Page 15 of Special Agent Anastacia

“You’ve taken in too much smoke, and you’re old bones are getting pissed off with how badly you’re treating them. Go… sit for a while and rest.”

Tiger, Hank Border’s nickname for being one of the guy’s who’d rather fight than use diplomacy, pushed against Nash so he could get to his feet. “I said I was fine. Back off.”

Nash rose too, standing tall, and pushing his face into Tiger’s space. His assertive tone got through instantly. “Drop the attitude, jerkoff. I wasn’t asking. Get your ass over to the truck and ride shotgun for a while. And get some liquid in you.”

Tiger yanked off his helmet, his furious bloodshot gaze catching Nash’s. Glaring with resentment, their eyes battled for a few seconds until Hank’s stare crumpled first. Without another word, he nodded and slowly stumbled to do as he was told.

Glad to have settled that little emergency, Nash did a quick assessment and decided that now they’d have to put all their efforts into saving lives. Unfortunately, the properties they’d been trying to save from the oncoming menace would become victims of the flames. Most of his men were done and getting to those trapped folks had now become his priority.

He pushed his way over to where Chuck had half the crew chopping down vegetation, hoping to stop the flames from soaring over the top of them. “Hey Swift, I need you to closedown this section. We’re losing ground and there are twenty or so victims that need to get out of the basin toward the south.”

“What the fuck? Why haven’t they been evacuated?”

“Didn’t foresee the wind shift. The bitch’s turned a one-eighty and gave us all a shock we didn’t expect. Now those folks will be surrounded if we don’t get to them in the next little while. We need to open a pathway for them as an escape route. I need you and the guys to get to clearing the road in front of our trucks. Only way to get them out of danger is if we can drive them out.”

“Right. Got it.” Chuck whistled shrilly to the guys to pay attention, and Nash saw them all turn from their individual battles to come to where they stood. “We have to change our focus and work mainly to keep the road clear long enough for the firetrucks to get to some trapped folks. For now, they’re out primary target. Any questions?”

Nash watched as they all nodded and returned to work with a new vigor, forcing the worst of the flames back from the roadside to be able to allow their trucks a way forward. Forests burning were one thing, but people in danger meant a lot more to the tired men.

During this endeavor, the heat became almost unbearable, the smoke so thick that it made visibility almost non-existent. A call over his headphones told him that they were finally sending his requested water drops to help them clear the way.

A few minutes later, two helicopters swept overhead, ready to dump their loads and make their groundwork easier for a while before the outlying fire moved in again.

Responding to the warning to take cover, Nash swore. “It’s about time, Fuckie. I asked for this help ten minutes ago. My guys are exhausted. If we have any chance to tame this monster and save those who are trapped, you better refill and return pronto.”

A distorted chuckle over the earphones sounded. “Si, si, amigo. We’ll be back as soon as we can. You’re only about ten minutes away from where I understand the evacuation vehicle’s lineup came to a stop because of trees blocking the road. Better watch for those terrified souls who decide they might have a better chance escaping on foot.”

“Okay. Thanks. You stay safe.”

“You too, Nashville.”

Nash spoke over the radio to his crew. “Fuckie says there’s a lineup of folks evacuating in vehicles but were stopped by trees over the road. Some have probably left their rides, so stay watchful.”

Working like demons, the team pushed forward and soon heard screams in the distance. “Help. Help us.”

Arriving in time to watch both men and women struggling to move a large tree blocking the road, they stopped their fire trucks. Nash and his guys hurried forward to get everyone clear before the arriving helicopter showed up.

Nash had radioed ahead to the pilot with the exact area to dump and watched as the surrounding flames were being doused. As soon as the water settled, his hotshots began clearing away enough on each side of the road for both of his trucks to turn back in the direction they’d just come from.

A few of his men were rushing from vehicle to vehicle, yelling and encouraging folks to leave their possessions and get to their only chance of escape. He saw Chuck Ono carrying an older woman as she sobbed uncontrollably. The relief from being rescued obvious in every thank you she uttered.

Even Tiger, who’d caught his second wind, was carrying a kid over each shoulder while encouraging the mother forward.

Nash kept to one side waving his hand and yelling for everyone to move. “Come on, people. This fire won’t be held back for much longer. Get to the fire trucks. We’ll get you out of here.”Watching the end car in the lineup start burning, he knew they didn’t have a lot of time left.

“Is everyone cleared?” He yelled at the last of his crew who carried a child in one arm and a dog in the other, while the man and woman bringing up the rear each held a child and an animal in the same way. “Hey boss, guy says these pets are like family.”

“Then lets make sure they’re safe too.” Nash did one last scan of the area and could see they had no time left if they wanted to get clear. Once they had all the people safely inside the truck, the hotshots climbed on the top and crouched in whatever space they could find.

Seeing as how the bitch was closing in, he had only seconds left. Just as he turned to run to the last truck, a tiny deer banged into him blindly running to save itself.

Christ, help me!He muttered the term he’d grown up hearing his aunt use and dove to grab the terrified baby. Just pure luck had him able to wrap his big hand around the arched neck of the tiny soul and with a swing, he had it up in his arms and was running behind the slowly moving vehicle.

Chuck had watched for him. “Hurry. We need to get the hell outta here, boss. Let go of Bambi. You gotta get onboard now.”

“Not gonna happen. Here, catch.” With his last ounce of strength, Nash threw the baby upwards to have Chuck capture the struggling animal. Two seconds later, he’d climbed to the top of the truck himself. When they saw the archway of impending flames, he knew they’d have to move fast.

By now the surrounding golden inferno threatened to close off their escape route. Embers floating in every direction might have been electrifying, even thrilling if one were seeing this in a movie theater. But it spelled death to every person fleeing.

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