Death by Facebook (32 page)

“
Yeah
baby?” Shirley stuck her head out from the open kitchen
window.

Larry
was watching more and more of the glowing balls rising inside the
plume and saw one arching outside of the smoke.

“
Lava
bombs,” he whispered to himself, incredulous at the very
mention of the words.

“
Larry?
What?” Shirley sensed something wrong watching her husband
stare at the plume for so long.

“
Get
in the car...lava bombs,” Larry was still whispering to
himself. He watched as another glowing ball of lava rock arched out
of the plume toward him, toward his home, toward his exit. He
couldn't quite believe it, surreal as it appeared. It reminded him
of an old medieval movie where they catapulted burning balls of fire
at the castle walls.

Shirley
came up behind him, put her arms around him and looked up at the
plume as well. She saw it too and screamed just as it hit the trees
across the yard, tearing through them and bounced once, twice and
then rolling up against their outdoor grill. The large lava rock was
still molten, crackling and smoking as it rested against the
stainless steel.

“
Holy...”
Shirley was about to say, noting it was as big as the grill.

“
Propane!
Run!” Larry found his voice and pulled Shirley with him
through the house and to the garage.

“
Are
the dogs in the car?”

“
Yeah!
Holy...”

The
explosion of the propane canister, some seven pounds of liquid fuel,
broke windows behind them as they opened the door leading into the
garage. Larry hit the garage door opener button and jumped in the
driver's side, Shirley waiting for him to pull out so she could get
in.

They
always left their keys in the ignition, if the car was in the garage,
a safety habit they had practiced since moving in. It was a good
idea, as the keys were always in the same place, and if you had to
leave in a hurry, they were in the best place.

Larry
got the car clear of the garage wall as Shirley opened the door, her
dogs barking in encouragement to hurry up.

“
Come
on, baby!” Larry yelled. He was looking up in the sky for
more incoming lava bombs just as Shirley heard more trees being torn
apart. Another mass of lava, glowing and hissing red hot, hit the
pavement twenty feet behind them and off to the side rolling out of
view.

He
didn't bother trying to find the garage door opener in the car so the
door remained opened. Larry looked inside to his paraglider with a
bit of sadness as he rapidly backed out. He honestly wondered if
that was the last time he would see it, or, for that matter, his
home.

Speeding
down the road, Shirley got her breath back enough to ask Larry about
his phone call.

“
What
did Jack say?”

Larry
was consciously aware that he could still kill them all in a simple
car crash if he didn't focus on keeping his speed down. As he
rounded a turn and had a bit of a straight section he shook his head,
amazed at his answer, that he would ever say such a thing.

“
They've
evacuated, to Hilo.”

Shirley
looked at him, amazed as well. It was the first time that it must
have ever happened. “Holy...”

Larry
slammed the brakes just in time to keep the falling monkey pod tree
from smashing them. Even with the great job he did, several branches
covered their windshield. Immediately putting it into reverse he
stopped several feet back and jumped out to see if there was a way
around.

He
could smell something acrid in the air as he looked for a path around
the tree. More and more lava bombs were falling sporadically in the
distance, each heralded by braking tree branches and thuds in the
ground. The ground was muddy all around the asphalt until it met a
ditch that made it stupid to even try an attempt around the fallen
tree.

Being
the only road out of their neighborhood made it even worse. Larry
turned to look back at Shirley through the windshield. She was
waving him back to the car.

As
he got back in she was pointing. She couldn't quite speak, with
either fear or overwhelming excitement but she sure could point.

“
What,
what is that?” Larry asked trying to follow her finger.

“
There...they...bulldozed.
Last week!”

Larry
reversed back, turned around and made his way over to where she had
directed. It was a clearing through the jungle being carved out for
several new houses. Maybe, just maybe they both thought, it would
connect to another road.

They
followed the path off road, bumping around at speeds too fast for
freshly cleared ground. Both of them were scanning ahead for any
sign of a road, but it looked so far to be more trees in the near
distance.

“
I
don't see anything!” Larry said loudly. The dogs were still
barking. He looked back at them irritated and then to Shirley.
“What
are
they saying?”

Just
then the car lurched to a stop, impaling the front bumper on a stump
he had not seen. Both airbags deployed.

“
Watch
out, I think.” Shirley said, stunned beyond sarcasm but still
within her sense of humor.

