Fight for Power by Eric Walters

Author:Eric Walters
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780374301804
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

17

As predicted by Lori’s father, it started to rain in the middle of the night. I woke up to hear it rattling against the window. Lori and I had stayed longer at the wall until I persuaded her to walk back with me so I could watch the twins and she could take care of the horses. I lay in bed, listening to the rain hit the windowpanes. At the very least, the rain would help put out the fire—it would also fill rain barrels and swimming pools, helping keep our water supply steady.

As soon as the sky started lightening, I got dressed and went out to see the results of the fire. The umbrella I was holding didn’t seem to give much protection from the blowing rain. As I got closer to the wall, the smell of fire was thick and wisps of smoke floated through the air. I could see the top floors of the condo had blackened, with gaping holes where windows used to be, but smoke was still coming out of the openings. Despite the early hour and the rain still falling, there were other people lining the wall, looking out at it. I wondered if I’d find Lori up here.

I scanned the crowd and saw her standing on the ledge of the wall closest to the condo, staring out intently.

I came up behind her. “Good morning.”

She smiled sadly. “Not particularly good for them,” she said, gesturing out to the building.

“I know.” I climbed up beside her and took her hand.

Even from this distance we could see a lot of people—men, women, and children—standing in the rain, partially sheltered by the building or under the thin cover of trees. Thank goodness they were far enough away that I couldn’t make out the faces or expressions. The loss was hard enough at this distance without being able to see them as individuals.

“I wonder how it started,” Lori said.

I shook my head. “Probably somebody cooking inside or using a candle for light.”

I really wanted to believe that it had been an accident that spread, but in the middle of the night, in the darkest corner of my mind I couldn’t help but wonder—did Herb do this? I’d heard him talking more than once about how he was worried that the building was there, offering a vantage for anybody looking into our neighborhood and now, suddenly, it wasn’t going to be there anymore. Still, there was no way that Herb would have set the fire. I knew that.

“What’s going to happen to those people now?” Lori asked.

“Some of them might be able to go back into their units after this,” I offered, although I didn’t necessarily believe that.

“And some probably can’t. Where are they going to go?” she asked.

“Maybe some of the people in the other units will take them in.”

“Or maybe they’re too selfish to take them in, you know, the way we’re too selfish to take anybody else in here,” she said.

I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t selfishness—it was survival.

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