From The Ashes (Life After War) (50 page)

“
If you do that again, I’ll be banished for taking what you’re offering!” He stepped back, hard enough to ache. “Be careful playing games with grown men.”

Far from intimidated, Crista followed him, sliding into his personal space as if they were a couple. “Promises, promises…”

Understanding fell in a lot ways, but Jeff wasn’t as blindsided as she wanted him to be. He leaned closer and disappointed everyone watching by giving her a harmless hug.

Except that it wasn’t harmless. He throbbed against her hip, and her soft laugher filled his mind.
She was sexy!

“
It’s about time you noticed me.” Crista placed a lingering kiss to his cheek, and felt him fight not to turn his head. “You should ask me out sometime.”

She slowly moved out of his tense embrace, flipping her hair again. “I’ll wait a week or so, let you think.”

Jeff remembered how to breathe. “And then?”

Crista waved a hand at the other males who were eyeing her wild hair like it was water. “One of them will, and I’ll say yes.”

She sauntered back toward the other cackling rookies, and Jeff looked toward Neil in desperation. “What the hell do I do now?”

The trooper allowed himself to chuckle. “Hold on for the ride, I’d guess. She’s a wild one.”

Jeff thought about it, and started to grin. “She does have the three things I need–brown hair, courage, and great legs.”

Neil’s laughter echoed. Life was improving for so many of them that the trooper couldn’t help but feel a little hopeful. The mistakes he’d made wouldn’t ever be forgotten, but in time, he wouldn’t hate himself as much.

Not that it mattered. What did was how Becky felt. Until she was okay, forgiveness was too far away to even really consider.

3

“
All right, folks. Five minutes.” Radios crackled with Kevin’s calm voice. “We leave in five.”

Danger!

Unease rippled through Angela, strong enough to make the shield flash into solid red around the packing camp.

“
What is it?” Kyle was her personal shadow today, and he instantly feared the intense concern coming from her frozen form.

Angela didn’t answer, concentrating. What had Nature thrown at them this time?

The shield going up so fast in broad daylight drew attention, and Adrian followed his instinct.

“
Everyone get to your vehicles. Mitch! Get the check-off going. Now.”

Pleased that their new radio man didn’t know how to do it yet, Mitch hurried that way, dragging Matt along when he would have stayed with Doug. “You ain’t no Eagle yet, boy. Till you are, you’re with me!”

Matt didn’t struggle, but inside, he burned. He’d much rather be riding with Cynthia. She was wonderful.

Angela shuddered as the images came into clarity.

Fire was roaring through the dry valley in a merciless path of death and devastation, zeroing in on human targets. It was finding them in basements and cellars, in malls and sewers–flushing the battered refugees deeper into the darkness in an effort to escape the raging wildfire that was moving southwest as fast as it could spread on the stiff wind.

Brady and Adrian came to her side, but Angela was trapped in a mental horror. It was everywhere!

Adrian knew it had to be bad and made a motion the Eagles had hoped never to see again once they’d finished that week of classes and drills. “
Under attack, training lesson F.”

All of their hearts picked up, and the men began spreading the word and preparing themselves. Lesson F was where the camp was fleeing for their lives. Half of the Eagles would keep the herd together, while the rest would try to eliminate an unknown threat.

Adrian heard the count-off start and went to his semi, sure Brady would bring Angela. She was still searching through doors and growing steadily paler. When she let the shield come down, there was going to be panic. What to do first?

Prepare them for it.

Adrian hit the button on his mic. “We have a problem folks, but we’re not sure what it is or what direction it’s coming from. Once the count-off finishes, we’ll lower the shield. I expect we’ll be running a bit from there, so listen to those radios!”

Now, camp members were fleeing toward their assigned vehicles instead of the usual straggling they did on late travel days. Adrian struggled with himself as he waited for everyone to get in and be accounted for.

While they did the count-off, the dogs began to growl restlessly in their cages, the rabbits huddled into a corner of their hutch–even the more antisocial of the litters–and their few birds cawed and pecked at their pens in frustration.

Seeing people taking the time to gather tents, Adrian interrupted the count. “Leave everything! Get in your vehicles now!”

Understanding Adrian wasn’t going to wait, those few hurried toward the convoy, leaving their belongings.

Outside the shield, were other noises–ones that didn’t match the dimness of their enclosed camp–pops and cracks that reminded them all the fight for survival wasn’t over yet.

As the call came–“All here, A–Man.”–Angela let him know what it was they were about to face.

“
Fire!”

Angela was at a level of terror that Adrian had never heard from her. He recognized it as a personal ghost, carefully storing the information as he climbed into his seat, starting the engine. If they survived, he would help her with that.

“
Bring it down.”

Trembling in the seat next to Brady, Angela forced the panic to ease, to release their shield. It dropped like a stone and sent raw panic through the herd.

They immediately stampeded.

4

The fire was everywhere–on the ground, devouring the grass, and licking up molding trees that hadn’t seen any rain in weeks. They wilted under the onslaught, crashing to the ground in showers of bright coals that immediately started new streams of winding flames.

As if spotting the fleeing convoy, the front wall of the wildfire shifted, racing straight toward Safe Haven. The fire already had them surrounded on three sides, and the Eagles were horrified to find it less than five hundred feet away in some places. Would the shield have held?

The fire roared as it swept up the trees, and the sound of exploding branches and debris rattled through the smoky air.

The inferno raging in their rearview mirrors was merciless, overtaking the area they’d just evacuated and consuming everything they’d left behind in their haste. It came from the sides as well as the rear, squeezing them together as they fled along the rollers and debris.

