Hotshots (Wildfires Book 1) (17 page)

She heard Keely but she could not lift her head up, she was still too tired. But her roommate apparently wasn’t caring. Jez opened one of her eyes and then she sat up straight as she saw her friend digging through her footlocker, pulling out all of her equipment and stuff as fast as she could. Her hair loose and flying around getting in her face.

“What is up?” Jez said, wiping the sleepies out of her eyes.

Keely turned and grinned. “Someone got a little.”

Jez turned red and shook her head. “Where are you going?”

“I have been on the spot fire team for the last few nights but they are under control. The fire has moved to the north a little and they need our team to go and set a line on that side of town. My team was tagged since we were the only ones free,” Keely said then pushed her hair out of her eyes again and flopped on her side, grabbed her hair ties, pulled her hair back quickly, and Jez watched as she braided it efficiently and then turned back to her footlocker and started talking.

“They put me on a team with Gaige, Liam, and Remington. I swear those three are going to be the death of me. Arrogant asses, they actually check my bag every single time we go out, can you imagine?” Keely grumbled. “At least the others seem to think I am competent.”

Jez grinned. “Ohhhhhh, love in a fire zone!”

Keely turned and glared at her. “Um no, I would just as soon go out with Red ‘Needledick’ Humphries than them. At least he has a sense of humor. Those three are like cyborg clones.”

Jez chuckled and then got up out of bed. “You never know.”

“Uh yeah, the only one who is gonna be getting any around her is you. That is because according to the headman, you are moving rooms. I was told to tell you to pack up; from now on, you are in the command trailer. Jeb and Gibs are staying in The Shack and your mother is my new roommate.” Keely grinned.

She froze,
what
? Keely pulled on her long pants that they wore under her thick leather fire pants, and then her long sleeve shirt, and so on. It was heavy and when Keely was done, she looked like a yellow stay puff marshmallow.

Jez shook her head and then said, “Yeah, well we’ll see about that, no one asked me if I wanted to move.”

“Good luck with that. I have to go; we are leaving in a few. Also there is a meeting in the tent in an hour, you have enough time to shower and get there. It is a briefing they said. Gonna show everyone the plan they came up with,” Keely said.

“Got it,” Jex said and grabbed her towel and went into the bathroom. “See you in twelve.”

“Yep,” Keely said and flashed her a smile and left.

Twelve-hour shifts during a hot fire was the norm. Jez quickly showered and looked at the clock for the first time. She had only slept six hours but that was enough. She needed to find out what was going on, plus she needed to check on her baby, make sure the soot wasn’t in the engine.

Jez walked into the huge tent they had set up and looked around. There was a long table of coffee and food on one side, and a bunch of tables on the other side with men sitting and eating. There was a path through the middle to the other side where computers and a long table was setup with maps behind them hanging on the wall and what looked like a schedule as well.

She saw Nix and the others, she stopped before going to them and detoured to the table with the food and grabbed a plate and a cup for coffee. She didn’t know what to think. Keely told her she was moving, and honestly, living close like they did with the crew, it was like announcing something to your family. She was apprehensive about how people would look at them, if they knew, or if the guys were going to announce it or just do it. Either way, she felt like a fish in a bowl.

Someone had gone all out
, she thought when she actually looked at the food. There were breakfast sandwiches, breakfast burritos, pastries, bagels, and cream cheese. She took a burrito and then walked to the coffee and filled up her cup. The whole time she was well aware the guys had seen her and all of her movements were being tracked by their eyes. Yep, a fish in a bowl.

She put cream and sugar in her coffee and then turned and took a sip out of the cup looking as if to see where she was going to sit. One of the guys held up his hand and called out to her and she nodded and then made her way over to where he was sitting.

Jimmy was one of the youngest men on their team. He was happy and friendly, something that none of the guys were, so he was refreshing. She smiled as she sat down and said, “Hey, Jimmy, guys.”

The others grunted like it was another day and Jimmy chuckled and said, “Hey, Jez. How you feeling today?”

“Better,” she muttered, not wanting to talk about the fact she was on a date with three men when they were trapped in the fire.

“Good, heard you are moving to the bus,” Jimmy said casually and all the guys froze and looked up waiting for her to answer.

She paused and then shrugged before picking up her burrito and then she said, “Sounds like it,” right before she took a bite.

The guys stared at her then at each other and one by one they began to eat again. Jimmy once again chuckled and then leaned into her and said, “Hey, it is cool. The guys are awesome, and truthfully no one cares where the fuck you sleep.”

She grinned and then took a sip of her coffee and said, “Yeah, well that’s good, ‘cause I am pretty certain that it is none of your business anyway.”

“Ahhh, Jez,” Jimmy said with a whine. “Come on, none of us are getting any, we are living vicariously through you all.”

Jez laughed when Jimmy’s head was hit from behind by a large hand, and when she looked up she saw Nix, Trystan, and Gray standing there.

“You were saying?” Nix said and all of the guys laughed when Jimmy’s face went bright red and he shook his head.

“Sorry, boss,” Jimmy said and then winked at Jez who giggled. She was grateful because it meant she was still just one of the guys no matter who she was sleeping with.

“Come on,” Gray said firmly, “briefing is gonna start.”

