Hotshots (Wildfires Book 1) (15 page)

Three miles didn’t seem like a lot, however, three miles in rocky mountainous terrain was like twenty miles of flat land walking. You had to go slow, you had to pay attention to each step or you would fall, and most of all, you had to make sure you were going in the right direction, because the smoke was so thick there were times they could have gone off track and ended up lost.

Nix held the map and the compass. Every fifteen minutes he would check them both and then adjust their path or carry on. She could hear the wildlife fleeing. Hooves beating on the ground, and birds making noise, talking to each other it sounded like. Shit, it meant the fire was moving closer, not that they needed the animals to realize that. No, the heat and wind was making it known. They had been walking for hours; they had to be getting close.

Nix paused and looked up and they all did the same and Jez sucked in a quick breath at what she saw.
FUCK
! was her only thought as she saw the flying embers,
this was not good
.

Nix turned and looked at them and said, “We are about three quarters of a mile away, there is about a thousand yards of rocks in the middle. We need to move, after the rocks it is a straight shot to The Shack, I am pretty sure we will encounter some of our people on the way. Drop the packs, they will slow us down.”

Everyone nodded,
yeah this was going to suck
. The smoke was thick, the ground uneven, and every fucking bone in her body hurt from exertion. Yeah, she was taking a bath tonight.

Trystan grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. Nix took the front and Gray the rear and then began to move as quickly as they could down the last bit of the mountain.

Yeah the fire had moved quickly, she could see the flames in the haze of the smoke. It was getting hotter, and it had obviously traveled laterally below them like they had feared while they walked down. Essentially, they had to go through some of the flames to get to safety. The forest ahead wasn’t fully involved in the fire, which was a good thing, but the way it was moving, they didn’t have much time to get through.

Jez didn’t think of anything other than putting one foot in front of the other. She wasn’t looking up, she was looking down, she didn’t want to trip. She almost giggled aloud when she started to chant to the beat of their footsteps. It was stupid she remembered this, but the guys her dad trained with when she was young used to sing it, and when she was going through PT, Jeb reminded her of it. She started singing in her head as she kept pace with Trystan, before long she was singing it quietly and then Trystan laughed and joined her. Soon they were all singing it as they ran through the forest trying to stay alive.

When my granny was ninety-one

She did PT just for fun

Two—she could do it better than you

Three—she got up before dawn to do PT

Four—she ran 3 miles, then she ran 3 more

Five—she could beat any Jumper alive

Six—she did PT just for kicks

Seven—she up and died and went to heaven

She met St. Peter at the pearly gates

She said, “St. Peter, hope I’m not too late”

St Peter said with a big grin,

“
Get down Granny and knock out ten”

They ended the song abruptly after singing it through three times when they heard a crackle, they were a few yards from the rock ridges, which had trees scattered throughout. Nix frozen and looked around, they all did because they all had heard that sound before. It was a tree about ready to explode,
shit
.

“Pay attention,” Gray yelled loudly. “More than one tree will be on fire, do not run toward the rocks, they will propel you onto them. If it is a tree in the rocks, you are trapped.”

“It is the only way out,” Trystan said.

“Shit,” Nix growled and she heard another crackle, this one louder.

“We don’t have much time, figure it out,” Jez said calmly.

A thousand yards away a small tree exploded. It was loud and shook the ground but it was a small tree, and the wood splinters flew but not far enough to reach them. All of them had been trained in what damage a tree exploding could do, the images had been graphic. They didn’t have the thick jackets to protect their bodies or helmets to protect their head.
This could suck
.

“Shit, we have to chance it,” Nix said. He pulled out his radio and began snapping orders into the receiver. He didn’t even wait for a response, just told them they were coming and there could be issues because of their situation.

“Stay close, no one drops off or we all stop,” Nix said and they nodded.

They moved together, in a line, with Nix leading them onto the rock. A second tree exploded behind them, it was another smaller one she knew even though she didn’t look back, it was because the concussion of the blast was weak. Shit, if the little ones were blowing, the bigger ones were going to follow. They needed to get the fuck out of there. The fire line was too close and there was no air support right now, the winds had grounded the helios so they couldn’t lay down retardant where they were.

They climbed over the first set of rocks and she felt the heat, the fire was coming faster now, the wind had picked up, she could feel the gusts now, before they had been protected on the ground surrounded by foliage, here they were wide open but for the trees growing in the rocks. The sun was shining, giving a weird brown hazy glow to their surroundings. Jez sucked in a breath, they had forgotten to wet their towels, she could feel the burn of the smoke now,
shit
.

Over a second set of rock, which were larger, they heard another tree explode, this one was bigger, she knew because a blast of pressure pushed at their backs as they scrambled over the large boulder. They needed to get out of the rock and to the ground where they could run the last quarter mile. It would lead right the edge of The Shack’s property, from there they only had to repel down the wall, it was simple, they had done it a few times now. The ropes were probably still on the wall in the backyard.

She looked up, Nix was trying to move quickly, she could see he was moving away from a large tree in the rocks, then she saw why, the top was smoldering, which meant it was burning internally. Two more clusters of rocks to go and they could run. Slowly they moved, a tree exploded once again behind them. The noise was frightening, the creaking and crackling of the wood, moving and shifting on its own. Then the splintering of the first bit of wood before the whole thing just went BOOM! The ground shook, Jez’s foot slipped but Gray pushed her ass up and over the rock she had been crawling over. He followed her and they moved faster. Her breaths coming in short labored cycles. The air was smoky, she pulled her towel off her head, it wasn’t helping anyway, and Trystan had long got rid of his.