The Eagles on the outer perimeter had the worst of it, trying to avoid the flames while keeping the fleeing vehicles together. Seeing familiar faces waving people in the right direction helped, but it didn’t keep those men from inhaling a lot of the smoke as they sped along the outside of the lines of cars and trucks.

“
Drive into the creek!” Adrian blasted out the order in that irrefutable timbre of command.

It was the only place to go, and the Eagles began escorting vehicles into the lightly running creek carefully, trying to count. Through the smoke and screams, the flames continued to advance.

Adrian’s next shout over the radio drew a little more attention from the stampeding herd. “Get in the creek! Stay together!”

Cars and trucks circled toward the water, and Adrian coughed as he watched. He and his shadows would be the last ones in.

Vehicles streamed by, some panicked and flying along the grassy ruts, but many had fallen into a sloppy version of their travel line, doing what he’d tried to teach them. Adrian hit the button again.

“
The water’s gonna be cold, expect it. Tell the kids, and get the animals up off of floorboards. I don’t want one drowned dog!” he snapped, distracting them, and was satisfied to see even the panicking cars start slowing and falling into line.

“
If you’re in a truck, get out of it. The flames might spread to the top from the wind. Keep your vehicle at least fifteen feet from any trucks as our fire crew comes through.”

“
I’m letting the animals out.” The vet wasn’t leaving them to burn.

“
Yes, once we’re all in the water, or we’ll run them over.”

“
Copy.”

It sounded like bacon frying in a giant skillet, and the pressure from the explosions made Adrian's head pound in time with the pops and flashes of heat that surrounded him.

Unlike the total chaos of the bat attack, Safe Haven had enough thinking time before the fire reached them to be able to handle this crisis with more care.

Less than ten minutes after the shield went up, every vehicle was sitting in the creek, windows up, fans off, with the edges of their coats and shirts over their mouths to avoid the smoke.

The wall of flames reached the creek minutes after the camp, and Safe Haven held its breath–literally in some cases–as smoke began to pour over the convoy. Sitting in water, the vehicles were nearly inaccessible to the smoke from the bottom, the liquid preventing the toxic fumes from getting through entry sources that were flooded. The sound of people coughing still became almost as loud as the crackling hunger of the wildfire.

The sense was one of being trapped by both fire and water. Adrian was sure to keep his calming tenor flowing over the radio. “Someone kill those smoke detectors. Let the animals go by. Don’t try to touch them. They’re as upset as you are, and they’ll bite. The Eagles are coming to stand guard around the vehicles now. Keep an eye on them and be ready to give them a break from the smoke. Don’t be afraid to take a ten minute shift in their place. We won’t leave here until everyone has been accounted for.”

It was all ear candy, and most of them knew it, but the desired effect was calm through the fear. Knowing the fire or water could take them at any time was terrifying, but having Adrian and his army surrounding the convoy with protection kept them together.

The fire, roaring along the dry grass, had them trapped on both sides as it leapt from low-hanging branches to dusty debris near the narrow end of the channel. If not for the water, Safe Haven would have cooked.

5

An hour later, the wide creek was full of animals and people. The camp was surrounded by guards and barking dogs that had the Eagles maintaining tight grips on the ones who wanted to charge their unexpected guests.

Adrian eyed the fire-line–the charred edge that came all the way to the very bank of the creek. Nature had tried to kill them all with one brutal blow, and even the animals they were sharing this wet haven with seemed to know it. They were lingering despite the humans and machines moving restlessly around the stopped convoy.

“
We didn’t lose anyone, Boss. All accounted for.”

Adrian’s relieved expression soothed the aching in Kyle’s heart at being away from Jennifer. “We’ll have camp set up in an hour.”

Adrian rejected that. “Keep us set to roll. Ash is hard on the lungs. We have to get ahead of the line.”

“
What if the fire’s still burning? We can’t spare the water once we leave the creek.”

Nearby, Ray was leading his fire-team against the remaining flames on the opposite bank, long hoses suctioning up reeking, rushing water. The stocky football coach had the volunteer crew working together and was making progress.

“
We only camp near water from now on. Until the rain comes back, we’ll have to be on guard. This could happen again–while we’re sleeping.”

Kyle scowled at the thought. “When does this shit go away and leave us in peace?”

Adrian swung toward the kids’ campers that were also being wetted with creek water. “It doesn’t. We have to survive it.”

Nearby, Zack had an arm around his youngest son’s shaking shoulders, offering what comfort he could. His wife had died in a fire after the War, and the boy wasn’t handling the memories very well. All over the creek-bound convoy, the same thing was happening–people reaching out to each other–and it gave Adrian hope. Nature would try to eliminate them, but she couldn’t succeed.

He moved to where Angela was standing, Brady not far away. “Should she be doing that?”

Angela turned to see Jennifer helping the Vet guide animals through the water, her pant legs rolled up to reveal grossly swollen ankles.

“
Maybe not so much bending, but the cold water will be great for those legs.”

Adrian noted Kyle close by, making sure the girl didn’t get hurt, and even the wolf stopped to sniff her on a round. When Chris had started letting the animals out, the wolf had been there to collect his dogs and put them to work. With little else to do other than stare at the ruthless fire, the camp was noticing Dog, realizing the animal was like some of the others here–special and on their side.

Jennifer was also making progress here, though Adrian doubted she could see it yet. Having Charlie and the wolf around was showing the camp that they'd been wrong to believe the former slaves without ever hearing Jennifer's side. She'd spent last night in the female tents with Hilda and Peggy, and Adrian hoped more had come from that than just their warnings.

Adrian saw Kenn and Tonya offer to give Ray and Dale a break. The tired men willingly let second-in-command and his woman fight the battle.