The chimney [sic] by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash Why? What earned us this much violence? A plume of fire burst through the black smoke at Mara’s left elbow. Close. Too close. Keep running, Mara. She and Ian had made it to two safehouses so far. But each time they’d arrived at one, flames had…

Mara’s feet pounded the ground in an uneven drum beat. Ba-thump. Ba-thud-thum-thump. Thud-thud. She staggered downhill, over the pock-marked earth that had once been covered in grass. The first of the fires had killed anything green days ago. Another hacking cough rattled her body. The collar of her shirt did nothing to block out the…