Page 108 of Smoke and Fire
BASTIAN
The beast had finally arrived.
To the west, fire billowed plumes of smoke bigger than my eye could see. The roar of the fire came from not far away, darkening the world like a hellscape after all.
Heat and ash and wind flailed around us as we extinguished the new burn to stop the advancing fire from tearing through Adventura.
Grass and leaves curled in on themselves under the flames. Smoke stung my eyes as I walked the burning line. The lake would create a natural barrier to protect Adventura, not to mention the dirt roads and the gravel parking lot. But the trees could still ignite and spread and stop all our hard work.
So we constantly worked.
For the rest of the day, I strode around Adventura, shovel in hand, digging at the ground as I went. Embers flared in plumes of orange and red as the winds raged. Fire swirled. We dumped water, called commands, and tried to keep energy high.
All around us: smoke, smoke, smoke. All in my thoughts: Dahlia, Dahlia, Dahlia. This hungry beast that wanted to kill us had nothing on my Dahlia. Her lips pressed to mine burned hotter than the fires of Hades.
I wanted nothing more than to get back to her. No more flailing out here to make a point. From here on out, I would turn over a new leaf. New Bastian. New life. Time to embrace help, change, and the inevitable.
Dahlia was mine.
PEOPLE LINEDthe streets of Pineville.
Fire camp had been yanked back, repositioned in case a flank of fire left it in cinders. The mini-city took up the parking lot of the grocery store with their vans, tents, equipment, and supplies. It had doubled in size over the past twenty four hours, no doubt with new resources to fight the inferno.
I leaned my forehead against the cool windowpane and dreamed of popsicles. Ultra-cold ice cream to soothe my throat. Cold coffee. Ribs. Steak. Split potatoes dripping butter. Anything with so many calories they couldn't be counted. After twenty-four hours on the line, my stomach was so hungry it would gnaw itself open.
My eyes fluttered open and drifted to the north. Despite the darkness, I could see smoke lazily trailing heavenward. It didn't charge into the atmosphere like a bully anymore. Instead, it floated gently, barely visible in the building morning light.
Almost eighteen hours had passed since Dahlia left Adventura, but it felt like decades. My body creaked like an old man. I'd hiked through the forest, dug line, protected the summer camp, watched that earth, dug some more, poured an unholy amount of water over burning ground, and, somehow, arrived back here.
Winds gave way to calmer skies around 8:00 last evening. With the onset of darkness and no harried gusts, the fire bedded down a bit. The still, quiet air felt heavy and odd in the wake of so much caterwauling.
A storm had blown in on the edge of the wind. It dropped little more than a drizzle, but the humidity helped calm the inferno. Thanks to the lake, manual labor, and a lot of line, Adventura and the forest around it had been saved. Except for a few areas where we fought the new fire start, very little burn marks would remain.
Brightness from the town startled me back to life.
I glanced over to see the Frolicking Moose illuminated with beckoning, buttery light down the road. My watch said 5:30. Behind the mountains, the dawning sun turned the edges of the sky to a rosy pink.
All day we'd bunk at the station until we were called out again for a night shift to keep a hold of the line at the highway. The fire would likely try to spread. Embers would dance to other spots. But such a wild storm wasn't present in the forecast tonight which gave us a big advantage.
No, this monster was just about to die out. It had charged hard, but now it lay down.
Time for us to win.
Several text messages from Dahlia downloaded to my phone after we left the canyon, all of them spaced about an hour apart, like she used a timer.
Her steady attention slipped through me like hot chocolate on a cold winter day.
Dahlia:Thinking of you.
Dahlia:Winds are still pretty fierce. Evacuations have cleared most people out of the north side of Pineville. Others are leaving the south side and flocking to the reservoir for camping. Since we're next to the lake, we're taking people who have RVs or need a place to crash. Is this real life? It seems so strange.
Dahlia:Is Pineville the coolest community ever? I vote yes.
Dahlia:I had to stop checking Tweetastic for updates because the pictures of the fire were so ugly. How can a fire be so big? Mother Nature is a witch. Hoping you're safe. Can't stop thinking about that kiss.
Several other video messages followed, but I hadn't watched them yet. I'd save those for later, when I’d be back on the fire and a quick glimpse of her would fuel me.
The wildland truck slowed to a stop outside the fire station. All our weary bodies dragged themselves out of their seats and outside to the parking lot. My muscles had stiffened. Salt caked my skin and shook free as I made it down the steps. The only thing that propelled me forward was the thought of Dahlia so close.
