But we weren’t a mile down the road before I slammed on the brakes and the truck skidded, shuddering hard as the engine died. Smoke billowed into the sky, over the tall, mountainous ridge ahead. Even from a distance, the heat was unmistakable… and when brilliant flames reached up and licked the sky, I knew.

“Oh… my… g…” Ember gasped, holding on as I wrenched the truck around. “That’s the road out of here… Jason, it’s the only road out…”

“Not anymore,” I shot back. I picked up my fire jacket from the floor of the truck and put it on her, zipping it to her chin. I reached across her and pulled the shoulder harness across her body. “Put this on, keep it on and pull it as tight as you can…” For a fleeting second, she seemed so tiny, so fragile…

“There’s no other choice,” I said, checking the strap, snugging it on her hip. “We’ll stay on the road for as long as we can, but after that, we’ll just have to plow one of our own. This rig’s strong, but it’s gonna get pretty rough. You hold on,” I demanded, pulling my helmet down over her wild, coppery hair, “and so help me god, I promise I’ll get you out.”

I kissed her pale lips and floored the gas, racing back over the road, back into the valley. The rising winds fanned the fire, but pulled the smoke up in thick, black plumes. The fires were visible and raged along the length of the valley’s eastern border. All that was left to burn now was the southernmost end… and Cradle Creek. “I should have gotten you the hell out of here days ago,” I growled.

“This is where I belong, Jason.” She gripped my thigh with strong fingers. “I’m your woman and I belong beside you,” she said over the rising wail of the wind outside. “I’m not a child anymore. And I’m not afraid. I’m never losing anyone or anything I love to fear ever again. I trust you…

“Whatever happens now, all that matters is that we’re facing it together…”

“Fucking useless…” I tossed the radio onto the dashboard and focused on the wheel. Com was down… there wasn’t any way now to find out if anyone was still alive. There was nothing but static on every channel… and no way to know if we had support from the air. I’d heard Frank say my name, but nothing more. Winds were sweeping down the center of the valley, carrying burning debris along with them. Behind us, it looked like the whole valley was on fire… And somewhere… somewhere in all this… I’d failed to find Reilly; our one last link to the life we had before…

I drove through the swirling smoke on instinct, following the contours of the land from memory, trying to find level ground. But I didn’t dare slow down, and the truck jolted and bucked viciously. Spot fires burned and swirled in the distance on either side. And the fast-approaching horizon glowed high; ominous and malignant…

Ember’s hand tightened in mine. “It’s all around us…” she said, looking across me out my window, spinning in her seat to look behind us, “...there sure as hell isn’t any going back.” She turned to watch the horizon ahead grow brighter and brighter by the minute. “But how can we keep going forward? We can’t possibly drive into that…”

“Not into it, sweetheart…” I answered, pulling her into the shelter of my arm. “We‘ve got to outrace it. The crew should be on the other side, on land that’s already burned off. We’ve got to head parallel to the front line and get on the other side of it before we’re cut off from the men completely.” I let off the gas long enough to kiss her, taking her lips with passion and need, desire honed to a desperate edge. I took her chin in my hand and saw strength reflected in her eyes.

“Keep your head down on my lap,” I said, loosening her shoulder strap. “The rig is built to keep most of the smoke out, but use the oxygen mask if you need to.” I was running through the orders fast. “There’s a chance… a small chance we’ll get caught in the flames, but for seconds only. Keep your eyes shut and stay covered.” I pulled my oversized fire jacket around her legs. “We have to do this now, right now while the wind’s still blowing in our favor.”

“But what about you…?” she argued, looking up at me, her dark eyes warm, radiant. “I’m wearing all your gear. You don’t have anything keeping you safe…”

I smiled as I hit the gas, gritting my teeth in determination and leaning into the wheel to hold us steady. I wrapped one arm around Ember and our baby.

“The hell I don’t.”

We had less than a quarter of a mile to go and the fire line was moving fast. It was hot and getting hotter by the second. Winds whipped all around us and I pushed the engine harder. It was a contest now, a test of wits and will. In a few more minutes, we’d be directly in its path, the entire left side of the truck exposed. It was a race now, all about speed. And we had to make it out the other side before the heat grew too intense, before the fire could overtake us. My heart twisted in my chest at the thought and my stomach churned, knowing that the fire was headed straight for Ember’s cabin. There was no reason to tell her… I didn’t have the heart.

“Boy or girl?” I shouted as we tore across the valley floor, determined to keep her focused, to fend off fear. The truck lurched and I held her tight against me.

“...a boy…” she said, “named Ray… for my dad.”

“What does your dress look like? I want you to tell me exactly what I’ll see, when you’re walking down the aisle…”

“No aisle,” she shouted back. “The wedding’s in the glade… behind the cabin. White silk,” she called over the screaming engine. “And a cape lined with velvet… God, Jason, it’s so hot, too hot…”

“Just a few more minutes, baby,” I cried out. “Just a few more minutes and we’ll be out of it. Keep your eyes shut… Tell me how the glade looks. Is it cold or sunny and warm?”

“...snow,” she said, as I felt the skin on my arm start to blister. Sweat was pouring down my neck, soaking my shirt. Flames licked all too close to the side of the truck as we raced. “A field of pure white snow and the trees heavy and shining with ice…

“God… Jason… I love you…”

I closed my eyes and imagined her; the perfect winter bride. Her copper hair, her deep brown eyes, the only warm spot of brilliant color in a world blanketed in icy white. “And I love you,” I said, holding her to me, leaning on the gas and using my body to shield her, “now and forever.”

Let the fire burn, I thought to myself. It destroys simply because it can… and eventually it will destroy even itself. It burns with intent and cruelty, with utter disregard. It’s savage, intelligent… relentless.

But unlike us, it has nothing to fight for.

“That’s why we’re going to make it, sweetheart,” I said through gritted teeth. “Because no matter what else happens in the end,

“Love always wins.”