<span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="font-weight: bold">"Atleast two people have gone missing after an intense wildfire in Estocada has broken out, Individuals in the area have been urged to evacuate, but some people are 'standing their ground', news correspondent Alice Louise joins us now from the scene, Alice what can you tell us?"<br/><br/>[b]"Thanks John, I'm standing here in a -</span><br/></span><br/>"Too hot"<br/><br/>The harsh hiss of vegetables hitting a smoking pan sent a cloud of vapor into Kai's face. He waved away the cloud and kept his focus on the pan as he began stirring the medley about as quickly and cleanly as he could manage.<br/><br/>"You havta pay attention now," his grandmother spoke over the crossword she had nearly placed against her face. She sat at the kitchen table peering for another moment before grabbing a pencil tucked behind her ear and filling in a series of spaces "Don't make us have to call the fire department today, they're awful busy this time of year as it is," she chuckled at her self; the chuckle turned into a dry coughing fit and she took a slow deliberate sip of water from a glass at the table. The condensation had built up on the outside and left the vinyl tablecloth and her hand soaked; she wiped her wet hand through her long greying hair and went back to tightly clutching at her crossword.<br/><br/><span style="color: #BF0000"> "Sorry, nana. I was just looking at the news,"</span>he said nonchalantly as he continued his aggressive stirring<span style="color: #BF0000">"did you hear them talking about those people?"</span><br/><br/>The old woman furrowed her brow and wrinkled her nose for just a moment before shaking her head, a resigned look on her face "Yeah, I heard the nonsense, numbskulls think someone started a whole fire just to steal their toasters, buncha foolishness". She paused, considering as if her own words had perplexed her before she placed the paper onto the table and began writing something out. With a satisfied look on her face, she slowly stood from her chair and made her way toward the stove where Kai was attempting to reach a bottle of seasoning sauce on the adjacent countertop while keeping the vegetables moving in the pan. The old woman unhurriedly grabbed the spatula from Kai's hand and hip bumped him out of the way "Thank you, I got this, baby. Go find Lil' Micah and tell him dinner will be ready in about half an hour,"<br/><br/>Before Kai could protest, the old woman had taken over, moving like a coordinated whirlwind through the kitchen as she set to making each dish. Kai took a series of long hopping steps to free himself from the warm chaos of the kitchen into the living room. He doubled back to grab Micah's water bottle from the fridge and made his way through the living room toward the sliding glass doors to the back porch. With the cacophony of the kitchen a distance away, the news was much easier to hear. The large screen displayed a newscast; An overweight, red-faced man with a pair of sunglasses stood with two straw-haired children and a blonde woman as the news correspondent asked them about the events leading up to the fire. The family save for the father all squinted at the correspondent, likely to block out the setting sun rays and dusty winds.<br/><br/><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="font-weight: bold">"My dad built this place back in the sixties, I've been living here since then and we've seen this all before. If them super freeloaders and terrorists think they can scare me or any of these people off, they've got another thing coming. They can meet me right on my front doorstep and look me in the eye- "</span><br/></span><br/>Kai made his way out the door and stood on the back porch for a moment surveilling the trees. A cool stiff breeze whipped the foliage into a chorus of rustles, flutters, and creaks. The forest was thickest behind Grandma Kya's house, she said the sound of the breeze whipping through the leaves was all she needed to keep her sane in these crazy times. He stood there a moment as he fished his phone from his pocket and looked at the location on Micah's phone. It placed him nearby, maybe a mile away into the trees, the tracking app highlighted a wider circle to denote a less-precise track. He moved his thumb to the contacts button when his phone vibrated and a message popped up.<br/><br/><a class="postlink" href="https://ibb.co/dBCdJhp"></a><a class="postlink" href="https://i.ibb.co/dBCdJhp/Text-talk.jpg">[ img ]</a><br/><br/>Kai placed his phone in his back pocket and let out a small sigh as he scanned over the treeline. With a quick look left and right, Kai jogged forward, slowly picking up his pace as he traveled deeper into the trees.