Raven's Flight

Chapter 4: Part 1 - Lee

Sirens blare throughout the outpost, and crewmembers dash for the helipads. Everyone had five minutes to fill up an emergency backpack. The whole time I packed my bag I couldn't stop thinking about all the animals on board. The outpost had become known for its work as a wildlife preserve after the rising waters destroyed the habitations of hundreds of species native to the areas surrounding Grenalla. Animals nearing extinction were given a second chance because of the outpost, and I couldn't just leave them behind. If the tsunami breaks their enclosures someone has to be here to help them. If we fail in that, we fail in one of our main goals for this outpost.

"Wilkins!" My supervisor waves his arms emphatically from the stairway leading to the evac copters. "Get to the helipads."

I drop my backpack next to my feet. "With all due respect, sir, at least one person has to stay behind."

"There is a tsunami coming. Get up there now."

A woman runs past me, knocking over my backpack.

"There are precisely one hundred and thirty-six animals on this outpost — animals that we took in to help. My job on this outpost is, in a way, to help save Grenalla, and those animals are a part of that. I'm staying behind, and I'm helping those animals."

My supervisor rubs his face, his back hunched forward.

"Wilkins, think of your family..."

My mom's face, with her short black hair, welcoming eyes, and soft laugh lines, appears in my head, my dad's beside her. What does one tell them? Your son could have evacuated but he chose to stay behind to help some animals. That doesn't sound very heroic. He stayed to prove that humans aren't worthless creatures who destroy everything. We make mistakes, but when you make a mistake, you have to fix it. My grandparents' faces fade into my mind, along with my aunts and uncles and cousins.

And Ava's.

I'm sure her face will be in a scowl when she finds out I've stayed. I have no right to ask her to understand. I didn't understand why she left; why should she understand why I stayed?

"You realize what you're doing is incredibly dangerous?" he shouts at me.

"I do. But I need to give the animals a chance."

He walks toward me and holds out his arm. "Let me shake your hand—the hand of a true man."

I clasp his. "Of a true human, sir."

"You're braver than anyone else here."

"I won't argue against that."

He chuckles before swallowing. "Good luck." He releases my hand, backing away.

I scoop up my backpack, shouldering it back up my arm. "Thanks."

He jogs up the stairs, two at a time. Another evac copter sores over my head, blowing wind into me. I plant my feet into the ground until it passes. The copter flies over the ocean, headed out of reach of the tsunami. I could have been on that one, but I'm choosing to stay.

I'm choosing to stay for a better humanity. For a better world.

I head to the wildlife preserve section of the outpost, which is inside a warehouse. Dolphins are swimming around their tank frantically. Tortoises slip into their shells, their orange sandy habitat becoming scattered with green and brown shells as they disappear inside them. They know something is about to happen.

I run past the shelters, knowing my clock is ticking, and that even I can't will it away from zero if today is my date of death. The tsunami will be here in minutes. I pull open the door leading into the feed store rooms and search for something to hold onto if water rushes in here. Finding nothing, I pull open the next door and spot an empty cylinder used to store fish pellets. The cylinder is attached to the floor to keep it in place during a storm. . . A tsunami doesn't exactly fall into that category. Hoisting my legs over the side, I climb in, feeling like a fish in a bowl.

I guess in a way, that's not far from the truth.