"Now that everyone's here, our safety topic today is flammables and combustibles."

Welders shuffled around the tiny office like zombies, zipping up tool bags and donning extra layers to beat the November chill.

Supervisor Gravinski sighed and tapped the tablet screen to complete his task. "Be safe out there. Nothing new that you haven't heard before, I guess."

No one responded. No one edged toward the door for another full ten minutes, but eventually the room emptied of workers.

The door banged against the trailer's exterior as a brisk wind sent papers flying off the desk. An apprentice nicknamed Hefty bumbled in moments later.

"What is it now, Martin?" asked the supervisor.

Hefty wiped his drippy nose and squinted through his thick and very scratched eyeglasses. "Uh, aren't we supposed to sign something in the mornings?"

"I already took care of it. Is the shipping container clean like I asked?"

The desk tilted toward the corner where Hefty leaned against it. "No, you told us not to start work until we sign the forms."

"Work started an hour ago," Gravinski muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"Exactly my directions. I wish all my guys were as diligent as you, Martin." He pulled a blank sheet from his notebook and slapped it down in front of the apprentice. "Sign this. I'll finish filling it out soon."

Hefty patted his pockets and then his chest, where he might have had a breast pocket if he'd worn the company shirt. "I don't have anything to write with," he said.

A smile formed beneath dull eyes, and Gravinski offered Hefty his pen. "I know you know the rules, but you also know how the plant is. No smoking near the oxygen tanks. They'll throw us all out if they catch us."

Hefty winked and tapped his safety glasses. "You got it, boss man. They won't catch us smoking."

He signed the blank paper and crammed the pen into his pocket. Then he lumbered outside, leaving the door open to a clear view of the refinery campus down the hill. Its stacks belched steam and chemicals into the sky.

Gravinski shivered and wandered the office, scooping up papers and stacking them under a paperweight shaped like a fire extinguisher. He leaned back in his seat with another sigh and stared into the man-made clouds below.

Suddenly his vision went white. A shockwave shook the trailer like a box of cereal, sending the fire extinguisher and other loose objects toppling to the floor. He blinked several times as his vision and hearing slowly returned. Clouds flickered red and orange in the valley below, where collapsed buildings and charred pipe bridges still burned.

Gravinski straightened his jacket and walked toward the parking lot.

"Mr. G! Mr. G!" sooty-faced Hefty panted as he caught up. "Where are you going? It's bad. Real bad."

"I hear they're hiring a couple states over," he replied as he climbed in his truck. "Maybe it'll be better for me over there."