River of Ash, fiction by Tom Barlow
reprinted from Odds of Survival M addy slid Ethan's hand off her thigh, painfully aware that Jacob, to whom she had granted groping rights until they broke up while he was in jail over the winter, was watching and had not yet come to terms with the new arrangement. And he had a temper. Not as much as back in high school, where students considered him the most likely to go Columbine, but earlier in the week, at their band's gig at a dive bar in nearby Anderson, California, Jacob had sucker punched an asshole who was making fun of her attempt to channel Courtney Love. Maddy wasn't feeling amorous now anyway, in the aftermath of the last line of cocaine they could afford. After the Slipknot playlist ended, she was about to suggest they abandon Jacob's room in his parent's basement to beg a pity joint from their dealer when she became aware of a loudspeaker approaching down the street. Even from inside they could hear the announcement–a mandatory evacuation. Immedi...