Hotshots (Wildfires Book 1) (13 page)

“Time to move out, stay close, and, Jez, if one of us tells you to do something, don’t argue, don’t bitch, and don’t try to be a hero. You’ve never been in a situation like this. Once we get on the other side, you can yell and bitch at me for being a bossy bastard. In this I am the boss, and if I fall, Trystan and Gray will get you to safety.”

No one had called, how was this even possible? They were the masters of the fire; they were the ones who could tame it, just like they always had. Maybe they were just too proud to ask for their help. Maybe their arrogance would be the fall of this town.

As they had sat in the room, listening to the scanner as the town scrambled to get people to safety, they had been smiling, mostly because they shared their love for the panic in the peoples’ voices. They weren’t prepared for this right now.

“Do you think they will call soon?” he asked.

“They would have to, they don’t have the people to deal with this type of fire,” she replied and grinned. “They don’t know it like we do.”

The scanner cracked and they heard something that made them both freeze. There was one road into town because Steamboat was deep in the mountains. One road in and one road out, the idiots who planned this hadn’t thought ahead. Of course, there were roads leading up further into the mountains, however none of them actually got you out. The gondola was blocks away from the highway in question. They hadn’t planned on this.

“Perfect,” she whispered and he smiled and nodded. “They will have to call soon, no one will be able to get in or out.”

They leaned back on the bed and listened as the scanner blew up with people calling in with small spot fires, and other issues. It was going to be a long day; by the time they all figured out where Nix and the others were they would be desperate. A perfect time for them to swoop in and save the day.

She was in shape, but still her legs were burning from trekking down the steep incline. Jez didn’t complain, didn’t say a word, just kept her eyes forward and her mouth shut. However, in her head she was whining like a schoolgirl who wanted another chocolate milk with her lunch. Damn, she was going to have to look to see if they had Icy Hot at The Shack. She was gonna need it.

“We need to move laterally for a few clicks,” Trystan said, looking to where the smoke was. And they all stopped to glance at the plumes of smoke rising from the side of the mountain below. Several small fires looked to have started off the larger one. This wasn’t good, mostly because the underbrush had not been cleared yet.

“What the fuck?” Gray said with a frown and pointed to the mouth of the canyon, where the road that led to Steamboat as located.

All of their eyes moved and Nix swore quickly. “Fuck, the fire jumped the road, it is burning both sides, which means they will close the highway.”

“Someone wanted this,” Jez said quietly.

The guys turned to her and looked at her silently and so she continued.

“Not just the fire, the whole thing. Look, if a firebug starts a fire he does it in one place, then sits, and watches. We have at least two different fires so I would guess this was all planned. Regardless, we need to get down this fucking mountain, like fast, because they will need all of our help to get this under control.”

Nix dropped his pack and pulled out the radio they found in the shed. It was charging with their portable charger since last night and hopefully it was done. Jez let out a sigh of relief when she heard the crackle of the radio. Thank God, something was working for them.

“Please respond to 911 call on Elkhorn Lane. Caller states that a spot fire was sparked because of ash,” a woman’s voice came over the radio.

“Ten four, en route,” another voice said.

Nix clicked the radio, switching frequencies to the fire channel. “Red Flag Warning will remain in effect throughout the week. High temperatures and erratic winds continued throughout the day and into tonight. We have zones 1 through 5 marked and ready for manning. The count of trained fighters in immediate area is fifty-two excluding some volunteers, which are en-route from Jamison ranch. Briefing at fourteen hundred, the shelter has been established, and road closed into town. Headquarters in Denver has been informed of situation and air support is en route as well.”

“HQ this is Commander Nixon Cayson,” Nix said briskly into the radio.

“Nix?” a new man said and then continued, “where the fuck are you?”

Jez shook her head and smiled. Gibs, she would know that gruff voice anywhere. “We are on the mountain. We were at dinner when the fire started. I have Jez, Trys, and Gray with me.”

“Thank God, we had reports you went down with the gondola,” Gibs said, the relief in his voice was noticeable.

“Status?” Nix said.

“Two major hot spots, one on the mountain, one on the road. Five other spot fires. Currently zero contained and about a thousand acres,” Gibs said.

“We are making good time. Should be at The Shack in twenty-four hours,” Nix said.

“We have three teams, two with the fires one putting out the spot fires. More jumpers are on their way, dropping in later today. With the Chinook winds starting we are gonna have a hell of time with this one,” Gibs said and Jez grimaced. Of course, early warm spring winds called Chinooks usually were a bad combination for wild fires. They fueled the fires and moved them quickly.

“Our location is east, northeast of the mountain fire. Moving as fast as we can,” Nix said and Jez turned and looked at the plumes of smoke again.

“Watch the trees, hopping in the tops,” Gibs said and Jez swung her gaze back.

Fires were fueled by the underbrush, usually when forest fires started, if there was wind they would travel on the tops of the trees, burning until it reached the trunk and then would burn from the inside out. This was not good news because it meant the fire was moving fast and they needed to watch for burnt tops, this could mean the tree was ready to explode.

Nix finished the conversation and looked at them with a grimace. “We need to make some time before nightfall.”

