loud rumbling beneath their feet, shaking everything around them. Everyone glanced around the room and at each other, completely confused. Was it an attack? Yet it sounded like it happened underground. Ayako was the first to put things together and gasped.

"Wesley, open the hatch!" she yelled.

Wesley did as ordered and opened the escape hatch, his face turning pale at the sight. What should have been a tunnel had crumbled into a cavern stuffed with rocks, meaning their emergency exit had been destroyed.

"What the hell?!" Wesley exclaimed. He tried to get in there and see if he could move some rocks to clear the path. Unfortunately, there was simply too many, and trying to move them caused more to tumble in from above. Wesley was forced to give up and climb back up to give everyone the bad news.

"We're trapped," Wesley stated while holding back his frustration. "We'll have to wait the whole twenty-four hours."

"We won't run out of air, will we?!" Ayako asked in a panic.

"We won't," Rydia said. "There's vents that keep the air circulated. That's what Mr. Santo said."

Ayako breathed out a sigh of relief, but she wouldn't be feeling that way for long. The crackling of firecrackers erupted from behind a stack of crates by the window curtains, igniting the flammable material around it and creating a fire that rapidly spread through its surroundings. 

"FIRE!" Angelica cried. "Get the kids away from the fire!"

The young children screamed in terror while Rydia rushed back into the supply room to grab the fire extinguishers. She knew they had three set up for emergencies, so that should be enough to take out the fire. She grabbed one of them, rushed out, and aimed her shot at the source.

Yet when she squeezed the handle... nothing came out. It was empty.

"W-What?!" she said, baffled by this. "We never used these! They should still be good!"

"They're all empty!" Piper shouted from the supply room. "Should we use the water bottles?!"

Rydia groaned and threw down the useless item. "We have no choice!"

"Shouldn't there be sprinklers?!" Ayako said.

"Guess they're empty too! We'll worry about it later! Help us!"

 Rydia, Piper, and Ayako grabbed as much as they could carry and tried to toss the water into the fire, yet it didn't seem to do anything. The fire roared, taunting them, as it continued to spread.

"Why isn't it working?!"

"I don't know! What was in those crates?!"

"I don't know!"

Meanwhile, Wesley was desperately searching for any way they could escape. He put all of his strength into the steel windows and doors, begging them to budge, yet they refused. What should have been their shield had now become their cage, and soon their tomb.

"FUCK!" Wesley yelled as he slammed his fist against the cold steel. He had to do something. He was the oldest one here and the strongest out of any of them. So why was he so powerless when they needed him most?

The girls ran out of things to toss and were forced to give up, their panting interrupted by coughing as the air began to thin. Dennis, Freddie, and Angelica had gotten the rest of the children to the opposite corner of the fire and were standing in front to protect them. Georgina and John were inconsolable, crying and holding on to each other. Jermaine rubbed John's back with one hand while covering his mouth with another. Resigning to their fate, the girls rejoined the group.

"Thanks, guys," Rydia said as she took Georgina and John back into her arms. "You did a good job."

"I'm not letting the fire get anyone!" Angelica said. "Mr. Santo should be back soon! He'll help us!"

"Y-Yeah..." Piper said, deciding to play along. "He'll be back soon. So we just have to avoid the fire, okay? It shouldn't get to us if we stay over here."

Ayako opened her mouth, about to correct her, then closed it. There was no point. They all huddled together in the corner, struggling to breathe while black smoke filled the chapel. The growing, intense heat pricked their skin and stung their eyes. It eventually became too difficult to even stand, yet those who were stubborn refused to pass out so soon.

Piper rested her head on her sister's shoulder and said, "Hey... sis. I'm sorry. I should have gotten the surgery. If I had, maybe-"

Rydia hushed her and adjusted her arms so the four of them could be embraced together. There was no point in arguing or lamenting past mistakes. The fire was going to take all of that away, leaving only ash behind. If nothing else, they could pray to be put at peace. It was a chapel after all. Perhaps someone would hear them. So as Wesley was the last to fall after struggling the most, Rydia prayed. She prayed with all her might.

There was nothing else they could do.

---

Judas and Timmy stood at the top of the cliffs, watching the black smoke roll out from the chapel below. Timmy was devastated, hyperventilating while gripping at his horrified face. Judas showed no emotion, simply clutching the black duffel bag that was slung over his shoulder.

"W-What's going on down there?!" Timmy asked frantically. "You... you pushed that button! And then the tunnel collapsed! What did you do?!"

"It's not my fault," Judas stated plainly. "I was ordered to."

"Who?!"

"Does it matter?"

Timmy fell to his knees, sobbing into his hands. Even when seeing his friend in such a state, Judas did nothing.

"Anyway, I got what I needed to," Judas said as he looked down at his bag. "Dunno what he needed exactly, so I just took everything from Santo's office. Thanks for all the help."

Timmy didn't respond, his pathetic cries being all he had to offer.

As a black car rolled up from the road, Judas sighed and began to walk away from his friend. "Whatever. Go die with them, if you want. I don't care."

Timmy stopped crying after that. He was disturbingly quiet. Judas turned around to see his friend had gotten off the ground, and was slowly dragging his feet towards the edge of the cliff.

He looked away before he could see what his friend would do, and left without another word.