Maya gripped the steering wheel, knuckles white, as the miles stretched before her like an endless blur. The car’s air conditioning had long since failed, the inside of the vehicle suffocating from the heat. The fire was close now—too close. The sky was no longer blue but a molten orange, the sun obscured by smoke as thick as tar.

The radio crackled, barely audible through the static: "Evacuate immediately. Avoid Highway 12. Alternate routes advised. Do not delay."

She wasn’t on Highway 12. She wasn’t on any route, really. Maya had taken the back roads, hoping to escape the gridlock, but it seemed the whole town was trying to do the same thing. Traffic was at a standstill—cars creeping forward in fits and starts like a slow-motion stampede. The smell of burning wood filled the air, sharp and choking.

Maya glanced at her phone—no service. It had been that way for hours. She hadn’t heard from her brother, Sam, since he’d called earlier, telling her to leave. Her parents were already gone, heading to a shelter, but Sam…

The car in front of her honked, breaking her thoughts. She pressed the gas, but the car didn’t move. Up ahead, a downed power line crackled on the asphalt, sparking. There was no way through that.

Frustration rose in her chest, hot and thick. “Come on, come on,” she muttered under her breath.

She threw the car into reverse and tried to turn around, but the street was packed—too many cars, too little space. Maya’s heart raced. A horn blared. Someone was trying to squeeze through. A man in a beat-up sedan shouted at her, his face red with anger.

“Move it!” he yelled. “We’re all gonna burn if we don’t get out of here!”

Maya’s eyes darted to the side. The fire was closer now, licking at the hills just beyond the road. She knew she had to move—somewhere, anywhere—but panic threatened to overtake her.

And then, she saw them.

A woman, her clothes singed, carrying a small child in her arms, stumbled toward her. Another elderly man, coughing and wheezing, was holding onto the woman’s shoulder. The child’s face was streaked with soot, eyes wide with fear.

Maya rolled down her window, heart pounding. “Are you okay?” she called out.

“We’re trapped,” the woman gasped, tears streaking her face. “My car’s back there. Can we—can we ride with you?”

Maya hesitated, fear warring with the need to help. There was no room, not really. But the look in their eyes—desperate, pleading—was enough to shatter her hesitation.

“Get in,” she said, unlocking the door.

The woman climbed into the passenger seat, the elderly man in the back, the child still clutching his mother’s lap. The car was cramped, their breaths shallow, but Maya forced herself to keep moving. There was no time to waste.

As they drove, the fire followed, creeping along the hills like a hungry beast. Traffic didn’t improve. Cars were still stopped, still packed tight. They passed abandoned vehicles, some with doors hanging open, others with belongings strewn across the pavement. The highway was littered with the signs of panic—the wreckage of a thousand fleeing lives.

They reached a stretch of road where the flames were now visible, only a few hundred feet away. The heat intensified, waves of it radiating from the sides of the road. The smoke was blinding. Maya’s eyes watered as she focused on the road ahead.

“We’re not going to make it,” the elderly man muttered from the backseat. His voice was thin, strained.

Maya didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She pushed the car faster, praying the road wouldn’t end, praying the fire wouldn’t catch them.

And then, just as the flames began to lick the very edges of the road, the barrier was gone. Ahead, a stretch of clear land opened up—a temporary safety zone, marked with red flashing lights and emergency vehicles.

They’d made it.

Maya slammed the brakes, her heart still racing in her chest. The woman beside her let out a breath of relief, her child finally starting to whimper. Maya turned off the engine, her body shaking.

“Thank you,” the woman whispered, tears falling freely now.

Maya nodded, too exhausted to speak. The road had nearly swallowed them, but somehow, they had escaped. She glanced back at the fire, still devouring the hills in the distance. It would burn everything, but for now, they had survived.

“Let’s just breathe,” Maya said softly, gripping the steering wheel one last time. She didn’t know what came next, but for now, she was thankful to still be alive.