Two Degrees

Akira’s mom eventually convinces Lars to leave the house, but the cars are already on fire. They go to the horse pen but cannot grab the frantic Dodger and Elwood. Akira runs into the burning barn to grab blinders, hoping that if the horses can’t see as much fire they will calm down.

Akira struggles to put the blinders on Dodger as he flails in fear, his eyes darting between the fire quickly surrounding them. The house catches on fire, and she knows she has to act quickly, or they will all die.

Akira offers an apple, which calms Dodger long enough to put the blinders on. The family mounts the horses and they run down the narrow path that creates a small break in the fire. Suddenly, Dodger senses danger ahead and stops.

Dodger turns, he wants to run directly into the flaming forest. She tries to encourage him down the path, but he refuses. Something ahead fills him with a fear that only he understands.

Akira realizes she trusts her horse, and that he must know that they shouldn’t go down the path. She had forced him the wrong way on the mountain and doesn’t want to repeat the mistake. She loosens the reigns and tells him he is in charge.

Her family yells in fear as they plunge directly into the flames. Just then, a large redwood tree falls across the dirt path. If they had followed it, they would all have been crushed. They gallop through the flames, and just as Akira starts to think they might be burned alive, they are out of the blaze flying through the air.

Dodger has guided them to a lake, and after a six-foot fall they are engulfed in icy water. Everyone is alive, but they know they are still not safe. The water is too cold and although there is an island on the lake, the intense fire could jump to it at any moment. A helicopter appears, dipping low to gather water, and the pilot sees them.

Owen and George are stuck in a bear trap, but they feel a glimmer of hope when they hear a helicopter coming in their direction. Since they aren’t visible inside the trap, they decide to peek out, knowing that Nanuq is probably watching.

They don’t see the bear outside, but they think about him covering his face with his paws at the cabin and realize he is close, just completely concealed. They wonder if the Inuit stories about polar bears becoming invisible are actually true.

The helicopter has flown away. After surviving a long trek covered in polar bear bites, the boys worry that they will freeze right outside town. They peek out again and see that they are right, Nanuq is hiding with his paw over is black nose, but now is standing up and walking away.

They decide they have to leave the bear trap, taking the rotten meat bait with them to leave it by the trap and hopefully stall the bear. They agree that he seems too smart to enter the bear trap himself. They hear a loud thump and are relieved to realize it is not Nanuq. It is the helicopter.

The helicopter doesn’t seem to see them, so they decide to fire their last cracker shell hoping the crew will hear it. They don’t see Nanuq approaching, but they soon realize that Nanuq is following them again and now they have nothing to scare him away.

The boys are trapped between Nanuq and a frozen lake and start to believe they are finally going to be eaten. Nanuq approaches, making the same huffing and popping noises that the mother bear made before the attack. Suddenly, the helicopter appears. A man leans out and shoots Nanuq.

At first, Owen and George are horrified, thinking Nanuq is dead. They are relieved to see the tranquilizer darts poking out of his hide because he is being taken to Polar Bear Jail. As he becomes disoriented by the darts, he starts to run toward the lake, and the boys realize he is in trouble.

The DNR employees yell for them to get back, but Owen and George run toward Nanuq, who begins to crack through the thin ice. If he falls asleep in the water, he will drown. They wade up to him and haul his head above water as his eyes close, saving his life.

Patience and Natalie kayak to the Brother’s Keeper, a food bank run by Patience and a group of other volunteers. Crowds of people gather for supplies, and the volunteers desperately call FEMA, local government organizations, and other groups, but are told that no help is coming.

Patience asks Natalie to talk to the crowd so the adult volunteers can keep calling larger organizations. At first, she sees the crowd and panics, but then she yells to the group, and is finally able to get the desperate people to line up so they can distribute goods. After a while, Patience brings her a phone and tells her to try to call her mom.

Natalie only gets Mama’s voicemail, so she takes Churro for a walk to clear her mind. She wanders through the streets gaping at the devastation. Suddenly, there is a man in front of her with an automatic rifle.

Three men accost Natalie, telling her to leave the area. They claim to be protecting local businesses from looters. Disturbed, she moves on and finds a more friendly stranger, a woman cleaning out her restaurant who gives Churro some dog treats. She goes back to the Brother’s Keeper just as Patience is answering a phone call from her mom.

Natalie and Mama cry as they talk, they both thought they might never see each other again. Mama says that she and Tía Beatriz narrowly escaped from the house when the storm ripped off the front door. They hid in the stairway of Natalie’s elementary school, but Tía succumbed to her injuries before help could arrive.

Memories of Tía come flooding into Natalie’s mind as she stands in shock. She cannot believe that her neighbor is dead. She remembers Tía describing how the community came together after the hurricane in Nicaragua, and she suddenly thinks of a plan.

Inspired by Tía and the woman with dog treats, Natalie, Patience, and a team of volunteers go door to door, asking everyone if they have anything extra to spare. Soon they have gathered food for a cookout, water bottles, toiletries, and other items. Natalie is upset that a man who refused to help is lining up to get things for free, but Patience tells her that other people taking should not prevent her from giving.

Natalie and Patience climb to the roof for a break and survey the after-effects of the storm across Miami. They notice that the luxury apartments already have electricity again and reflect on how the storm has affected low-income neighborhoods so much more. Natalie tells Patience about Mariposa, where everyone gets what they need.

Natalie spots Maria Martinez, the meteorologist whom she admires, walking among the crowd. Maria stops to interview Patience, who pulls Natalie in front of the camera. At first, she can’t find her words. She looks terrible, is embarrassed to be on TV, and can only tell Maria how much she admires her.

As Maria begins to move on, Natalie says that she has more to say. With Maria’s encouragement, she begins telling the camera that the celebration around her is only temporary, soon the donated goods will run out and the people will be left with nothing and no outside help. She points out the undamaged high-rises, and that climate change will continue to effect poor people more drastically than the wealthy.