Chapter 49
The truth hit Luke.
The only reason Travis would be out in this forest was if he’d set this fire himself—and then gotten caught in it.
He’d contemplate that later. Right now, there was no time to waste.
Instead, he quickly observed the man. He appeared to be trapped and unable to run.
One of his legs was pinned under a fallen trunk, twisted at an angle that turned Luke’s stomach. Travis had both hands locked around it, trying and failing to drag it free. Blood darkened the denim where the bark had torn through. Every time he pulled, his face went white, and the leg didn’t budge.
He was mere seconds from dying out here.
Travis spotted them and something moved across his face. Hope—then anger.
“Go on!” he yelled. “Leave me. It’s what I’d do.”
The weight of that statement settled into Luke’s mind.
They’d already lost one man to the flames. If Luke could help it, he wouldn’t leave another to suffer.
After all, he’d just told Liam that violence was never the answer. He had to live out those words now.
Luke and Caleb crossed the strip, put both hands under the fallen trunk, and heaved.
The wood lifted, groaning.
But Travis still couldn’t move, and the flames were growing closer.
They tried again.
This time, Travis dragged his leg from under the tree with a cry he couldn’t bite back.
Luke got a shoulder up under the man’s arm and took the bad side. Travis went rigid, a curse hissing through his teeth, but he didn’t fight the help. He knew he had no other choice if he wanted to survive this.
“You’re going to need to get that looked at, Luke said. “Then you’re going to need a lawyer.”
“Don’t see why you’re bothering to help me.” Travis’s breath came in shreds as his chest heaved. “Why save me just to send me to prison?”
“I’m not doing it for you.” Luke turned them toward the quickly closing exit ahead of them. “I’m doing it because of what I’d have to live with if I didn’t.”
He got Travis moving. The man’s weight dragged at every step, his good leg doing the work of two, the bad one swinging useless between them. Behind them the fire pulled the walls in tighter, its roar swallowing any conversation.
Sweat poured down his skin, and he realized: They might not make it out of this alive.
Please, Lord. You helped Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego through the flames. Help us also. I’m begging you.
Twenty yards, Luke told himself. They just needed to make it twenty yards and then maybe the flames would be behind them.
He helped Travis forward, step by step, wishing they could move faster.
Jenna remained at his other side, her eyes wide with worry and soot covering her face.
“We’re almost there!” Caleb yelled.
Luke nodded and lumbered forward.
They’d be out of these flames now if they hadn’t stumbled across Travis.
But bringing the man with them was the right choice. Luke just prayed the choice didn’t get them all killed.
Freya barked ahead of them, as if urging them to move faster.
They continued forward.
Just past the ridge, the trees broke open.
They’d done it.
They’d made it through the worst of the flames!
He paused for just a moment to take in their surroundings.
They’d made it to the other side of the fire road, he realized.
It stretched below him. The fire had already passed over it.
Emergency vehicles were there waiting.
His heart leapt with joy and relief.
Then people ran to meet them. Hands reached for them. Voices sounded over the fire.
He glanced behind them.
The strip that had allowed them an escape route was now closed. The corridor they’d come through was gone—just a wall of flame now, solid, end to end, where the four of them had stood.
A few seconds slower, and the fire would have had them all.