Page 12 of Steel

God speed.

I shoved the mask onto my face, grabbing the axe. “Break is over, gentlemen. Let’s clear the way for our reinforcements then get the hell out of here.” I glanced at Viper, giving him a nod. He’d made a damn good addition to our team and without hesitation, he moved to the initial scratch line we’d used, a temporary ditch to try to pivot the direction of the fire.

The maneuver worked.

Until it didn’t.

“Denver. Raptor. Work with Viper. Get this area contained,” I ordered. “Cut off the air supply. Axe. Stringer. Poptart and Bronco, you’re with me. We’re going to create one massive burnout.”

The decision to start another fire to put this one out was risky, but there were few options until the cargo planes rolled back around with additional mud, the retardant the best way to try to keep this from heading down the east side of the mountain toward the group of vacation homes.

The flames were rapidly spreading from tree to tree. If we weren’t careful, a crown fire would erupt, ravaging hundreds of additional acres. Our team had been called in from Missoula alongside smokejumpers from Idaho to help the jumpers from California contain the fire. Yet several thousand acres had already burned.

I’d worked side by side with all these men for years, going through hell and back to accomplish our goals. I’d be damned if we’d surrender to the beast today.

We’d all fought our own personal demons given our profession, but some fires were more damning than others.

There was no further discussion. We simply worked our asses off with the equipment we had, watching the wind as it continually changed directions. At times the strong breeze was treacherous, swirling acrid black smoke around us in a typhoon of shadows.

With every fallen limb, every downed tree, the danger only increased and no amount of training could protect us if the beast turned against us.

Hours went by, every man on the crew falling prey to exhaustion. With little sleep and unsavory rations, all we had to rely on was each other and our training. Even modern technology seemed defeated.

“Where the fuck are the planes?” Viper called out so everyone could hear.

I stopped long enough to check the coordinates. “Ten minutes out. Keep working.” With every step of headway made, it seemed as if we were falling behind by two.

Boom!

“Fuck!” Stringer was pitched to the ground, almost buried under a massive tree limb.

Without hesitation, Axe made his way there first with me on his tail. Together, we were able to push the limb off his ankle, helping him up.

“Is it broken?” I asked, taking the few seconds to pay attention to how far the fire had receded. There was something about the direction of the wind that troubled me.

“Hell, no.” Yet as soon as we let him go, he almost fell over.

Axe and I looked at each other. We’d need to get him off this mountain.

“Stay close. We’re making headway.” While my words were meant as encouragement, I wasn’t certain they were truthful.

Stringer did his best, hobbling back to where we were increasing the area between the fire and additional terrain.

Chainsaws were going, wood that would be perfect kindling tossed aside.

When the damn planes didn’t arrive on time, I backed away from the others to try to talk to the captain. “Steel to base. Cap’n, where are the planes? We have an injured man.” I took a deep breath, yanking off my mask long enough to wipe sweat from my eyes.

“Engine trouble with one. The second should be there any minute. Two more are leaving the Redding, California base now. Hold on, Steel. Information incoming.”

I backed away even further until I was in a position where the smoke was lighter. Damn it. The fire was still raging. I knewthere were hundreds of smokejumpers and wildland fighters working on this fire from several states. It always felt as if not enough was being done.

“The plane is two minutes out. Fall back as required.”

“Got it.” I ended the call, shoving the phone into my jacket and jogging back to the group. “Fall back. Incoming mud.”

As soon as the men started to grab their equipment, I was certain I heard engines overhead. We knew exactly where the target area was and moved accordingly.

We moved even further back when the plane came closer.