Larry
stumbled out of the car, ran around to the front just in time to see
both front tires deflating. Fluids were pouring out of the engine.

Shirley
ran out as well, a backpack on her arm, the dogs in close pursuit.

“
Holy...”

“
Shirley!”
Larry yelled, looking back toward their home, about a quarter mile
away. “Follow me!” He began to run back up to the road
and toward their home.

Shirley
and Larry, both weekend runners, were soon shoulder to shoulder, the
dogs right behind them.

“
You've
always wanted to go flying with me, right?” Larry asked.

She
just looked at him, a little smile creasing his nervousness.

“
Well,
today's your lucky day baby!” Larry laughed as he watched the
sky for more lava bombs.

“
Holy...Guacamole!”
Shirley finally said.

~~~

“
Tsunami!
Get the hell off the ground!” Star screamed one last time,
already looking to the coconut trees.

Somewhere
deep inside the static of Janet's head, somewhere in the midst of the
familiar battle between her core and the noise, a voice distant and
urgent rose above the fray. It wasn't Star's voice.

It
was a voice she had never heard before. Insistent and kind, ripe
with clarity and command, it spoke to her directly. Unlike the
static that was always a conversation
about
her, this voice was polite. 'You have other work to do.'

Star
gave Janet one last tug, this time with a handful of her red hair.
She figured she might drag her as far as she could and only abandon
her when she was forced to save herself. The coconut trees, with the
steps built onto them, were only a few yards away.

The
frothing, rolling mass of angry ocean was spilling over itself in
some race to consume anything unfortunate enough to be within its
reach. The massive glow of the cinder fountaining behind them was
lighting up the sky, and throwing shadows around like leaves in the
wind. Between those shadows it lit the onrushing flood.

Janet's
eyes popped open. Star was pulling her hair and the noise suddenly
all around her seemed deafening. She stood up finally and stared
blankly at Star for a moment.

A
braver soul would have left Janet long ago. Perhaps some people were
just not survivors, could not fashion a response to certain death.
Star wasn't such a person. Her friend, the young troubled woman she
had found wandering a rainy road, deserved a helping hand, one last
time. She slapped her hard on the face, turned and ran toward the
coconut trees.

“
Follow
me!” She yelled, looking back. “Climb the coconut
tree!”

Some
human instincts are obviously built into our genetic code, inherited
from the successful lives of those that survived by following them.
One such instinct is: when there's a crisis, follow the others that
are running. Janet wasn't quite clear in her head yet, but her
friend was terrified and running toward the trees. She would, too.

Strange
sounds filled the air. The bay, a few moments ago empty and flushed
with only hapless fish and sand left behind was now filling with a
raging waterfall of chaos. The land itself, the 'aina, had been
under assault now from earthquakes that tore it asunder, lava that
burned its flesh and now the sea herself threatened to rupture its
face and drown it. It groaned deeply under the onslaught, casting a
cry to the heavens themselves.

The
coconut palm, an amazing creation, one that had no doubt been given
to islands in some divine gratitude, were well suited to disaster.
Hurricanes would bend but not break them. Tropical heat only
promoted their growth. Growing together in groves, their massively
connected roots, spreading out five times their own stature, anchored
them all as a family. They provided sterile water to those who
opened their fruit and lifesaving height to those that climbed them.

Star
reached the first tree with the built in steps and passed it to make
for the next one. Hopefully, she thought, Jimmie would be able to
reach the closest tree in time. Already the trade winds were blowing
the salt spray from the arriving mass of water onto her, stinging her
eyes. She could hear it so very close, a rushing wave already
sweeping up the small beach to this tiny mound of sand and trees just
above.

Star
grasped the third step on the tree trunk, pulling and leaping at the
same time to get at least one foot up to the first. Quickly she used
every bit of energy her body and adrenaline could provide.
Scrambling up to the fourth step she screamed in anger and fear
feeling the cold sea sweep beneath her, splashing her legs.

Janet
saw Star reach her tree and quickly saw another was right in front of
her. Suddenly, seeming too fast to be real, the water was upon them
both. This first wave was small, only a few feet high, but it swept
Janet right off her feet tearing away her grasp of the first step.

Star
had turned to look, only to see Janet rapidly move backwards in the
rushing water toward her little cabin, itself now being pushed up
against the trees behind it.