I walked back through the wreckage, climbed in my truck, and thanked heaven when it backed out of the building. I pulled alongside Rudy and Amber. Amber was clearly in a lot of pain. She was taking deep, stuttering breaths, and biting her lower lip. “I’m going to get you plugged up. Take this.” I ripped the wrapping off a popsicle that I pulled from my med pack.

“What is it?” She grunted.

“Morphine popsicle.” She took it reluctantly. I worked quickly to wrap the large gash in her thigh then pack her eye with gauze. That side of her face was so covered in blood, I had no idea how bad it was, and I didn’t have time to find out. We were in rural Ohio, but someone would come and see what caused all the ruckus, and we didn’t need to be here when they did. I helped Amber into the passenger seat. Finding my 1911 on the floor, I slid it back in its holster. Rudy got in, sitting at Amber’s feet. I drove the truck around occasionally stopping, getting out, and throwing the fae hounds’ bodies in the back.

“Are you going to get Lauren?” Amber muttered. The morphine was clearly setting in.

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“In a minute.” I didn’t want to see what had happened to Lauren, so I gathered up the remaining fae hounds. They filled the back of my pickup, weighing the whole thing down a couple inches.

I finally forced myself to pull up alongside the crashed plane. I shone my flashlight into the cockpit. Lauren had a metal bar lodged in her chest, and her left arm was mostly detached at the shoulder. Her face was surprisingly tranquil. I couldn’t leave her; I did not feel the echo of her soul. She was still alive. I climbed in, dragged her out of the plane, and settled her in the backseat of the truck. Rudy jumped in the back, clambering over Amber and causing her to wheeze in pain. He settled down on the floor, staring up at Lauren’s face.

I walked to the gas pump and filled a bucket with aviation fuel. I dumped it on the plane, then repeated the process in the small airport’s main office building. I left the pump running, spreading gas across the tarmac. They were going to have to build a new building anyway so why not add a new pump? I created a trail connecting the plane, building, and pump, then walked to where I parked my truck a hundred yards on the other side of the smashed gate. I lit the end of the trail with my zippo and watched the flame run. I wanted to stay and watch it all burn, get lost in the flame, but Lauren and Amber needed help and that help was dangerously far away.