The GM Experiments Fire At The Heels

We ran and ran until I couldn't bear to take another step. I turned and looked at Eleanor.

“I think we should stop and rest for a bit,” I managed to get out between my short gasps for breath.

She, not even being winded in the slightest, curtly replied, “We have to keep pushing John. We aren't out of the woods yet.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” I replied, breathing slightly easier now.

We had been on the run for several weeks, and last night stayed at camp just a bit too long. The fire had caught up to us, and we have been running ever since, trying to regain some ground.

“Let’s start foraging for a bit, then we can keep moving,” I suggested.

“Yeah, we should probably eat,” Eleanor agreed, her stomach growling in agreement.

By now, we had a pretty good idea of what we could eat. Our diet mainly consisted of any nuts and berries we could find, and then at night we would set up the net we made, hoping to catch some fish. That was always a treat, having such a big meal just handed to us instead of having to forage for hours just to scrounge up enough to eat.

“So, do you think we'll ever run into more than this seemingly endless forest?” I asked Eleanor.

“I don't think that's what we need to focus on right now. Last night was too close a call. Weeks of work gaining ground were just ripped away from us,” she replied, looking defeated. “How do you think it snuck up on us like that? We were keeping such a good pace.”

I pondered her question. “You know it was pretty windy,” I said. “Maybe it bellowed the flames or just carried some embers on the wind”.

“I guess that's possible,” she muttered to herself.

We continued conversing for the next few hours as we walked and gathered food on our way. Eleanor's auburn locks were bouncing on her shoulders as we went. A stark contrast to my shaggy, jet black hair.

“Have you ever thought how strange it is that we haven't run into anyone trying to put out the fire or anything but this forest?” I asked. “Not to mention the fact that the fire isn't growing faster or anything. I'm no wildfire expert, but I would imagine as it burns longer, it would grow hotter and spread faster, but what do I know?”

“I have thought about that,” she said. “But what you're forgetting is how we got in this mess in the first place. Two random people just go to bed and then wake up in a forest. Is that not strange to you?”

“Well, of course it is,” I said. “But that's conceivable compared to a forest fire this large that no one is trying to put out.”

Eleanor sighed. “I don't know. As for not seeing anyone, given the size of the fire, the chances of them being anywhere near us are very slim. I know this is rough, but think what great shape we’ll be in after this. We could probably flat-out run a marathon.”

“I don't know about that,” I chuckled. “There is a big difference between walking most of the day and travelling that same distance at a run.”

We kept on walking at a brisk pace for the rest of the day, snacking and gathering food as we went. When we picked a spot to sleep for the night, we set up our MacGyvered fishing net in the river that we kept next to and tried to get some rest. We set up our usual sleeping arrangement of leaves and packed foliage under us. We drifted off for a few hours, but as always, sleeping wasn't the easiest thing to obtain when you had a wall of flames mercilessly pursuing you twenty-four-seven.

I woke up first and went to check the net. As I came down to the bank, the river seemed to gurgle a good morning. It almost felt like our third companion, walking with us every day and helping us find food. I shook my head, a silly thought. Thankfully, we had caught what seemed to be some type of trout. I did my best to gut it with the sharpened stick I made, but having no experience made it far more difficult than I'm sure it should have been. All I knew was that I shouldn't pierce any organs and slice the meat off. Easier said than done.

Eleanor woke up and started making a fire. This is the part I found the most ironic. We had spent hours learning how to start a fire with sticks while actively running from what I'm sure must have been the largest fire in the world. Starvation is a good motivator, though, so we had both picked it up relatively quickly. We were always very thorough in stomping it out.

I came over with the bits of fish I was able to gut and clean. As we waited for it to cook over our tiny fire, I looked at Eleanor and asked, “Do we really want to just keep running? There must be something to do to get out of this? We have been on the run for weeks, and I'm sure we could keep going, but is that really all we want to do? Keep running until we burn out and burn up.”

Eleanor turned, and our eyes locked. “And what do you suggest? We can't ride up the river or go around the fire. I've thought about wading out into the water and trying to wait for the fire to pass, but I don't know how we would last out the smoke or the hot air. Our best bet is to keep running and hope to get out sometime soon.”

"That's exactly it, though,” I said. “How do animals survive a fire?”

“Uhh, run away, I presume,” she replied. I was starting to get excited now.

“Or they burrow into the ground. I have thought about this idea, and I think it could really work, so please hear me out.” She gave me a skeptical nod. “What if we really push ourselves and get far ahead of the leading edge of the fire? Then we gather as much food as we can and dig a hole. We make it next to the river and go as deep as we can. The soil is damp, and we cover it with green logs and more damp soil. If we go deep enough, we could wait out the fire and let it burn past us.”

Eleanor looked at me dubiously. “And how do we breathe for the whole time we’re in there?”

I took a stand, now pacing as I explained. “Well, I would imagine the air over the water is more breathable, so we dig a small vent and close it up when the smoke gets really bad. Then we just breathe through our damp clothes, and I think we would have a real shot at making it. Isn't that better than running for who knows how long until we reach who knows where?”

