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“Fuck,” I hissed, turning in a full circle, forced to yank my shirt over my mouth, the acrid smoke burning my eyes.
“We can’t do this,” Colt huffed, doubling over in front of me, his knees slamming into the ground.
I was angry, so livid I couldn’t see straight. Nothing mattered but saving her. In a moment of insanity, I yanked him up by the collar, smashing him against a tree. A hard crack sounded off within a few feet, the entire top of a tree crashing onto the forest bed.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, man?” Colt snarled, doing his best to shove me aside.
“We’re not leaving without her!”
“You’re fuckin’ nuts. Do you want to die out here?”
Hissing, I reared back, not thinking twice about issuing a savage punch to his jaw.
His head flew to the side, the only sound he made harsh wheezing.
“Stop the shit!” Ricardo bellowed.
Rage was the only thing I could concentrate on, tossing him aside with enough force he was pitched several feet away. Then I headed straight for the flames, refusing to stop.
“You’re crazy!” Ricardo roared from behind.
The next thing I knew, I’d been tackled to the ground, two men I’d considered friends jerking my arms behind my back.
“Get off me!” My voice was no longer recognizable, fury and smoke deepening my roar.
“Not a chance, buddy. You’re not going to die out here.” Colt was panting, forced to put the full weight of his body on mine, pinning me down with one of his fancy wrestling moves. I was bigger than him, outweighing him by a solid fifty pounds, but even the adrenaline rush did nothing against his trained hold.
I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice mostly drowned out by the continuous crackling sounds, booms as trees gave up their fight for life, the viciousness of the fire winning.
“Goddamn it. Riggs thinks he’s God,” Ricardo snarled. “Don’t do it.”
“We can’t save her,” Colt said. “We can’t. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Let me go. Just fucking let me go.” After a struggling with him, he finally slid off, jerking to his feet. I remained where I was, gasping for air as the pain of losing her tore through me.
“The entire top of the mountain is on fire, Riggs. Listen to me. We did everything we could do,” Ricardo implored, the wild look in his eyes exactly the way we all felt.
I scrambled to my feet, glaring at the blue hue of the encroaching flames. As I backed away, I noticed Houston was still mesmerized by the fire. When he slowly turned his head, for the first time since I’d known him there were tears in his eyes.
Riggs turned and stared as the fire consumed everything in its path, flames licking up to the heavens. As I lifted my fist toward the sky, the others did the same. Together in life. Together in death.
Forever.
It was the first and last day I’d shed a tear. Then I’d shut down my emotions, refusing to give a shit about anyone or anything.
If only six kids and one little lady hadn’t been so eager to take risks, things might have worked out differently.
At least the Marines kept me from putting a bullet in my brain for a few years. Fuck. There was one reason the nightmares had started all over again.
Lily.
“Christ,” I muttered. I’d been out here a full day already. Maybe I was getting too old for this shit, the cold numbing my brain. While there no cell phone reception on the mountain, that didn’t prevent me from reading the text Lily had sent. At least we’d been able to exchange numbers. She was using a burner phone, which kept my anxiety high.
Don’t die on me, cowboy.
I didn’t intend on it.
“Come on, Sam. We got some work to do.”
