Page 24 of Burning Escape (Chasing Fire: Alaska #3)

TWELVE

The next morning at the debrief, Tucker pulled up the area map. Orion stood at the back of the room, trying not to brood or grumble. He was there only to be close to Tori since he was pretty much useless physically. It would be another day of mowing lawn and repairing equipment for him.

But he had Tori’s kiss from last night to keep him company. He’d lost all sense of time with her. But she was the one thing that made sense right now. He couldn’t understand why God had brought him to Alaska only to be injured.

And now it was more than just not being able to live up to his calling, to be redeemed from his past mistakes. How was he supposed to watch Tori’s back if they got called out?

Tucker started the meeting. “Unfortunately, the wind last night whipped up the fire we almost had under control yesterday. It merged with another fire, and now we have a problem on our hands.” He pointed to the expansive forested area.

Great. They would be jumping today. Without him.

“What direction is the wind blowing?” Tori asked.

“Coming from the northwest. It’s pushing this thing right up the mountain to the east.”

Orion pushed off the wall. “That fire is headed straight for the Refuge.”

“Which is why we’re deploying ASAP. Everyone get your gear.” Jade checked her watch. “Plane’s going up in twenty. Hotshot bus will be leaving sooner.”

The rest of the crews headed out, leaving Orion behind…except Tori. She looked back at him, her expression asking, What do we do?

He moved to the front of the room and approached Tucker Newman. “I know I can’t fight the fire, but I can help on the ground at the Refuge. They’ll be reluctant to leave.”

“I know.” Tucker turned off the screen he’d used to display the map. “Last night’s crew reached out to the Brinks and asked them to get a message over. They got back to us this morning. The residents of the Refuge won’t budge.”

Tori stood shoulder to shoulder with Orion. “We know this group. We were there with them. Send us in.”

Tucker shook his head. “We need you on the line. And you”—he pointed at Orion—“shouldn’t be going anywhere. In a couple days we might consider putting you on the plane as a spotter, but for now?—”

“For now, this is how I can be useful. Send me in.”

“With everything that’s going on, I’m not sending anyone out there alone.”

“I’ll go with him,” Tori said. “You have two Trouble Boys who can jump. Have either Saxon or Hammer take my place. Orion and I already have a rapport with the group. They’re slow to trust outsiders. If they’ll listen to anyone, it will be us.”

Tucker looked at Jade and Mitch. “You two okay with this plan?”

They both nodded.

“Okay.” He stood, hands on his hips, and stared them down. “Pack what you need. Take one of the trucks, keep your radios and a backup sat phone close. You stay in communication. That’s imperative. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Orion and Tori said in unison.

“Get those people out of there. This fire is growing by the minute.” Tucker turned to leave.

Finally, Orion could be useful again. It took longer than he liked packing one-handed, but they grabbed chain saws, fuel, and tools—everything they could find to help fight a fire—and threw it in the back of the white truck with the Midnight Sun logo on the doors.

“We’ll need more than a truck if we have to evacuate the group.” Tori’s words stopped him. She looked at him over the bed of the truck. “There’s, like, forty people out there.”

She was right. “We need a fleet of vehicles. Maybe the Brinks will help us.”

“It’s still not enough. They have their family and probably animals they’ll be evacuating.”

“I did see some four-wheelers in their shed, but it won’t be enough.” Orion set another Pulaski in the truck bed.

“Or…I can drive one of the base-camp buses. I mean, not legally, but I know how.”

“Even on that low-maintenance road to the Brinks’ homestead? It’s pretty rough.”

“We have to get them to safety.” With that stubborn tilt to her chin, she probably wasn’t going to back down.

“All right. Do it. I’ll follow you in the truck.”

“You okay to drive one-handed?”

He walked around the cab of the truck and kissed her. “I’ll be fine. Let’s go save some people.”

She smiled up at him. “Okay.”

Tori ignored the posted speed limit on the paved road, which was fine with this Montana boy who took full advantage of the 80mph on the interstate back home. They had people to save. But it was called backcountry for a reason. Their base camp was already on the edge of civilization.

Out here it was all wide open sky, trees and meadows, and mountain giants looming in the distance.

They passed vehicles on the highway, but once they turned off the main drag, the roads were rough.

And no wonder. They were cut out of the wilderness, which wanted to reclaim the territory. Trees encroached on both sides.