Nix hit the ground first, then Trystan who turned and reached up and grabbed her waist and swung her off the rock and then pushed her quickly out of the way. The tree they had been trying to avoid exploded. Gray was just jumping off the rock and it was like in the movies. The concussion hit his back and he arched and then as if he was a doll he was pushed out farther than what he intended, his limbs suddenly didn’t seem to be working that well.

“Gray!” Nix yelled and she felt a hand on her pushing her down on the ground as the wood from the tree began to fly at them like little bullets.
Not cool
, was the stupidest thought she had, but there it was. She hit the ground and a body covered her, later she would discover that Trystan had tackled her.

She pushed the body and then scrambled to where Gray lay on the ground. Shit, he wasn’t moving, her ears were plugged, it felt like someone put earphones on her but she still yelled.

“Gray!”

Hands were moving over him and she sat back. Nix turned him to the side but there was nothing on his back, thank God, he could have been impaled with wood while in the air.

Then he moved, his hand coming up and putting it against his head. Her ears were clearing she heard ringing as well as Nix and Trystan both yelling at Gray to open his eyes. Finally, he did, and she almost sobbed with relief. But she couldn’t, they needed to get to the wall and drop down into the yard to get off this bluff.

“Come on,” Trystan said, pulling her arm.

She stood and staggered behind him as Nix stood and pulled Gray over his shoulder and carried him. She could see the tops of The Shack and then there were men surrounding them. She wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but the smoke was too thick right where they were. Someone helped her to the ledge and handed her a rope. She didn’t think, she just turned and, with the weight of her body, held onto the rope and leaned back and walked her way down the wall.

Jez wanted to cry, her arms screamed, her legs burned, and her fucking hair hurt, seriously, it hurt. She heard Keely yell her name from below. Thank God, she had been worried about her friends.

When her foot touched the ground, she turned. A huge man with a long red beard and bright blue eyes was standing there smiling. He was wearing overalls and fire boots and jacket. He looked like a Hillbilly Firefighter.

“Well hey there, missy,” he grumbled and she blinked.

“Um,” she croaked.

“No worries,” he said. “I am a volunteer firefighter. My name is Red but everyone calls me ‘Needledick’.” Jez blinked again and had no clue what to say to that. How unfortunate that someone chose that name for him and it stuck. He was huge, like mammoth, like a big giant bear and they called him ‘Needledick’?

“Um,” she tried again.

“Damn it, Needle,” another man said. “She just came in from the fucking zone, don’t go telling your life story to her, you will scare her.”

“It’s just a joke, ma’am,” Red said and then pulled her forward a little and began to lead her to the large canopy that was covering the backyard of The Shack.

Keely was bouncing on one foot and then another waiting for her. She was in shock; she knew it, because she couldn’t put two thoughts together. The only thing she could think of was where were the guys? She turned and tried to go back, searching for them in the crowd of men. But there were too many people.

Red was holding her arm and she heard someone shout her name. She looked around and then she saw the three men. Gray was on a stretcher, Nix and Trystan were right next to it, and they were searching for her.

Keely yelled her name and she ignored her and ran right for her men. Because that is what they were—hers. Nix saw her first, and she saw the look of relief on his face. Not caring who the fuck saw, she launched herself about a foot away from the guys right into Nix’s and Trystan’s arms.

Fucking idiots, they only had to pick up the phone and call them to ask for help. Did they? No! What did they do? They concentrate on saving those pricks that washed them out. How is that even fair? They were not important, they didn’t know the fire, and they had no fucking clue what they were doing.

She had done them a favor trying to get rid of the arrogant assholes that thought they could douse the flame so easily. They can’t, it will always be there, solving problems like it had when she was little.

“We have to call the flame,” she whispered. “It needs to take care of the ones who don’t respect it.”

“I know,” he whispered back. “But he will come when it is ready. Just like it sent me to you when you needed me.”

She nodded and looked in the mirror again. He was always there for her since she was small; the flame had sent him to take care of her.

It was easy to remember the most important time in her life. A young girl in a home full of abuse and hatred. It was easy to see how the flame helped her. Every day a torturous nightmare which never seemed to end. Her mother a drunken crack whore who only cared about her next fix. Her father an abusive drunk who thought she would take care of everything her mother didn’t when she passed out. Until the one night when the flame came and saved her.

She had been sleeping in her closet on the floor in the back. The perfect place to hide from her drunken father when he came looking for her to do something, or to hide when she was so sore she didn’t think she could take anymore. That night it was the later one. That was when she had seen it, the flicker of the flame dancing in front of her eyes, calling to her, making her feel safe. That is when her protector appeared.

She had crawled out of the space and done exactly what the flame and her protector had told her. She went to the front room and opened up the cabinet where her parents kept their beloved drugs and booze. She was twelve, and she was not alone anymore.

He helped her pour the alcohol out all over the floor and down the hallway. She had paused when she reached their bedroom but he had pushed her through, telling her it was the only way to get out of this house. They needed to answer to the flame for their sins.

They had been passed out, oblivious to anyone and everything around them.
It had been perfect
, she thought back and grinned then looked at her savior again who was nodding. Together they had poured the flammable liquid all around the room, on the bed, and over her parents who had not moved a muscle.