Firestorm (16 page)

Meagan tapped
Ali’s arm and pointed to the water.

“Yeah, I agree.
I think we’ll do better with this path. But let’s decide quickly,
okay guys?”

Don began to
bounce all over Brad’s back as he pointed anxiously to the
water.

“This way,
James. Come on, Pete. We need to get to the boat and it’s down
there waiting for us.”

Ali and Brad
were as anxious as we were to just keep going so seconds later we
were headed towards the path that led down to the water. I didn’t
really have any hopes of finding a boat down but we had to keep Don
happy and cooperative so I agreed with him. We spent the next ten
or so minutes trekking through the dry grass along the river bank
as we headed back towards the house.

My legs were
coated in sweat and they stung from the weeds that scratched
against them. The trail was narrow and uneven and every so often
either Ali or Meagan would yell out, “Pothole.” We kept a steady
pace in spite of it and moved quickly as we stepped over small
rocks and bumps along the way. The river was on our left about
fifty feet away and it was hard not to get caught up with the heavy
clouds of smoke that covered the sky on the other side of it. Even
more, it was difficult not to panic as the inferno poked through
the smoke.

The piercing
sun rays seemed even hotter now than they did a few minutes earlier
and they were burning our skin. We had taken off to find Grandpa so
quickly that no one thought to bring sunscreen.

“Meg, your arms
and neck look really red from back here. I guess you’re going to
need a good dousing of cream when we get back.”

“Thanks for
reminding me, Sarah. I was trying to forget how much my skin was
burning and now I’m thinking of it again. But look at Ali. You’re
going to really feel this in a while.”

Ali smirked and
said he’d get over it as he looked at the skies around us.

“Have you guys
noticed that the smell of smoke is getting stronger?”

As I moved to
glance behind me again, my eyes caught the heavy rolling clouds
that were sweeping into the trees in the back right corner of us.
My heart skipped a beat and I couldn’t help but wonder if the dream
was simply an omen of things to come, and that we might not get out
of this alive.

Brad turned to
look behind him as well and he groaned out loud.

“It’s coming
faster than we’re running. Looks like it’s covered the whole area
we just came from. I’m glad we’re going this way.”

We were
practically running as we headed through the dry terrain but my
heart was racing faster than my feet. The forest on the other side
of the water was roaring like demeaning thunder, and getting louder
and louder as the vicious flames were destroying everything in its
path.

Meagan turned
her head slightly as she puffed out a few words.

“That is so
loud, it’s scary. It’s worse than the school band.”

Ali turned his
head slightly.

“It’s kind of
deafening, actually. I just hope it stays over there long enough
for us to get out of here. Watch out for these small boulders.
Maybe we should slow down a bit until we get over them.”

We slowed right
down to a crawl because the ground was so uneven that we had to
step high in many places to get over the jagged rocks that
protruded out of the ground. We made it back onto a more level path
some minutes later and were able to pick up a bit of speed
again.

I glanced over
my shoulder to the other side of Brad and I was startled to see
that the smoke was right on our heels. I knew that the fire wasn’t
far behind. The challenge was even greater than I imagined because
we truly had to outrun the smoke to get back to the house.

We continued
along the path for several more minutes, and each tormenting step
we took felt as if we were doing it in slow motion. And that’s when
I looked ahead and realized our challenge had only just begun.

“The path stops
here? Are you kidding?”

We stopped and
laid Grandpa gently onto the ground. I’d been so caught up with the
fear of the smoke that I hadn’t really been paying any attention to
him. He was hot, not just from the heat but with a fever, and we
had nothing that could cool him down.

“Can we get to
the water at all? Maybe we could get some cold water on him to cool
him down?”

Meagan touched
his face gently and spoke quietly.

“Well, I know
the cold water might cool him down a bit, but there’s no time.
Grandpa, I’m so sorry, but we have to focus on getting out of
here.”

Ali patted
Meagan’s shoulder as he looked at the skies all around us.

