Jake Milton sat on his front porch with his neighbor Mike Donaldson. The two men sat on the porch looking at the grey horizon. "So how long do you think the hills will burn?" Mike asked as he leaned back in his chair and sipped at his beer. "I mean there really can be that much up there to burn."

Jake stretched his legs and glanced at the Hollywood hills. "It's been two days now, and it does not look like it has any plans to slow down, it can't be natural, it has not spread beyond the hills into the outlying areas." He replied casually

"Man, I tell you I can't believe it's been three days since everything when crazy." Mike said as he continued to sip at his beer with his right hand and stroked the grip of the shotgun in his lap with his left.

Jake nodded as he too unconsciously reached for the gun sitting on the small table next to him. "You still think it was the second comin' and all that shit?"

"What else could it have been man." Mike exclaimed "so many people just up and disappearing in a beam of light, and all the kids too, then the fires in the hills and the freak lightnin' storms. Makes a man wonder what he done wrong that he was left behind.

Jake smiled and shook his head, "I have no such wonderings, I never bought into any of that religious crap, and all I ever believed in was what I could see with my own eyes, or could be proven by scientific explanation. I have to say I am beginnin' to believe now, that fire aren't natural."

Mike stood and walked to the edge of the porch, staring into the haze in the distance. "Hey, Jake isn't the Old Man Jefferies girl? I thought all the kids disappeared, what the hell is that tart doing still around?"

Jake looked in the direction his friend was pointing. "Yup that's her, cute little thing, always has been, and the girl's with her have to be her from little gang, looks like Tammy Winston and Julie Carter."

Mike shook his head, "But they is just kids, can't be any older than thirteen. What the hell are kids doing here, I aint seen no kids since this all began."

Jake shrugged, "If it was rapture, they did something bad that caused them to be left behind."

The two men watched as the three girls ran down the street, all three were still in their school uniforms, thogh tattered and torn in places, and the smallest of the three kept looking behind her and yelling for the other two to run faster. Jake stood up to stand next to Mike as Mike set down his beer and gripped his shotgun in both hands.

"Somthin' is chasin' them, you planin' on being a hero and saving them young fillies?" Jake asked as he picked up his pistol.

Mike nodded. "It would be the gentlemanly thing to do, they is just kids after all."

"Since when have we been gentlemanly, I don't recall you being very gentlemanly as you was doing that girl's mother last week." Jake chuckled. "Then again I was not very gentlemanly either, Old Man Jefferies always had a hot wife. "I say we see if we can save the young fillies and see how grateful they is."

"Jake, they are just kids, man you is one sick mother..."

Jake gave his neighbor an evil grin. "Kids who got themselves left behind and appear to be in great need of a hero, besides their aint no law no more, no law but what we can make. I did not see you too caught up when you shot that young man last night."

Mike continued to look down the street as the young girls ran towards them. He brought up his gun as shadowy shapes began to form in the haze behind the girls. "He wasn't no kid, he had to be at least nineteen and besides he was steelin' our food stuffs and threatened me with a knife, stupid gang bangers bringin' a knife to a gun fight.