14 Wrath of Pele

Ben was sprawled lying face down in between the kitchen cabinet and the sink. Black ink like blood was seen trickling down under his ear down to his jaw and stopped on his shirt collar. His leg was trapped by a fallen chair.

The cabinet that used to be wall mounted on the kitchen wall now has toppled over spilling up every content it had onto the floor. Under one of the cabinet doors and canned food, lays Seth.

Seth's eyes were fluttering and he started coughing badly. His hands quickly went up to his face and he adjusted his gas mask to fit properly on his face. Something must have knocked down his head as his forehead was bleeding and shifted his gas mask.

Seth opened up his eyes, and blink a few times. He scrambles on his feet and stands up. His head felt so groggy like he was having a bad hungover. His head was pounding and he can feel his body swaying from side to side. The last thing that Seth remembered was both his brother and him were filling up their bags with every food that they can found.

Ben... where is Ben? I can't find Ben. Seth started to panic and he shouted for Ben as loud as he can. He was stunned when he heard his voice. He can't hear clearly, all he heard was a very low muffling sound when he shouted. Am I deaf?

"BEN!!! where are you? answer me!!" Seth shouted again. As he shouted, the muffling sound reduced and he can hear the words he is shouting.

He quickly ran over to the other side of the kitchen isle and he spotted Ben was laying on the floor unconscious. Seth cleared up all the fallen objects off from Ben and threw the chair away that has fallen on Ben's leg.

"Ben, Ben, wake up! Are you okay? Come on, wake up man.." Seth slaps his hand a few times on Ben's face. After seeing Ben did not respond to the slaps, he shakes Ben's shoulder afterward.

"I am fine. I'm fine. Stop shouting. My ear hurts." Ben opened up his eyes slowly and he stops Seth's hand from shaking him again. He felt so dizzy that he feels like throwing up.

"Oh thank god you are okay. Thank you Lord, thank you." Seth was so happy and he felt relieved washed over him. His brother is okay. They are okay.

"Come on, let us hurry and continue packing up." Seth quickly got on his feet and he picks up the half-filled bag on the floor. He dusted them a bit and he quickly stuffed them with all the dried and canned food that was on the floor. He threw another bag to Ben nudging him to fill it up with bottled waters. The bag dropped with a thud on Ben's leg.

Seth ignores his brother that was standing silently on the side of the sink. He continued stuffing his bag and just when he is about to leave the kitchen, he noticed that Ben still stood unmoving at the same place that he has woken up.

"Ben, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Seth walked towards Ben and he finally remembers to check on Ben's injuries. Seth picked up the bag on Ben's leg and he filled them with bottled waters. Ben looks like he is fine, but his silence scared him.

Ben suddenly slapped away Seth's hand. His leg was wobbly and he looked up at Seth with a frightened look. "Pele... The sound just now, I am sure it was Pele. She is very angry." Ben gulped his saliva as he stared his brother with a big rounded eyes.

"What? Ben, stopped with your nonsense. Pele is just a folklore. It is not real! Ben snapped out of it! We need to get back to the bunker and wait for rescue. " Seth shakes his brother's body hard enough till Ben was swaying.

Ben's eyes were tearing up as he continued to speak, "When Pele is angry, nobody survived. Nobody ever survived Her wrath, Seth! That sound just now must be from Kilauea. There was never like this before. Mauna Loa and Kilauea never have erupted together. We are going to die Seth. We will die! Nobody will come... " Ben's shoulder hunched low and he flopped to the ground like all will and hopes were gone from his body.

Looking at Ben's dejected face, Seth felt that his blood boiled.

Paaakk!

Seth slammed his palm hard on the back of Ben's head. He cannot accept this kind of nonsense from Ben.

"Are you crazy Ben?! Well if you are giving up, suit yourself! For your information, you are going to die without food and water, way faster than when Pele decides to take your life!" Seth stopped talking and crouched down to look at Ben in the face.

"Ben, wake up! You are an engineer for god's sake! How can you believe in these myths?! It's the volcano, not Pele. No one is trying to kill you." After a moment of silence without any response from Ben, Seth's anger reached its limit.

"Choose, if you want to stay here doing nothing or you are going back to the bunker with me? No, you are going back with me. You must be delusional without food and water." Seth shakes his head as he started to panic when he looks at Ben again. He felt like his pillar to stay positive was shaken up, and his will to survive also died down a little.

Seth then picked all the three bags and slings it on his shoulder. His other hand was holding onto Ben's hand as he dragged Ben out of the house with him.

Outside of the house, Seth finally saw the expanse of the disaster. The temperature was so high as the forest nearby catches on fire. Thick ashes were everywhere on the ground and the ashes continuously pours down from the sky. The sky was scary red with flying embers, and this scene looks just like hell have descended on earth.

Seth quickly ran towards the hill where the garage is. Luckily Ben finally snapped out from his trance and followed behind him running. Along the way, Ben never stops chanting some kind of mantras with a pleading voice, that Seth could not understand.

They needed to be quick and escape before the fire reaches the house. Luckily the bunker that is under the garage situated away from the forest as it was built on solid concrete ground.

Looking back to the house from the garage, all Seth and Ben was hoping now is that... Please let us not be burned alive under the bunker.