“Look, I know
that if the water was close by it wouldn’t be a problem, but we
have to climb down there to get it and then climb back up and
somehow get back up the hill to that path. I don’t think the smoke
will give us that much time.”

We both smiled
at Ali and Meagan brushed a long strand of hair from her face.

“I know. It’s
not even an option. We have to get out of here now.”

Brad shook his
head and grunted.

“That’s for
sure. Look at the smoke over there. If we had taken that route it
would be on us by now. We’re just going to have to somehow climb up
that rocky slope. We don’t really have any other choice.”

I knew he was
right but it was going to be a great challenge for us. Don slid off
Brad’s back and pointed to water. He began to jump around anxiously
as he shouted at us.

“We need to get
down there to the water where the boat is. It’s the only way of
getting out of the enemy’s path. I’m telling ya, if we go up that
hill those bombers will fly up it behind us and they’ll beat us to
the top.”

Ali put his
hands on Don’s shoulders to quieten him down.

“Okay, okay.
We’ll get to the water, but right now we have to get up that slope.
Now, can you walk on your own? Because it’s going to be too much to
have one of us carry you.”

Don pulled away
from Ali and shook his head.

“No, you can’t
go up that hill. They are fast and they’ll beat you to the top. We
have to go down to the water and get into the boat.”

Ali clenched
his jaw and put his hands on his hips.

“Okay, I’ve
about had it with this game. We’re going to all die if we don’t get
out of here and I’m tired of listening to this guy’s rerun of the
Second World War. Now, Don is going to have to walk and we’re going
to have to be very careful so we don’t bump your grandpa or lose
control of carrying him, unless….”

Ali stopped
talking for a second and Brad stepped closer to him.

“Unless
what?”

“Unless we can
get around that side on the left, there. Come on, Brad, let’s check
it out.”

A second later
they took off towards the edge of the terrain that stood between
the rocky slope we were about to climb and the water. Meagan held
onto the rope so we wouldn’t lose Don and then we sat beside
Grandpa and tried to tell him that we’d be home soon.

The guys
returned a minute later and Brad motioned for us to get ready to
move.

“It’s narrow
and uneven but it’s a better way to go. And by the looks of that
smoke, it’s the only way to go. It takes us down towards the water
instead of around it.”

Don grabbed
Brad’s arm and tapped his hand.

“Yes, we have
to get to the boat. Those bombers go faster up a hill than we do
but they don’t go down as fast so we’ll make it to the boat before
they get to us.”

Don was
probably the most irritating man I’d ever met and his constant
reference to the bombers was getting to all of us. But as he talked
anxiously about the path, Meagan gasped and her face flushed
red.

“He’s right.
Oh, my gosh, he’s so right. Remember that show I told you about,
the one about the forest fires? Well, they said that smoke and fire
travel fast uphill but slow downhill. Wow! He’s talking about
bombers and yet he’s giving us the advice at the same time. That’s
creepy.”

Icy chills shot
up and down my spine as she talked.

“That IS
creepy.”

Brad and Ali
picked the stretcher up and moved it around in their hands until
they were comfortable. Ali said it would be safer if only two
people carried it along the narrow path and that we should follow
behind. Meagan was holding Don’s rope so she wound it a bit tighter
and nodded for the guys to set out.

The sound of
the fire across the water was deafening and the smell of smoke
behind us was almost suffocating, but we edged our way slowly in
spite of it. I was glad that the guys were carrying Grandpa because
my legs were shaking so badly that I was terrified of losing my
balance and causing him to fall off the cliff.

The ledge that
we were crossing was only about twenty or thirty feet long but it
was also only about four feet wide for the first bit and then it
opened to about six feet wide along the way. The first few steps
were tedious but sure and then just as chance would have it,
Grandpa began to squirm around as he groaned loudly. I was worried
that he’d cause the guys to lose their balance and tumble the fifty
feet down the rocky bank to the river below.