The top of the bus brushed against branches. Orion bounced as his truck hit pothole after pothole. At this rate, he might injure his rear along with the shoulder. But he pushed the pain aside. Eventually, they reached the end of the road. The Brinks’ homestead.

They pulled up to Kitri strapping down a cage of chickens in the back of a truck. “I didn’t expect to see you two again so soon.” She walked over to them. A man with red hair and a barrel chest joined her.

“This is my husband, Cameron. These are the two that brought me to Copper Mountain.”

Cameron shook their hands. “Thank you for helping my wife. What can we do for you?”

“We came to help evacuate the people at the Refuge,” Tori said.

Cameron raised an eyebrow. “Good luck with that. They’re good people, but they’re stubborn. They won’t leave. I spent all morning trying to talk some sense into them.”

A teenage boy in jeans and a sweatshirt carried a goat to the truck. Kitri opened the tailgate for him. “Thanks, Kyle.” She turned to the group. “We’ve got more animals to load.”

Cameron nodded. “You’re welcome to use what you can find, but Kitri’s right. We’ve still got more to do, and this smoke is getting bad.”

“How close do you get to the Refuge on that path with a vehicle?” Orion asked.

“You’ll never get that bus down there; you’ll have to leave it here.

But you can get an ATV with a little trailer that I use.

You’ll find it in the shed over there. Keys are in it.

” He pointed to a gray metal-sided building by the barn.

“The truck will probably get stuck but might be worth the risk to see how far you can get it.”

Orion and Tori thanked them. A few more kids—a girl with long brown braids like her mom, and two more boys—loaded bags in the back of their vehicle and barely glanced at their parents.

“Can you drive the ATV?” Orion asked Tori. “I think I might try to get the truck as close as I can.”

“Let’s do it.”

The Brink family left in two vehicles as Tori hit the trail on the ATV in the opposite direction. Orion followed her in the truck. At least the trail was dry. But it was tight. Branches and brush scraped the windows and sides of the truck. How he would get out of here, he’d try to figure out later.

Tori made a sharp turn around a patch of white spruce.

Yeah, the truck wouldn’t make that. And there wasn’t enough room in any direction to go off-trail.

He honked and killed the engine. Tori stopped the ATV.

“This is the end of the road for the truck.”

“You made it about halfway at least.” She lifted a couple of Pulaskis and shovels from the truck bed and added them to the open trailer behind the ATV.

They loaded chain saws and everything they could and took off. Tori drove. Orion didn’t mind at all holding on to her as they continued through the dense forest.

They drove until the forest cleared, back to the commune.

Through the smoky haze, the chapel and dining hall stood guard over the sides of the community, with cabins flanking the wide grassy area in the middle.

If it weren’t for the smoke clogging the air, he would’ve seen the river peeking through the trees.

Amos and Hannah stood on the chapel steps, talking and watching over everyone.

Except for a few curious glances, everyone moved quickly.

Mara stopped when she caught sight of them.

“Orion! Victoria!” She rushed over. “What are you doing here?”

“Didn’t expect to see you two back here.” Amos walked up to them and met them in the middle of the lawn.

“There’s a big fire headed here. We came to warn you.” Orion offered Tori a hand off the ATV.

“Like I told Cameron Brink, we appreciate the warning, but we won’t be leaving our home.”

Orion wanted to shake the man. “Amos, you’re putting your people at risk. We have a bus and can get you all to safety. You can rebuild the structures. You can’t replace lives.”

“True. And I inquired of the Lord when we heard about the fire. We’re staying.”

“You can’t be serious.” Tori folded her arms across her chest.

“I’m always serious. And if you two don’t mind, we’re making preparations, and you’re keeping me from my work. If you want to help, by all means help.” Amos started to walk away.

“What are you doing to prepare?” Orion followed the man.

“We’re hauling river water and wetting down all the buildings we can, bringing the animals in.” He pointed to three men hauling up a canoe filled with water. They grabbed buckets and scooped the water out of it, splashing it around the first cabin.

“That’s not enough. We need a fire line.

We need to remove the fuel that feeds the fire, create a protective boundary it won’t cross around the commune.

We have to clear the brush and trees, get down to the mineral soil.

You might have a chance if you do that, but with the timeline we have, it’s slim. ”

Amos stopped and actually smiled at Orion. “See, I knew the Lord would provide.”

* * *

There was no way the Refuge would survive this fire without help.

Tori called into base camp. “We need equipment and people. They won’t leave.”