A sudden gust carried a shower of embers overhead, through the smoky sky. While some would die on the wind, others were already landing throughout the valley, already sparking new fires in the tall, dry grass. Behind me, the Hanson place was a blackened shell. Only the brick chimney stood like a headstone, marking its place. It was gone, and we’d lose more before this was over. The fire was moving like lightning through the treetops and my men were exhausted. Success or failure depended on the wind now, and on the last remaining measure of effort my crew had to give. I dumped all but the most essential gear from my pack, lightening my load.

My job was to skirt the hotspots and weave my way back into the burned-out gorge. The worst of the fire had already raged through, devouring whatever it could and leaving a swath of smoking destruction behind. The ground was red hot, thick with glowing coals. Trees stood with their trunks still smoldering. And as long as there was anything left to burn, the fire would wait, lurking in the cinders, waiting to flare up again. I gripped the straps on my pack, and moved in at a run. Snapshots of the past flickered behind my eyes; of all the years Randy and I had trained together, dinners around the kitchen table… the first time I’d taken Ember in my arms and seen desire burning in her eyes…

“Randy!... Carl…!” I called out, knowing that time was running out. I picked up my pace, my legs moving like pistons, carrying me on… driving me forward. My empty stomach churned as I swallowed soot in the back of my throat. My eyes burned, and the muscles in my strained back felt like they were tearing with every jolt. But it only drove me on. I ran faster, pushing deeper, knowing that if they were even still alive, smoke, heat and dehydration could overcome an exhausted or injured man faster than the fire itself. I shifted the weight of the water and oxygen tanks I carried and reached down deep for the strength to go on, praying they had managed to survive. Heat radiated from the scorched earth all around me, driven by the wind like a torch. I put my head down, bracing against it and forced myself onward. I called out again, praying to god I would find them.

And find them alive.

I was a quarter of a mile in when I saw them, huddled down, one body curled over the other. The sight stopped me dead in my tracks as the wind suddenly stilled around me…

I stood, my chest heaving painfully, unable to move and listening to nothing but the harsh sound of air in my lungs.

The world seemed to be holding its breath…

And slow, gentle embers drifted softly, silently from the tops of the trees, swirling like fireflies.

I flashed to Em’s face… and having to tell her that her brother was gone. It was impossible, surreal, my worst nightmare…

“Randy!” I used the last breath I had to call out, racing, stumbling over the rocky terrain. I fell to my knees beside them as Randy lifted up his face. My heart was racing in my chest, pounding painfully against my ribs. He was alive… Jesus Christ, he was still alive…

“God, Jace…” he said, “I fucking tried to get Carl out… When he couldn’t walk anymore, I carried him… But I went down and I couldn’t…”

I rolled Carl’s body off Randy’s back and looked into his ashen face. A cruel burn puckered and blackened one whole side, his eyes were glassy. I jerked the oxygen tank from my pack and put the mask over Carl’s face, buying us time. His pulse was weak, his breathing shallow. I gripped Randy by the shoulders, steadying him. “He’s alive, but just barely.” I dug my fingers into his arm. “Are you all right… can you walk?”

He nodded, taking my outstretched hand and I pulled him to his feet. “Then get out,” I ordered. “Now. As fast as you can.” I reached down and pulled Carl’s limp arm over my shoulder, using the strength in my legs to haul his body across my back. If he was going to die, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be here. He had a wife and kids at home…

“Go,” I yelled as a charred pine cracked and came crashing down, the sound splitting the air.

“I’m right behind you.”

I taped the back of Carl’s hand where I’d inserted the needle, and adjusted the flow of saline. He was still unconscious, but his color was better. The chopper was just putting down to airvac him out.

“You too,” I said to Randy, jerking my head toward the helicopter. “Your leg needs attention.”

“It’s bruised,” he replied, wrapping it with thick elastic bandaging. “But I’ll live.” We exchanged a meaningful look. “And this isn’t the best time for you to be a man down…”

“For now at least, the wind’s at a standstill and that’s the good news,” I replied. “I don’t want Carl on his own… if things go wrong…”

Randy let out his breath and nodded. He understood as well as I did; firefighters are family. We don’t work alone, and we don’t die alone. Neither one of us would leave Carl or his family to face this alone…

“You’ll tell Ember… that I’m fine, and that I owe you one helluva lot? She’ll be terrified until she knows for sure.”

I nodded, taking the hand he held out to me and pulling him to my chest. “I’m going to find her, as soon as you two are off the ground.”

“I want supplies dropped for the crew, Frank. Food, water. And if luck holds long enough, I need you to land a couple of miles east of the front and pick me up. I’ll be hitching a ride.”

“Copy that, Jace,” he replied. “I’ll drop another load of retardant on the way. With the wind down, that’s two we’ve managed so far. For now, it’s looking better.” The radio squelched for a moment. “Fucking news about Carl…”

I swallowed hard and hit my button again. “He’s critical but stable.” I took an unsteady breath and coughed, emptying my lungs and wiping the black stain from my mouth. “I need to check progress from the air… and I want you to swing me back over the cabin at Cradle Creek, just to make sure it’s in the clear.”

“Will do,” he replied. “And it’ll give you a chance to catch your breath, Jason. A fucking well-deserved chance to catch your breath.”