Jules took cover while the chopper lifted off, the air disruption from the rotors creating a windstorm of dirt and ash that made seeing anything impossible for several minutes. She’d sent Kevin back before the chopper came in, and once the air cleared enough for her to get her bearings, she retraced her steps, running back to join up with her crew.

She made it close to a half mile before a roar moved through the trees and suddenly the canopy above her was completely engulfed in flames, a shower of burning debris falling down upon the ground and her.

Stopping cold in her tracks, she turned one-hundred-eighty degrees and darted back, spinning around to find another way to return to her crew, but everything around her was completely engulfed in flames. The insupportable heat singed her skin even beneath the Kevlar suit and a fire devil roared its ugly head, coming straight at her.

Apparently, the wind produced by the chopper had fueled the fire into a raging, furious beast threatening to consume her whole. A fire devil could be a beautiful thing to watch – from far away. Now the broad body with the head flame shooting hundreds of yards into the sky seemed to go straight after her and it gripped her body with fear instead of awe. It was outright horrendous.

She couldn’t see clear ground through any of the walls of flames and racked her brain to remember where she might find a natural fireline or how she could make it through the blazing inferno into the black. But nothing came to mind. She was trapped in this smoldering hell with no way out.

Instinct kicked in and despite the fruitlessness of her efforts she swung her Pulaski like a maniac, hacking away at the brush from the center of the clearing she stood on, hoping it would provide a small fire break to keep her safe during the next few hours.

The oppressive heat dried up her throat and she grabbed for her flask. Empty. Goddamn! The sound of the burning forest deafened her. Creaking, thundering, exploding. A twig hurled at her and she ducked just in time for it to fly across her head, but she hadn’t seen a bullet-like ember coming her way.

“Ouch!” she cried out. The ember scratched her cheek, leaving a burning mark. She raised her gloved finger, even though that was a stupid thing to do, and gave a deep sigh when there was no blood.

The roaring, blustering, screaming loomed nearer and her eyes jumped from side to side, looking for a way out. The fire danced around, giving clear view for just an instant to a huge overhanging rock. The decision was made in a split-second. “God help me,” she sent a prayer to the sky and ran full force straight into the red and golden beast. Flames licked at her Kevlar suit and singed the few inches of exposed skin on her face. But she didn’t care. She ran as fast as her feet would carry her, until she reached the other side.

She didn’t have long. A minute at most. But she’d practiced this thousands of times. Now would be the first time she had to use it in real life. The last resort when there was nothing else left to do, but hide and wait. A hotshot’s worst nightmare.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she’d known this day would come. She’d just not known how scared of dying she would actually be. Jules ripped the shake and bake tent from her back and unfolded it in ten seconds flat before she rolled into the small barren cave beneath the overhanging rock, just big enough for her. She wrapped herself into the thin foils of heat-reflecting material, clamping down on the edges of the tent, to make sure heat, fire and smoke couldn’t get inside.

She scratched a cavity for her face, and buried mouth and nose deep into the ground to breathe the cooler air. One last time, she tried to radio her location, but all she got was static. As she glanced at it in the semi-darkness of her shelter, she noticed the radio had partly melted.

By now it was late afternoon, the witching hour as the hotshots called. If disaster was going to happen, it would usually happen at this time of day. Jules cowered beneath the tent, flattening her body against the ground, resisting the urge to peek out of her shelter to see how close the fire was. The roaring indicated very close – too close to safely lift even a tiny spot of foil from the ground and risk smoke and heat coming inside.

There was nothing else to do but lay down and wait. And think. She tried to block out the sounds of a forest burning all around her, tried to forget the oppressive heat, and the fear of never seeing Tyler again. Tyler!

Chunks of debris crackled to the ground, bouncing off in all directions, a few of them hitting her shelter. She shifted her shoulders, keeping her elbows and knees planted on the ground and edges of the shelter, trying to knock off anything that might still be burning. Then the roaring increased again, entire trees bursting into flames with a giant whoosh. A sound that would haunt her memories for the rest of her days. In the open air, it was an alarming sound, but inside her tent, it was heart-stopping.

Sweat poured down into her eyes and breathing became difficult. Jules knew without a shadow of a doubt that this wall of flames was going to last much longer and be much hotter. Her mind turned to Tyler. What she wouldn’t give to be in his arms right now.

More debris rained down, hitting hard on the ground outside her little cave. One piece rebounded, hitting her in the head and Jules finally gave voice to her fear, screaming at the top of her lungs. Not that anyone would be able to hear her. But she did not want to die. She wanted to live. To explore this thing she and Tyler had going on.

The minutes ticked by and Tyler consumed her every thought. The emotion became so strong, it constricted her heart and she realized, that she loved him. Truly, madly, wildly loved him.

She’d never felt it before, but now that she knew…she couldn’t think of anything else but surviving this catastrophe and getting back to him to tell him how much. She tucked her head into the cavity, gritting her teeth with tears running down her face, as she lay alone facing the force of nature.

I love you Tyler. I love you so much!