Page 56 of Caught Bear Handed
“I’ll grab our stuff.”
I put my hand on her arm.“We don’t have time for anything but Gigi’s leash.Everything else will weigh us down and slow our movements.We need to be able to pivot at a moment’s notice.”
Kayla swallowed hard and went back to the cabin, reappearing moments later with Gigi’s leash, and hooked it to her collar.Then she held up the bag that held our useless devices.“They can’t jam us forever.”
“I might get that tattooed on me when this is over.”I chuckled grimly, then closed my eyes for a moment so I could concentrate on the wind.We needed to work with it, before the fire took it under its control.If the flames could gain enough power, they could create their own weather.If the fire got to that point, we were in big trouble.
Taking the leash from Kayla, I put my other hand on her shoulder and guided her down the hill.The way the fire had been set, there wasn’t a straight path.And while I had a good idea of where we were headed, we didn’t often work this far north unless the teams up here needed backup.
It doesn’t matter where you wind up as long as you get Kayla and Gigi to safety, my bear reminded me.Figure out the details later.
In some spots, those lines of flames were so close it was impossible to pass without feeling the heat on our skin.Gigi yelped, and I scooped her into my arms.
“I’ve got you, girl.”I hoped she hadn’t been hurt, but stopping to check was a luxury we didn’t have right now.At any moment, these fires could merge, turning this escape route into a house of mirrors.
More like a house of horrors.
“The smoke is making it hard to breathe,” Kayla said, drawing a ragged breath.
“Put your shirt over your nose and mouth,” I instructed.I was used to having all my gear and being able to do something to stop the progression.I hated this feeling of helplessness, like I could only react instead of respond.“There’s a river ahead.That’s got to bring us to safety.”
Problem was, if I was remembering correctly, it wasn’t just like wading into calm waters.There was a pretty significant drop off.
It didn’t help that thinking hurt right now.Smoke was stinging my eyes, I was carrying my dog, and my mate was struggling to breathe.
But we’d keep going, because we had to.
“Is that another building?”Kayla’s question ended in a coughing fit.We were running out of time.
It was hard to tell through the haze of the smoke and the glow of the flames, but there was the dark outline of…something.Which meant we weren’t where I thought I was.
“Looks like it.”I coughed.“Wish we could use it for shelter.”
“Maybe there’s more,” Kayla suggested.“Or it means we’re near the road.Or people.”
“Good thinking.”
The structure was dark and possibly abandoned, an old adventure park I’d never heard of.We were nowhere near where I thought we were.
Fuck.
The signs for River Adventures were still up, but stopping to read them felt like a waste of precious time.There wasn’t anything here that could help us.There might be a fire extinguisher inside the building, but it wasn’t close to enough.
“Wait, that says zip line, right?”
“Yeah.”Kayla wrapped her arms around herself.“Do you think it’s still working?”
“We’ll make it work,” I growled.
For now, the flames were behind us, but they wouldn’t stay that way for long.Since it was called River Adventures, moon willing, that meant the advertised zip line went over the river.
If we could get to the other side of the water, chances were, we’d be safe.I kept repeating that last word in my head as we followed the direction of the zip line signs.There was no telling what had been left behind.
“Looks like the line is still intact,” Kayla said as we reached the platform.“But there aren’t any harnesses.”
There was an old wooden structure with doors close to the platform.In the dark, details were hard to come by.
“Fuck,” I said under my breath when I found the rusted old padlock.Setting Gigi down, I took a step back and kicked it.The wood splintered and Gigi barked as the lock bounced off the concrete below us.