The wood of the trapdoor was hot to the touch. He gripped the ring and heaved. The door stuck, swollen with heat. "Open!" he screamed, pulling until the veins in his neck threatened to burst. The door gave way with a screech of metal.
Cool air rushed up to meet him. Naya, Elias, her voice was there, alive, coughing. "Give me your hand." He reached down into the darkness. A hand gripped his, strong, calloused, familiar.
He pulled. Naya emerged from the hole, covered in soot, eyes streaming tears. Billy followed her, scrambling up like a frightened rat. "Out!" Elias roared.
"Now!" They ran. They bolted from the burning skeleton of the barn just as the roof collapsed inward with a sound like a thunderclap, sending a geyser of sparks into the night sky. They stumbled into the yard, collapsing onto the dirt, gasping for air. Elias rolled over, grabbing Naya, checking her frantically.
"Are you hurt? Are you burned?" "I am whole," she gasped, clutching her belly. "We are whole." Elias helped her stand.
They turned to face the yard. Clay Harlan sat on his black stallion, 10 yards away. He looked at them with a mixture of disappointment and disgust. His men formed a semicircle behind him, blocking any escape. "Well," Harlan said, his voice carrying over the roar of the fire.
The cockroaches scurried out after all. Elias stood up. He wiped the soot from his eyes. He stepped in front of Naya, placing his body between her and the guns. "You burned my barn," Elias said.
His voice was terrifyingly calm. It was the voice of the man who had led the Fifth Cavalry into the canyon. I burned a pest nest, Harlan corrected. We are cleaning up the county, Ward, removing the blight. He pointed a gloved finger at Naya who stood behind Elias, her hands cradling her unborn child.
Look at her, Harlan sneered, bloated with a half-breed bastard. It is an abomination, Elias, a sin against nature and God. Do you think we will let that thing be born here? Do you think we will let it walk our streets? Naya stepped out from behind Elias.
Stay back, Elias hissed. No, Naya said. She walked forward until she stood beside him. The firelight illuminated her face, fierce and streaked with ash. She looked like a vengeance spirit rising from the earth.