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True Cover

By Ruth Kyser

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Something was on fire in the downtown area.
Sarah Masters looked through her car windshield and craned her neck to try and better see the black plume of smoke rolling up and blocking her view of the clear blue sky. That must have been why she heard the fire siren earlier before she left her house. She sighed and turned her attention back to the traffic in front of her. This didn't look good for the downtown area. Sarah remembered learning from her high school local history class that a fire had destroyed much of the downtown of Herbert, Ohio back in the late 1800s. The fire had started in a restaurant and had quickly spread, destroying over three city blocks before it was finally brought under control.
Hopefully that wasn't going to be the case today.
Her hometown, a small city of about 12,000, was where she had lived her entire life. Herbert was a Norman Rockwell kind of 'small town USA', with attractive store fronts gracing the downtown, housing clothing stores, antique shops, arts and craft stores, and boutiques. There were two gourmet coffee shops and a bakery, and even an old-time ice cream parlor. The main street was decorated with old-fashioned lampposts and tidy flower boxes in front of all the shops. It was a fun place to window shop, and fortunately for the local economy, drew in many folks from out of town on a regular basis. Many of them stayed in one of the various Victorian style homes which had been made into luxurious bed and breakfast lodging.
Sarah loved it here and she couldn't visualize ever leaving. She had only left town once and that was just long enough to get her college degree, returning right after graduation. Soon after coming back to Herbert she had been offered a job at a local law practice as their receptionist/office manager where she had been employed for the past six years. She really enjoyed her job and especially liked her co-workers.
As she turned her car at the next intersection, she looked out the window again at the smoke pouring into the sky. She was actually on her way back to work at the law office of Brown and Associates, returning from a relaxing and enjoyable lunch hour. Because the one story modern brick building was also located near the downtown area, her first thoughts after seeing the smoke were of what this would mean for her afternoon. Things might not be so relaxing if their building lost their electricity due to the fire. The downtown area consisted of many older two-story brick buildings built in the early 1900s. The law office was a newer building which had been built sometime in the 1970s in a section of town where some of the older buildings had been demolished over time. Because of the law office's location, they had ample parking and a larger lot than the normal downtown businesses.
The closer she drove to the office, the more worried she became. It looked like the fire was very close to her building--maybe even in the same block. Her thoughts quickly turned to the flower shop and bakery that were near the attorney's office.
She went through another traffic light and drove the next block where she found the area totally blocked off with barricades and police cars. Crowds of people were standing around on the sidewalks talking. She finally found a parking spot along the side of the street and let out a sigh of relief as she pulled her car over and parked. Sarah still couldn't see which building was burning though as the fire was a block down and over from where she was parked.
She quickly grabbed her purse, locked her car, and headed down the sidewalk, her heels sharply tapping against the concrete sidewalk. Then she turned the corner and gasped.
The brick building Brown and Associates was housed in was gone; only one corner and the front facade of the building were still standing. The black awning that used to cover the front doors, flapped in the flame driven winds. The Herbert Fire Department firemen were aiming their fire hoses and spraying water on the charred remains and thick clouds of smoke still rose from the burning ruin. A westerly wind furiously fanned the flames, and even though they were pouring water on as fast as they could, it was obvious they weren't going to be able to save the building. It as gone.
She ran down the sidewalk with her heart in her throat. The closest she could get was half a block away, but it was close enough to see debris scattered everywhere around the area. The sidewalks, surrounding street and office parking area to the west of the building were covered in bricks, glass, and smoldering chunks of wood. The firemen had taped off a large area with yellow crime scene tape--the same type she had seen on TV shows. The acrid stench of the smoke and burning debris assaulted her and her eyes quickly watered. It was a small she knew she wouldn't quickly forget.
It smelled like death.
Sarah quickly scanned the crowd of onlookers standing on the sidewalks behind the crime scene tape, looking for her co-workers. They had to be here somewhere. As her eyes roamed the faces of the people, a surreal feeling swept over her. The crowd watching the firemen work was uncharacteristically quiet, whispering back and forth as they watched the burning building. Several of the folks she recognized as being people from neighboring businesses, but didn't see anyone from her building. She was particularly looking for Margie, her best friend. A quick scan of the crowd told her none of her co-workers were there, but she did finally spot the Herbert Police Chief, Stan Warner. He turned and saw her at the same time.
"Sarah! You weren't in the building!" It was more of a statement than a question.
Sarah looked again at the remnants of her workplace, and then faced the Police Chief.
"Stan. What happened?" She couldn't control the sob in her voice and knew the tears burning her eyes didn't have anything to do with the smoke from the burning building.
Stan took her by the arm and led her away from the crowd. "Sarah, where were you when this happened?"
Sarah felt dazed as she looked at the older man. It felt like she was watching a horror movie play out in front of her--other than this time, she was in it.
"I was home on my lunch hour, Stan. I took the late lunch hour today instead of Margie. Wh...what happened?" She sobbed. "Was anyone hurt? Did everyone get out? Where is everyone?"
Sarah was surprised when the older man took her hands in his and looked her straight in the face. She couldn't read people's faces well, but she recognized the look of concern on his face and the sadness in his blue eyes. The muscles were working in his jaw. Whatever he was about to tell her wasn't going to be good news.
"There was an explosion. I'm sorry, Sarah. No one got out," he added in a quiet voice.
She stared at him for a moment before what he had said finally sunk in. What did he mean 'nobody got out'? Somebody had to have been able to escape the building. There were three private offices, the front lobby, restrooms, and a conference room. The way the building was laid out there were front and rear exits so the employees would have two avenues of escape in the case of a fire. Surely somebody had been able to get out. Sarah looked across the street at the charred ruins and back again at Stan.
He was serious.
"Wh...what? Noooooooo," she heard a voice wail as if from a far-off distance, realizing it was hers. "No, no, no!"
Sarah heard a buzzing in her ears, and as an unexpected weakness swept over her, felt the Chief grab hold of her arms to keep her from falling. Somewhere in the haze of her grief, she noticed when he motioned to a nearby paramedic standing by a waiting ambulance--an ambulance that had been called there to take care of survivors. But Stan had just told her there weren't any. Maybe Stan was wrong though. There had to be survivors. They couldn't all be gone.
"Take Miss Masters to my office and check her out. I'm afraid she's going into shock. Get her some coffee or something and keep her there until I can get back to talk with her."
Sarah felt the young paramedic's firm grip on her elbow, pulling her along with him, and heard his deep baritone voice as he softly talked to her. As he led her away, she turned and glanced back one more time toward the charred remains of her life. Her last glimpse was of the remaining section of the roof collapsing into the fire, sending a fresh shower of flames and sparks into the air.
How had what had started out as such a beautiful day, turned into such a nightmare?

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