Chapter 20 #2
An unwanted chuckle left my lips. “Fine. Apology accepted.”
“So you know, the police have tried to find a connection to the two fires as well as a third that occurred right before the Monroes’ barn burned down. There are no direct links.”
I wasn’t certain why he was bothering to join in on the conversation. “No leads?”
“Not that I’ve heard about. I think they’re looking at the fires the wrong way. There’s a connection alright, but if you ask me, the dude’s rage is all about something in his past.”
“Then why handle the revenge now?”
Axe shrugged. “Maybe because something set him off. That’s usually what happens.
Anger. Grief. Guilt. They linger in one’s mind, festering in a way that prevents all normal thoughts, progressing so that the issue becomes insurmountable.
Once it takes hold, all other thoughts vanish.
One thing takes precedence over everything else.
When that happens, life is interrupted until the beast is satisfied. ”
Only a crack in the distance as a tree crashed to the earth interrupted the reverent moment. “It sounds like you’ve experienced something just as powerful and controlling.”
He glanced in the direction of the sound, nodding slowly as he crushed the thin plastic between his rough hands. “Yeah, I have.” He turned his head toward me. “So have you. The trick is not to allow the demon to win. Don’t let one loss shut you down.”
“Where you’d learn that?”
I’d yet to see anything but a sharp glower on the man’s face.
Until now. While he wasn’t looking me directly in the eye, he didn’t need to.
He had the same expression I’d noticed that last time I’d glanced into the bathroom mirror.
Happiness. The kind that couldn’t be fulfilled with heroic or vengeful acts.
The kind that clawed at your soul, dragging you kicking and screaming into sheer joy.
All because of someone else who’d managed to remind you that deep inside, you might be damaged but you were worth fighting for.
“Kenzie, the light of my life and the reason I’m still breathing. Maybe you’ll get to meet her one day.”
“I’d like that.” To say I was shocked was an understatement.
Even as he walked away, grabbing his heavy pack and joining the others, I hung back. He was right. We’d both allowed our emotions to strip away our humanity. Maybe the arsonist by all rights was a decent person on the outside, but the monster had chipped away at him for months, maybe even years.
Now I just had to figure out who’d had a part of two or more entirely different worlds and why. And I would because my instinct was already churning, only not about the fire.
About Grace.
Her fear had been palpable, no matter how fervently she’d tried to hide it. Somehow, someway, her arrival in town had fueled the arsonist’s anger.
Nah, I was no hero. According to the information that would remain with me until the day I died, I was a dangerous predator with a penchant for violence.
My life could have gone one of two ways, a line drawn in the sand.
Karma had intervened with Grace. And God help anyone who dared try to lay a hand on her.
The line still had two sides and I wouldn’t hesitate to cross back over to keep her safe.
And alive.
I’d failed once. I wouldn’t do so again.
* * *
“Goddamn this fucking weather!” Denver yelled to no one in particular, but we all heard his exclamation loud and clear.
He was right. Even near the summit of a five-thousand-foot mountain, the air was humid as fuck. Sweat was pouring down my face and back, stinging my eyes and there was no way of wiping it away.
Not when the fire threatened to switch directions.
“Keep going!” Rock called in return, before storming close to where Axe and I were positioned. “The control line needs to be wider. We need to stop this baby.”
The work was exhausting, but even after working for almost twenty-four full hours, I was still exhilarated, pumped up by adrenaline and the desire to finish.
If hungering to see my girl was a bad thing, so be it.
While Axe cut away debris, swinging the ax with utter precision, I followed behind him with my trowel, the sloppy terrain allowing for an easier, smoother line. We continued rolling parallel to an established hiking trail, hoping the small line of defense would matter.
Rock moved down the line, working with the other team members.
We worked in a pattern, the drill already one I knew well.
A full hour or more passed and even though it appeared we were succeeding, there was more smoke in the air, wet and warm.
I dared take a step away, shielding my eyes as I glanced the heavy tree line. It appeared as if acid rain was falling from the sky. Then I realized what I was looking at.
Embers.
Fuck. The wind had shifted, sending a heavy shower of bright orange embers crackling as they fell across a wide berth of the forest.
Within seconds, popping sounds pounded off close enough it drew our attention.
Every jumper moved into the clearing, watching as the leaves on dozens of trees burst into flames.
Even with the rain, there was enough brittleness that along with the wind, the flames would rush through the forest.
“Fuck. And we have a crown fire. Axe, Viper. Stay here and don’t let that fire jump the path. Everyone else, head to the trees. We can’t let this shift into a blowup. It’ll roll down the mountain like a fire devil.”