We stopped
several times for the guys to get their footing because it was
difficult for Brad to see the ground through the rugged branches of
the stretcher. Don surprised us all by walking calmly and carefully
as he followed Brad and I kept praying that he wouldn’t change
until we got to the clearing on the other side of this cliff. I was
at the tail end and I took advantage of that by looking all around
at the smoke and fire and scaring myself to tears.

But Brad’s
sudden shouting to Ali brought me back to reality.

“Ali, hold your
left side up a bit. Come on, he’s moving around too much. Left side
up. Okay, okay. That’s better. Keep it up until I tell you to let
it down.”

“You got it,
man. I can feel him jerking around but I can’t see him. We’re
almost there. Hold on.”

“Yeah, he’s
just in a lot of pain, that’s all, but gees, of all the places to
do it.”

Brad’s anxious
voice quickly calmed down as they stepped onto to the wider section
of the path, and that’s when I stepped onto the narrow part. I had
such a chilling feeling across my neck because where I normally
wouldn’t look down, I had to look down because the path was so
uneven and I had to watch my every step.

The wall to the
slope on the right of us was about six feet high at the start but
got higher as we slanted downwards. I was able to hold on to some
stones and roots that protruded out from it and that gave me the
stability to get across the narrow passage.

A few minutes
later we were all on the plateau on the far side of the path and I
felt as if a mighty load had been lifted from my shoulders. We kept
walking for about five minutes until the path opened up more and
that’s when we stopped to give all of our shaking legs a rest.

Don stood up
and stared behind us with his hands on his hips.

“They’re
coming. They won’t be long and they’ll come shooting over that
hill. We have to get down to the boat.”

Brad was
sitting beside me massaging his right arm as he watched Don out of
the corner of his eye.

“He’s really
something. I’ve never believed in omens but this guy could change
all that.”

I wasn’t sure
if Brad was serious or being sarcastic.

“You think Don
was sent here to guide us?”

Meagan was
sitting on a broken tree branch a few feet away and stopped rubbing
her legs as she looked at me strangely.

“He’s been
right about everything so far. Think about it.”

Meagan stopped
talking and screamed as a loud crack startled all of us. We all
jumped to our feet and I gasped so loud that I scared myself.

“My god, the
fire is coming up that hill. We’d be burned if we stayed on
it.”

Don started
jumping around and carrying on about how we had to get a move on
before the bombers got to the other side of the hill. He was
looking back and his voice was loud and anxious as he kept yelling
for us to move. The fear in his voice sent goose bumps shivering up
and down my arms. We each grabbed onto a corner of the stretcher
again and with Don in between Brad and me, and trekked along the
edge of the water that sloped downwards. The cracking of the fire
beside us was enough incentive to make us move as fast as our legs
could possibly go.

But after a
couple of minutes the terrain ended and the only choices we had
were to climb the rocky slope that would put us back in the path of
the oncoming inferno or dive into the water below and swim our way
home.

We had only
seconds to decide which path we should take and both of them
bordered on nerve racking. Grandpa was stirring and groaning a lot
now and his leg was more swollen and redder than it was a few
minutes before. He was reaching aimlessly for his wounded leg as he
rolled his head back and forth, and I was worried that the poisons
from the infection in his leg might go through his body and send
him into septic shock. I felt so sorry for him and it was really
difficult to ignore him but I had to.

I had to look
away and focus on the urgent problem at hand because we had only
minutes to find a way out of this forest and get into a safety
zone. That in itself was a challenge as everything around us
reminded me that we were now racing against time as the smoke and
fire closed in on us.

The bellowing
resonance of the inferno across the water echoed in my ears, and as
my eyes glided towards it I couldn’t find a single spot that wasn’t
engulfed with the fire. The airwaves were pierced with sharp cracks
of destruction that shot through the heavy clouds of smoke as it
hung heavily over the water and slowly rolled towards us.