The guys nodded and finished their meal, Jez all but shoved her burrito into her mouth and stood with her cup of coffee and followed them as they walked to the back of the tent. Gibs was there already, she had missed his entrance. She wanted to talk to him about Jeb and her mother if there was time.

“Okay, folks,” Gibs said loudly and everyone got real quiet so they could listen. “The county chief is going to speak to the media but I wanted to bring you up to date with information.”

He turned and began pointing at the map, showing them were there were active hotspots, and also pointing out where the road blocks were set.

“We have four teams, we are waiting for the weather report from down in the valley to see if the copters from Denver can take off. If they can, they will be bringing reinforcements. Jumpers will be let off here, in the middle of town at the park. Then we will have five teams. Right now, the fire has burned 3700 acres. Now, we all know there are miles and miles of forest north of us and the terrain is rough. If the fire gets up there too far, the Forest Service is gonna have a problem. Then we have Wyoming and Utah who are gonna be threatened by the blaze if it continues to move. If it goes west, we have several issues as well, including those small towns up there that depend on us to get them out. Which we will not be able to do if we can’t get to the road that swings around there. Now, if it continues to go east and south, once again, we have a problem. Beetle bugs have killed a lot of trees this last year, the Forest Service has not had time to clear some of the worst areas, so all the trees right along here are tinder,” Gibs said and the air in the tent got thick with tension.

“So we are fucked?” someone said and Gibs shook his head.

“I don’t think so. However, we have a mess on our hands. We have a four-sided fire we need to have lines cut out on and we only have so many men. So twelve-hour shifts are going to be a must, make sure when it is your down time you are eating, sleeping, and making sure that your head is in the game. Now the Chinooks are not working with us, I am certain we will not get help for at least another twenty-four to forty-eight hours. The forecast is calling for hot and windy, unusual for this time of year, but something we do not need. Nix and Trystan will be making sure all your equipment is ready and if you need something, you go to them. Jeb will be back here in a few hours, and then he will assume lead over our teams. Nix, we need you to lead a team this go-around.”

Nix nodded and then Gibs turned back to the board and finished their briefing. Damn, this was seriously fucked up. They weren’t sure about much of anything, other than at this particular moment they were on their own, and that totally sucked.

“Now,” Gibs said, as he was finishing up, “all of that being said, Jez, you need to check your bird. We are going to need some airdrops. There is a reservoir right here and here. You can use the bucket and make drops.”

The men stilled and she nodded.

“Okay, I need a bit of time to clean everything and check for soot. But should be ready to go in a few hours if everything checks out,” Jez said.

“Good, next shift change will be in ten hours, so get some rest and be ready to go.”

The group dispersed and Nix and her guys stood right by her as she finished her coffee, not saying anything. She finally looked at them and said.

“So, I am moving?”

Trystan grinned, took her cup, and threw it away and then said, “Yep, let’s get your bird ready and then we will move your stuff.”

She put her hands on her hips and said, “Do you think maybe you should have asked first?”

Nix shook his head. “No, cause then we would be getting the sass you are gearing up to throw right now. It is a done deal, no one cares, let the shit go. Now, we have bigger things to get done so move that cute little ass along so we can maybe break in our new bedroom before the next shift.”

She rolled her eyes but allowed Gray to take her hand and lead her back out into the smoky air and around The Shack to the helio pad. There she was, ‘Stryker’ sat covered in soot from the fire. It happened all the time during a fire, and there were hoses and materials to clean her, but since she had not been here when the fire started and the soot began to gather, it was thick. This could lead to problems with her engine, and that was something she nor anyone else wanted.

They cleaned her bird with a blower first, so not to make the soot congeal anywhere on her machine. Then they cleaned it, making sure the hoses and everything else was good and hadn’t been singed or damaged. Then they went to grab some lunch and get briefed again. The fire was moving and the winds had not died down yet so they were right where they had been before except the fire was now 4900 acres, it was moving fast and everyone was getting tense. They were sitting in the tent when Jeb and her mother showed up.

“Jez!” she heard her mother say and then she was wrapped in her arms and was hugged fiercely.

“Mom,” Jez said and tried to pull back. “MOM!” Jez said and finally her mother laughed and let her go.

“What?” her mother said. “I am just happy to see you.”

“I am at work,” she said softy, her mother looked around and saw the men all watching them closely, and her mother chuckled.

“Yeah, your father was the same way.”

“Well…” Jez said and her mother leaned toward her and said.

“Are those three guys the three you were talking about? I mean they are staring at us like they are gonna grab you and take you away so I am assuming so.”

Jez rolled her eyes and then turned to look at the three men who were standing, staring, waiting for an introduction, and sighed.

“Yeah, Ma,” Jez said. “Come on, let me introduce you.”

“Soja, this is Nixon, Gray, and Trystan. Guys, this is my mother, Soja,” she said and bit her lip as she waited for her mother to say something completely inappropriate.

“Hey, fellows!” Soja said and Jez rolled her eyes. “Now, I will want to have you over for dinner and all that. You know, to make sure your intentions are good.”

The guys grinned and Jez wanted to melt away from embarrassment. Seriously, she loved her mother, but she needed to get a life.

“Come on, Mom,” Jez groaned. “Let’s go and make sure your stuff is taken into The Shack.