There was no time to waste. We had to put everything we had into our efforts, utilizing our training and our instincts. Mine might be a little rusty, but it was true what the experts said.
And not about riding a bike, but about the need to face the devil himself. Every firefighter of any kind desired to look the devil in the eye and crush the life out of it. That’s one reason we accepted the role and the level of danger.
More time elapsed, the air even more stagnant.
While the augmented glow indicated the sun, the direction in the sky had shifted significantly.
“Fuck,” Axe hissed as a tree suddenly fell within a few yards of where we were working.
There was no sign of the other Zullies, but that meant nothing. With the swirling smoke they could be feet away and they’d be lost. It seemed as if we weren’t making any damn headway, the line of fire closing in on us.
Another whoosh and a heavier boom vibrated the earth beneath us.
“What the hell was that?” Raptor threw out.
“Where are the backups? Where are the damn backups?” Denver screamed.
I backed away, trying to determine what the hell was going on, but unable to see anything but a goddamn wall of fire.
Feeling a presence, I barely glanced in Axe’s direction. “This isn’t good,” he gritted out.
“No, it’s not.” I sensed he had the full communication system switched off, allowing us privacy.
“Let’s get back to work.” Axe pulled me by the arm and we went back to what we were doing.
A horrific sound coming through the speaker was followed by a harsh scream.
“Jumper down. Jumper down.” The yell came from another smokejumper I’d yet to meet.
“Fuck. Pull back. We’re losing control.” Rock’s voice was clear.
His voice had started to crackle. The com systems could be compromised.
“This is nuts,” I snarled and stormed closer to the edge of the mountain. What I witnessed was perhaps one of the most horrifying things I’d seen to date. “Rock. What we’re doing isn’t effective.” While there was still a pathway, the fire was crowding in way too fast.
“Everyone, listen to me,” Rock barked, more out of breath than I’d heard him. “Stop all suppression activities. Head to the pre-identified safe zones. If you can’t get there right away, then leverage the black.”
Axe was right by my side and we stared at each other briefly. How the hell had the fire managed to get so out of hand? Leveraging the black was heading to an already blackened area.
“After that, utilize the escape routes.”
I glanced at Axe who shook his head.
We grabbed our gear, checking the map to ensure we knew where we were going. The wind continued to increase, rustling through the trees as if prepared for a raging thunderstorm, yet it never came.
The pathway would lead us to the safety zone, which was a full mile away. As we trudged through the forest, the sights and sounds became more ominous.
Wham.
Boom!
The constant noise of trees falling around us kept our feet moving. Another sound filtered off just up ahead. We stopped short as soon as we caught sight of a blanket of flames where there’d been nothing seconds before.
Embers continued to fall like shrapnel, covering everything, setting one fire after another.
We started jogging, still following the path.
Something triggered Axe. He threw his arm out.
“What?”
“Did you hear that?’
I stopped moving, even holding my breath as I listened for anything. I started to answer when a sound filtered in through the fog.
“That’s a dog. Jesus Christ. It sounds like a puppy. He’s barking.”
Fuck. Fuck! I turned in a full circle. There was too much at stake and nothing in my training had provided me with protocol on how to handle this shit.
He stared at me for a full five seconds. “I’m going. I’m going to save him.”
“We don’t have time.”
“Then help me. He could be barking to try and get someone’s attention. Maybe he’s with his people.” He didn’t wait, taking off.
He was right about that, but goddamn it, we were running out of time.
I trudged along behind him, both of us pushing our way through slop and scrubby foliage.
I constantly looked to my left, watching the direction of the flames.
If we weren’t careful, there’d be no way we’d get to the safety zone. None.
While the rush of adrenaline remained, there was also a heaviness in my chest. Shit. This was utter crap.
We scoured the forest, Axe calling for the pup.
Sudden movement and the dog came bounding from the trees, barking up a storm. Axe rushed to secure his safety, almost tripping over a fallen tree.
“Grab him and let’s go.” I moved ahead, scouring the area to ensure the pup wasn’t with anyone.
“Anybody?” he called.
There was a sudden still, a calm that filled the air with suffocation.
As if the air was being pulled away by unseen forces. I remained where I was, still holding my breath as the fog drifted into malevolent shapes. I backed away, the rush of sensations crowding my airways.
The wind had shifted yet again and with a single crack, my instinct screamed one thing.
And that one thing erupted from my lungs.
“Run!”