I could see she was mulling the idea over in her head, so I kept on explaining. “If we don't have to run from the fire constantly, we could still fish and have all our time devoted to finding food and making a more comfortable shelter. I know you have been finding the trekking a lot easier than I have, and I don't know how much longer my body can do it. I mean, if I had a goal or finish line I think I could tolerate it, but just endlessly moving in one direction… I don't know, that's all I have to say.”

After a few minutes of pacing, she gave me her reply. “I think it's something to consider. I know you have had a hard time, and I know we need to stick together. Let's eat and head out. We can discuss this more on today's walk.”

*********

As they started walking, moving away from the ravenous fire, Doctor Gareth Meyers looked at the scene through his monitor. A small smirk tugged at the edge of his mouth, but the memory of all the failed experiments kept it from turning into a full grin.

“Just one success will prove it,” He muttered under his breath.

They were making excellent time. Not only were they keeping ahead, but they were outrunning it. What luck that the wind had helped the fire along. Dr Meyers, of course, knew it wasn't luck.

“Keep on running and don't fail me now,” He whispered. “So close now. So close.”

*********

After keeping the pace of a brisk walk for seven hours, we stopped for a rest. We started gathering what food we could find while munching on what we had already grabbed during our trek.

Eleanor turned to me and said with a look of determination in her eyes, “let's do it. I have been thinking about what you said, and it's a good plan. I don't want to continue on alone, and I realize that you can't keep at this forever. And to be honest, neither can I. Better to go down fighting than keep running.”

As we started walking again, we went over the specifics of our plan and what we would need to prepare. We continued our daily cycle of walking and sleeping as we fleshed out every angle of the plan. It was hard keeping such a fast pace, but having our goal in mind was almost more motivating than the fire at our backs.

After weeks of the same old routine, trying to outpace the advancing flames, it was time to put our plan into motion. I started digging out the hole while Eleanor set up the net and found food. After she had gathered everything she could in the surrounding woods, she came back and helped me with the hole. We toiled late into the night, digging and gathering green logs and soil to cover our hole. After countless hours of the hardest work I had ever done, we had something resembling a grave for two. We both prayed it wouldn't become one.

“John, you gut the fish, and I'll start the fire,” Eleanor said. She hated gutting the fish, and so it had primarily become my job.

“Sounds good to me,” I said.

When I went to check on the net, I found one larger trout and a few smaller fish. The benefits of being able to keep up a net for such a long time, I suppose.

*********

Dr Meyers watched them as they ate their meal. He’d had such high hopes for this experiment, and now they were digging their own grave. He couldn't blame them, though. While it enraged him that he hadn't gotten the outcome he desired, there were always more experiments to be run. Some day, he would succeed, he knew. At least he wouldn't need to dispose of the bodies. He always hated getting his pristine hands dirty.

*********

We got into our hole and waited. I can't remember what was worse. Anticipating when the fire would catch up with us or experiencing the moment when it finally did. The crackling of wood sounded like some giant monster had started ripping trees out of the ground and snapping them in half. The sinister orange glow that came through our ventilation shaft made it very difficult to stay calm. I knew if I panicked, I would only have a greater chance of suffocating. But when you have to think about how calm you have to be, or you die, it doesn't really help the cause.

The main part of the fire burned over us for what felt like an hour. The fear that raged inside me felt larger than the flames we were hiding from. The dirt kept us cool enough. We had prioritized depth over space, so cramps soon began setting in. Then the smoke started to seep into our burrow. Now that the fire had passed and the smoke had a chance to cool off, it had started to fall. We closed up the shaft and tried to breathe as little as we could, but a small amount had gotten in. It was an evil-looking cloud of pitch black. It reminded me of some cartoon villain. It seemed so unreal until it entered my mouth. The taste was like a pile of ash had been poured down my throat, and then someone started squeezing my lungs. Each breath was like trying to drink air through a tiny straw.

Over the next few hours, even as I tried to stay conscious, I started growing drowsy. Eleanor looked ready to nod off, too. I knew that was bad, but sleep was just so inviting. As I began to let it carry me away, Eleanor gave me a shake. Well, as much of a shake as you could give in our cramped hole. I decided that we needed to chance opening the vent. Better to let smoke pour in and kill us than suffocate in our own breath.

We opened it a crack, and suddenly the whole room seemed lighter. Like the feeling in my head escaped to fill the room. The air was hot and not completely clear. It was more of a haze, but we let it circulate for a bit before closing the vent back up. Again, we waited till sleep almost took us and decided to try the surface. We almost couldn't push open the top, and I was worried we sealed our own casket, but we were able to shove it out of the way enough to slip through.

The air wasn't clear by any means, but it was better than what we had been breathing before. I wondered how much shorter my life had become after inviting all that smoke into my lungs. Well, longer than it would have been if the fire had caught us, that was for sure.

We turned and started walking in the opposite direction for the first time in nearly two months. The farther we went, the clearer the air became. We decided to keep on walking until the air was completely clear. We had travelled a little farther than where we hunkered down, and that's when we ran into the edge of the forest. Not the burnt landscape we were expecting to see. Beyond it was nothing but a sheer wall.

*********

Dr Meyers was in a full-fledged fury now. But he didn't show it. He sat silently, looking at his monitor. The experiment had failed, and they still lived. No matter, he thought. The timeline will just need to be moved up. The experiment can start on phase two. He let himself grin. They may have reached the end of the forest, but they weren't out of the woods. Not even close.