Chapter 14
Gideon drove back to his dad’s, debating if he should mention what happened at the church or not. It was a terrifying thought, but it kept niggling at the back of his mind. If an opening presented itself to bring up God, he didn’t want to miss it. Not this time. But it could blow up in his face and do more damage than good. Before today, it hadn’t been a topic he’d ever contemplated broaching on purpose. In the past, any time God came up, Gideon had to listen to a tirade about how the church did nothing but abuse people and destroy lives. It was enough to make him wonder if his dad had a bad experience growing up. His grandparents were a mystery besides knowing that his grandfather died while in prison, and his grandmother had abandoned them just like his own mom.
“Hey, Katrina,” he said when he entered the diner. “You know if there’s a fire somewhere? I can smell smoke in the air.”
“No one has mentioned it. You staying for dinner? ”
“I’m getting it to go tonight. I’ll have a large meatlovers pizza.”
“Coming right up.”
“And I’ll grab a couple slices of the pumpkin pie. My dad loves your pie. And I’ll pay for this one.”
“No, you won’t. I haven’t sufficiently settled my debt.”
“But this isn’t just for me. It’s for my dad too.”
“He’s helped me out in the past. I won’t take your money.”
“If you insist.”
“I do.”
A couple that had been at the church caught his eye and nodded conspiratorially. He smiled, unsure if they wanted him to come say hi, but then they were whispering to one another, so he sat at the counter and looked out the big front window, squinting. The sky looked tinged in brown. He shifted position, ducking to see if the color was affected by a tint on the window.
Someone sprinted past the diner.
“Here’s your pie,” Katrina said, setting a styrofoam container in front of him. “The pizza will be ten to fifteen.”
“Thanks,” his attention went back to the window, where he watched several cars drive by. “Is something happening in town I haven’t heard about?”
“Not that I know of. Why?”
He shook his head and saw another couple of cars pass. “There’s a lot of traffic.”
“Maybe everyone’s driving through town at the same time. Now you won’t see anyone for hours. ”
He smiled at her joke.
The volume of conversation within the diner increased, and several patrons headed for the door.
“There’s a fire,” one of them said, and the volume rose again, followed by more people leaving.
“I hope it’s not close,” Katrina said. “This whole town could go up.”
“Has anything like that happened before?” Gideon said.
“Not yet.” Katrina bit her lip as she craned her neck to see over the patrons at the window. “It looks a little smoky out there. Does anyone know where the fire is?”
A woman who’d gone outside returned. “I can see smoke in the sky,” she said. “It’s coming from that way.”
She was pointing in the direction of his dad’s place.
He slid off his seat.
“In town or out of town,” Katrina said.
Gideon headed for the door. “I’ll go have a look.”
Outside, he could see clouds of smoke had formed in the sky and confirmed the fire was near his dad’s. He sprinted across the park and around the corner where a crowd had gathered. Cars were parked along the road as people watched the flames engulf the building.
“Get your cars out of here!” he yelled as he neared the crowd. “The fire trucks won’t be able to get in. You have to clear the way!” His panic tightened his frame as he looked through the group for his dad. “Joey!” he yelled as he pushed through the gawkers. “Has anyone seen Joey Stone?”
“Probably drunk at the bar,” a man said from beside him. Gideon yanked him around. “Do you know for sure? Is he at the bar? Did you see him there?”
“Where else would he be?”
“So, you don’t know for sure? He could be at home?”
“How should I know?”
Gideon shoved him away and looked back at the apartment. His dad loved meatlovers pizza. He wouldn’t have missed it.
The crowd did a collective flinch as the windows blew out of the workshop that was completely aflame.
“Does anyone know if Joey is inside?” He searched the surrounding faces, but no one knew.
The fire hadn’t reached the apartment yet, so he sprinted for the door, not slowing as he dropped his shoulder into it. It gave way, and he stumbled into a wall of smoke. He kept his hand on the wall to guide him as he blindly climbed the stairs.
“Dad!” he yelled before kicking down the apartment door. “Dad? Are you in here?”
He dropped to the ground and crawled forward. A loud crash came from somewhere nearby and shook the room. Gideon braced himself for the floor to cave in, but it didn’t. “Dad, where are you?”
He heard a cough.
“Dad!” He followed the sound until he was overcome with a coughing fit. “I’m coming!” He coughed again but pushed himself to keep moving.
His head hit the doorframe for the bedroom. “I’m almost there, Dad. Hang in there. ”
His arms flailed in front of him until he reached the bed, and his dad coughed again.
He felt along the bed until he found a leg. “Got ya.” He pulled, dragging his dad to the edge of the bed. “I’ve gotta get you out of here.”
Joey moved a little, but mostly his body was limp. At least he was alive.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he said, more to himself than to his dad as he coughed again. Once he’d caught his breath, he pulled his dad up off the bed and over his shoulder, trying to keep himself bowed low where the air wasn’t as polluted.
He stumbled back to the door, his arm crashing into the frame before he pushed himself forward into the room, which was getting hot, and every breath was harder to inhale. When his foot caught on the kitchen chair, he tripped forward into the wall, and his knee slammed a hole into it.
Jesus, let us get out of here, Gideon prayed as he struggled to shove off the wall. He couldn’t ever remember feeling so weak before.
His lungs burned with each breath, but he finally made it to the front door as glass exploded nearby. One more step. He got out the door. Just one more step. His toe reached out to find the first stair. One more. He felt his way down but knew he was running out of time. His shoulder dragged against the wall to anchor him as he continued forward.
“You still with me, Dad?” he rasped. Joey was limp as a ragdoll .
He saw a glow he couldn’t discern when he thought his eyes had been closed. Keep going . The light got bigger.
He felt for another step but couldn’t find any so inched forward, stepping into the bright fog until the blue sky appeared through the haze. He stumbled forward, and his dad fell to the ground as he gasped for breath, his lungs refusing to obey his appeal for air. When he fell to his knees, it was only another moment before the cold pavement was pressing into his face. Someone was shouting. Shadows moved around him, but all he cared about was the cold at his cheek until rough hands took hold of him and dragged him away from it. He wanted to protest. For a moment, he thought he was, but they didn’t stop. They wouldn’t listen.
Then more coolness came at his back, but the darkness was too close now. Don’t let me die. I don’t want to die.
He kept trying to suck in oxygen, but the harder he tried, the more his body fought against it until it was too much, and he let the darkness take him away.