Chapter 22
Viper
“We’re not getting out of here.” It was the first time Axe said anything negative.
“Yeah, we will. Keep moving.” I kept my voice even although the crush of adrenaline had become a toxic drug. With twilight moving closer to darkness, the thick smoke made seeing anything even two inches from our faces impossible. Even the beams from our flashlights were almost completely useless.
But we were both guided and inspired by the line of flames. Everything was covered in soot and ash, still falling like soft pellets of rain in a spring storm. Lightning still crisscrossed the sky, constantly threatening to provide a damn downpour that had yet to occur.
The humidity was endless, the stench clogging my lungs.
“The puppy is barely breathing. I gotta give him some oxygen. Looks like he was hurt.”
I understood the need to care for the little puppy. I did. Hell, I was the one who stood in the middle of the road trying to capture a starving dog myself, but this was different.
“Alright, little man. Come on. Breathe.”
Almost immediately, Axe began to cough.
I scanned the perimeter, my thoughts turning to Grace, hoping she wasn’t paying any attention to the news. Maybe I was making too much out of our relationship, but I cared for her. There was no sense in denying it. Less than a week and every random thought was brought back or centered on her.
Maybe that’s why I’d taken so much time and felt so much pride in helping repair her home. Well, fuck. I couldn’t get her out of my mind. Maybe thinking of her was helping to keep me grounded.
Because in truth, I wasn’t entirely certain how the hell we were going to get out of this shit.
“There you go,” Axe choked out before sliding his mask back in place. With the puppy nestled under his jacket, he was placing more of himself in danger, but I wasn’t going to try to change his mind.
A single crackle from the radio and we both tensed. We’d tried on several occasions to reach the base or our team. It seemed communications had been cut off.
“This is Axe. We’re currently stuck three miles from the summit heading due west. Mayday. Mayday. Can anyone hear me?”
The only response was static.
After ten seconds, I pushed him physically. “Keep moving.”
We trudged on, doing our best to ignore that horrific hissing sounds occurring all around us.
“Tell me about Kenzie.” I chopped my way through some thick foliage, forced to take several deep breaths in the middle. The situation was becoming dire.
Even the wind appeared to be kicking up in intensity.
“Ah, man, she’s the best. Sweet but spunky. Intelligent as hell and so beautiful she makes my heart sing. Don’t you dare tell anybody about that.” He managed a laugh before coughing once again.
“As they say, what happens in Vegas.”
His chuckle died and he ripped at a fallen limb, tossing it aside with more adrenaline than anything else. We were both pissed off and getting caught on debris. “What’s her name, Grace? You like her a lot, huh?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“You’d do anything for her?”
An easy question to answer. “You bet.”
“Then don’t listen to the guys. The shit you went through, use it to your advantage.”
“What?”
“Think like the asshole. If she’s being stalked, hunt him down.”
Sage advice, our conversation cut off by a horrific crack.
Boom!
The tree had landed only a few yards away. A gust of wind kept our attention and we looked at each other.
“You know what’s going to happen. We’re going to have a fire devil. I can feel it.”
Axe’s voice was steady, but I heard the fear. A fire devil would send a wave of heat and fire across uncharred land, eating everything in its path.
We’d face the beast and, in most situations, the beast would win.
“Then let’s move. Now, soldier!”
I pushed him hard, every few steps looking over my shoulder. The goddamn hundred-pound pack felt like five hundred with every step taken. We quickened our steps even as the flames crept closer.
Smoke billowing.
Trees falling.
Lightning flashing.
And the rumble beneath our feet was fucking terrifying.
Everything became a blur as we zigged and zagged to avoid the flames sprouting in bursts depending on where the ashes fell.
“Straight ahead,” I choked out. “There’s a dead zone three hundred yards through the trees.
” Or so I hoped. Even with the GPS system, everything was becoming turned around.
Maybe from fear. Maybe from a malfunction, but no matter the direction we’d gone in, nothing had changed on the command system.
Axe had stopped mentioning that we weren’t getting any help. We’d already figured out if we wanted out of this mess alive, we’d need to do it for ourselves.
So we kept going.
I was ahead by ten paces.
Crack! Boom!
Oh, shit.
A sharp cry curdled my blood.
Spinning around, my eyes watered as I tried to focus. Axe was down, a tree landing on his legs. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
With a primal yell, I struggled to get the goddamn pack off my back.
“Just leave me,” Axe threw out, his voice full of desperation. “Take the puppy and go. Just go.”
“Fuck, no. My mama didn’t raise a quitter.” With the pack off my back, I stumbled forward, fighting for every breath. But I would not leave him here. Crouching beside him, I assessed the tree just as another shower of bright orange embers fell from the sky in a demonic dance.
The bottom of the fallen tree caught on fire.
Axe’s disgruntled cry kept me from falling into a spell. Even the puppy was whining, screaming with the same terror we both felt.
“Hold on. Get ready to crawl.” My voice was loud and clear. Or so I prayed. The first attempt to move the tree failed, the eight-inch diameter not the problem. The tree being trapped in other foliage was.
The flames licking at the bark, fuel for the beast.
I tried again as Axe clawed the muck in front of him.
The third time was the charm. With my eyes closed, I took a single deep breath.
And pulled.
As soon as the tree began to budge, I could feel my feet slipping on the debris. But I stomped my foot, struggling.
The puppy was crying.
Axe groaning.
Movement.
“Fuck,” Axe hissed. He was almost out. Almost.
As the flames rushed toward my gloved hands, I gave him all the time possible before swinging the tree to the right and dropping as I scuttled backward.
Leaning over, I took a deep breath. Now I was afraid.
“Thank you, man.” Axe clapped me on the back.
“Let’s get out of here.”
We pushed and tore through foliage, fighting every step of the way to get to what we hoped might provide us with some safety until the fire moved around us.
Just a few more steps. A few more.
We broke through a line of trees and…
The area was lush and untouched.
Grace. All I could think about was Grace.
“We’re fucked, man, and the fire is rolling this way.” Axe took several labored breaths.
We’d bought a few minutes, five maybe before the fire ravaged the area. We could keep going, but our burst of energy was likely the last. Looking up, I tried to gauge the windspeed and direction.
The flames would roll right over us.
“We have no choice but to hunker down.” My statement was emotionless although I felt plenty deep inside.
In the glow of the flashlight, I could see fear in his eyes, but he nodded only once. There was no other choice.
We had to rely on technology, the fire shelters our only possibility of staying alive.
I’d never believed in them. I’d heard horrible stories about an entire team dying fifteen years before. But they altered the technology. Or so they’d said.
But they were our one chance at survival.
“Let’s do this,” I gritted out, immediately dropping my pack on the ground and hunkering down.
“Yeah, we can. Then we’ll get the fuck of here.”
We pulled out the shelters and I checked over my shoulder. “Let’s hurry, Axe.”
He noticed and said nothing, but I could almost taste his fear. It was the sooty, salty hint of everything we’d been through.
When the shelters were arranged, I offered one last look. “Today is not a good day to die.”
“No,” he offered. “You’re right.”
One last-ditch attempt at letting people know where we were. “Base. Rock. This is Viper. We are now four point two miles from the summit. If the GPS is correct, we are southwest from the M. But I can’t be certain. We’re hunkering down. There is no other choice. See you on the flip side of hell.”
Even as we zipped ourselves in, I could still feel the breath of the dragon as he approached. He was hungry and we were fresh meat.
I thought about nothing but Grace as the fire approached, the roar drowning out everything else including my thudding heartbeat.
We would get through this.
Because we had to.