Page 25 of The Hotshot's Prize
I snap back into gear. “Go for one.”
“Copy. Igniting now.”
Within minutes, a thin line of flame crawls along the forest floor, eating its way down the slope with deceptive grace. The smell thickens, smoke lifting lazily into the still air.
We move fast, fanning out, monitoring the spread. Everything’s going smooth, at first. The fire behaves. The ridge is holding.
But twenty minutes in, the wind shifts, becoming faster. More violent. Wrong.
A sharp downdraft barrels down the slope like a fist.
“Shit!” someone yells behind me.
I look up just in time to see a flurry of embers vault over the control line like firecrackers.
“Spot fire!”
I spin toward the radio. “We’ve got jump—west flank, about thirty yards out!”
The flames leap like they’ve been waiting for this moment. Dry brush lights up like paper.
“Go defensive! Pull crews back to safety zones. Now!”
Panic hums under my skin, but I push it down and move. I’m shouting directions, scanning for the closest crew, checking terrain—
Goddamn this slope—
Then I hear it.
“Zack!”
I turn just in time to see Carter, the team’s rookie, running toward a danger zone. Just as I try to yell for him to get his ass back, he slips and tumbles to the ground. He tries to get up, but his leg is caught on something. Maybe a root, maybe his own gear.
The fire’s faster than he is.
“Carter, move!” I bark.
“I can’t—I’m stuck!”
Without thinking, I’m on him. I shove through the smoke, leap the scorched brush, and reach for his pack harness.
“Don’t move. I’ve got you.”
Flames crackle way too close, my shirt sticking to my back with sweat. The air’s so hot it hurts to breathe. But I yank, and with a curse and a twist, Carter comes loose.
“Go! Get to the ridge—go now!”
He stumbles up the trail and I follow…or try to.
A burning branch snaps in front of me like a goddamn guillotine. I reel back. Another downdraft slams down the slope, hard enough to make me stagger.
The fire’s everywhere.
My escape route’s gone. My radio’s dead. The flames are circling, hunting for oxygen, and I’m the nearest thing breathing.
And suddenly I can’t hear anything but my own heartbeat.
Loud. Unforgiving.
