August Storm: Part 2

August Storm: Part 2

Janice felt heat race through her body, and then the cool rain dripped over her flesh. Her eyes were wide and opened, staring up at everything and nothing.

"She's dead! She's dead!" Mel's voice rose higher and higher in pitch. The rumbling thunder competed with him.

Ted dropped down beside her. His hand clutched hers. "I'm sorry. So sorry. Wake up, Janice."

The wind picked up, and her hair blew in front of her face. Singed pieces tickled her nose, but she couldn't brush them away. Her body wouldn't move. The lightning froze her in time.

"Come on! Wake up!" Ted began to shake her.

"She's dead!"

Her head lolled to the side. She wanted to tell Ted to stop, but she couldn't. Her tongue felt large and stuck to the roof of her mouth.

A streak reached out across the sky, and a loud crack boomed. A tree smoldered and caught fire. The reddish-orange flames lapped along the bark and blackened the leaves.

"We gotta get out of here!" Mel turned this way and that, uncertain what to do or where to go.

"We can't leave her." Ted stopped shaking her and held her hand again. "She's still warm." He laughed, but it sounded scared. "Her hair isn't as frizzy now." He touched her damp hair.

Janice tried to blink. Move a finger, she commanded herself, but nothing worked. Her skin crawled like ants scurried over it. The rain water ran down her cheeks like tears and the pain in the hand that had held the rod became unbearable.

Flames leapt from the one tree to another, spreading closer to the trio. Flaring heat brushed against them as the wind picked up.

"We gotta go! She's dead." Mel lamented and tugged on Ted's shirt. "Come on."

Ted shrugged Mel away. "We can't leave her. It's not right, Mel." He tried to lift Janice. "Help me. Grab her legs."

Mel picked up her legs and lifted. "She's kinda heavy."

"Yeah," Ted grunted as he held her under her arms.

Janice moaned softly.