Page 10 of Burning Escape

Once she rigged the strap to let herself down, she called up to him, “Go ahead.”

“You checked all?—”

“Orion! Cut me loose. Those guys on the ATVs are coming.”

Fine. He cut the lines. She yelped as she dropped free of the chute. But the strap held her as it was meant to. She smoothly belayed herself to the ground.

Orion glanced out. He could hear the four-wheelers, but with the slight ridge blocking his view, he couldn’t see anything. They needed to move quickly. He climbed down and stowed his knife in his cargo pants. Tori was bundling the strap when suddenly she was on the ground.

“What happened?”

She grunted. “Nothing. The dumb strap was caught around my foot, and I tripped.” She stood, a grim look on her face. She took a step and almost fell over again.

Orion caught her by the arm. “Are you okay?”

Her eyes closed a second, lips shut tight. “I twisted my ankle.”

“Let me take a?—”

“It’s fine.” She took another step but needed the tree trunk to support herself.

“Stop fighting me and let me help,” Orion said.

“I don’t?—”

One of the ATVs crested the ridge.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake.” Orion scooped her up and ran.

“What are you doing?” she shouted, wriggling as if she was trying to get away from him.

“Just hold on!”

She actually did what he asked and tightened her arms around his neck. Which was good since he could hardly focus on putting one foot in front of the other while navigating the slight incline, avoiding trees, and holding her.

The ATV engines grew louder, though Orion still couldn’t see them yet.

“They’re getting closer. We’re sitting ducks out here.”

She was right. With the whole landscape in black and white, their bright yellow shirts stood out.

“We need to blend in.” Orion set her gently on the ground and rubbed soot and ash on his shirt. She followed his example. Her shirt was soon a charcoal gray. Once they were reasonably covered, he stood over her, ready to pick her up again.

“Seriously, Orion, I can take care of myself.” She spoke through gritted teeth and tried to get up.

Too bad. He helped her stand and then swept her up into his arms.

The movies made it look a lot easier.

She pushed against him. “I’ll be okay. You can put me do?—”

“No time. You’re hurt. We need to get away.” It was all the breath he had to explain. He ran, dodging black trunks, skirting around rocks and fallen trees. If he could reach the next ridge up ahead where the land dropped away, maybe they could find a place to hide.

“Hey! Here’s one of their parachutes!” a deep male voice yelled, his voice echoing through the burnt forest.

They were close.

“Tracks go this way,” another called out.

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