They nodded and Nix turned to her and smiled. “When we get back to The Shack, I promise a massage.”

She frowned and turned to the others looking at them grinning. “Huh?”

“Sugar, we could all tell the last few hours you were having leg cramps, I am sorry to say we won’t be able to take care of that until we get somewhere we can really give you the attention they need,” Trystan said.

“I am fine,” she said quickly and the guys chuckled.

“We are not saying you can’t do this,” Nix said softly. “My legs are doing the same thing. We are saying we wish you weren’t in pain with us.”

Oh,” Jez said and smiled. They were being sweet again. Damn it, she needed to focus, not think about a massage; however, maybe that will be an incentive for her to make it down as fast as she could.

Nix pulled out the small map they had and began to talk.

“Okay, we move to the north west lateral then straight down. The Shack is right about here and where we need to go. We need to rest, I figure if we can make it to here, which is Rabbit Ears, and find a cave there to camp in for the night.”

They all agreed and drank some water, ate a power bar, and then began moving again. The boots they had found in the shed were comfortable, but she knew that come tonight when they stopped she was going to have to doctor them up. She could already feel the blisters forming. Plus, the sweats were awesome; she wished they had another change of clothes. But she knew she would have to wait until she was at The Shack to change anything else, she would have to suffer. At least they would all stink.

“So how do you like our first date now? I mean I am pretty sure no one can top it. What is our grade now?” Gray laughed.

“Hey,” Jez laughed. “Yeah, pretty sure this goes down as the best and worst date in history. I mean seriously, I am pretty sure no one will believe this.”

“Yeah, well we aim to please,” Trystan said and picked up a rock and smiled at Jez. “No silly flowers for us. Here, a rock to remember the day from.”

She laughed loudly, took the rock, and put it in her pocket. Yeah, she was going to take it, because years from now, even if this didn’t go anywhere with the guys, she would remember the time she spent with them. Fire teams were close, a bond formed just from fighting with each other, you trusted the others with your life. Jez realized during the training she didn’t feel that connection yet. She knew she hadn’t felt it because being with these three men, she already knew she would trust them with her life. They would have her back and she would have theirs. It had nothing to do with their other connection, but she knew it would only get stronger because of it.

“How long have you been on this team?” she asked and the guys began to talk about their careers. She grinned as they told tale after tale of the fires they fought.

“I have been with this company for four years,” Trystan said and she smiled when Gray and Nix both grunted in agreement.

“So you were with them during the Waldo Canyon fire?” she asked.

The Waldo Canyon fire was a forest fire that started approximately four miles northwest of Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2012 and was declared one hundred percent contained finally after no smoke plumes were visible on a small portion of the containment line on Blodgett Peak. The fire was active in the Pike National Forest and adjoining areas, covering a total of 18,247 acres. The fire had caused the evacuation of over 32,000 residents of Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, and Woodland Park, several small mountain communities along the southwestern side of Highway 24, and partial evacuation of the United States Air Force Academy. There were 346 homes destroyed by the fire. U.S. Highway 24, a major east-west road, was closed in both directions. It was the most destructive fire in Colorado state history, as measured by the number of homes destroyed, until the Black Forest Fire surpassed it almost a year later when it consumed 486 homes and damaged 28 others. It lasted more than two weeks and by the time it was all done, the firefighters had been exhausted.

“Yep, it sucked,” Nix said.

“That was the first time I flew with my dad,” she said and the guys got quiet. She had not felt like she could discuss him with them, but after all this, she realized she could. No one was infallible, and she needed to remember that. Any one of the guys could make a mistake, and it could be deadly, it didn’t mean that defined the man. It didn’t. Her father was still the best pilot she knew, he would always be.

“I don’t remember seeing you there,” Gray said slowly.

“Yeah,” Jez said. “I was with Gibs most of the time. But I was certified as a spotter so Dad took me up with him when they were dropping slurry. When he was taking the fire jumpers in, Gibs went with him.”

The men nodded and she continued, “That is when I knew I wanted to be a fire pilot. We were in the air, and dropping the slurry on a ridge. I could see there was a man on the roof of his house with a hose trying to save it. The fire was about a half mile away. I pointed to where Dad needed to go and we laid down the slurry right in line with the man’s house. A few days later, we were eating in the canteen, my father was sitting next to me and a woman came up and hugged him from behind crying. I was shocked when she began to tell my father that her husband pointed him out. It was her house we saved and she was grateful. It wasn’t the first time I felt pride for my father and what he did. But it was the first time I saw firsthand what he did helped real people.”

“Yeah, that would do it,” Trystan said softly and they were quiet for a while.

“Are you planning to be a lifer?” Gray asked.

She smiled and then turned to all of the men who were waiting for her answer and she said, “Yeah.”

The men nodded and she couldn’t tell if they were happy about her proclamation. Weird, she would have thought they would have high fived her or something.

Nix looked at the map that was in his hand again. They were close, and he couldn’t be happier. Everything fucking hurt, including his lungs. The damn fire had shifted with the winds and about a half an hour ago, the smoke blew right in their direction. Since then, everyone had been quiet. Sucking in the smoke hurt when they talked.