Page 88 of Smoke and Roses

He finds me on my knees against the wall of the old stone house with my sweater over my mouth. I can’t stop coughing, and my eyes are burning so bad I can barely see him.

But I know it’s him. I’d know it was him from a mile off in the dark. I know the way he moves.

He drops down in front of me in the ash and takes my face in both of his gloved hands.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.” Cough. “No. I don’t think so. I can’t—” Cough. “I can’t breathe right.”

“I’ve got you, honey.” He’s looking me over, checking my arms, my face, and then he puts a hand against my back. “Does your chest hurt?”

“No. It just burns.”

“Can you take a deep breath?”

I try, but it sends me into another coughing fit.

“Okay. Don’t force it.” He looks over his shoulder. “Rob! Get that spare mask out of the truck.”

Rob is behind him, already moving toward Brush 1. I can barely make out the truck through the smoke, but I hear the door open and slam shut.

Travis keeps one hand on my shoulder. “Look at me, Lindsey.”

I look at him.

“We’re going to get you out of this smoke. You’re doing good.”

“I don’t feel good.”

“I know.”

Rob comes back with a white mask in a plastic package. Travis tears it open and fits it over my nose and mouth, adjusting the metal strip with his gloved fingers.

“This’ll help with some of the ash and particles. It won’t stop the gases, so we still need cleaner air.”

I take a breath through it. It still hurts, but at least I don’t have my sweater shoved against my face anymore.

Rob is back with a radio, shouting into it. “Command, Brush 1, we have her. One civilian, conscious, significant smoke exposure. Smoke column’s laid down over the homestead with the wind shift. Visibility near zero.”

Caleb’s voice comes back over the radio. “Copy, Brush 1. What’s your position?”

“North side of the old stone homestead. Fire’s working the barns to the south. We’ve got black around the house, but the access road’s completely smoked in.”

Travis looks past me toward the truck and then across the meadow. I know what he’s looking at. The grass has burned all the way down to the dirt, leaving a wide stretch of black ground between the stone house and the road. Nothing left but ash and a few smoking stumps.

He keys the radio on his chest.

“Command, Raines. We’re not driving that access road blind. Ravine’s fifty feet off the shoulder. We’ve got a wide section of black north of the homestead, clear of standing timber. We’re moving Brush 1 onto it and holding until we can see the road. Have medical standing by for Lindsey.”

“Copy, Raines. Confirm you’re clear of the active fire.”

“Affirmative. Fire’s south of us, moving away from our position. No active flame in the black. We’ll keep eyes on conditions.”

“Copy. Maintain communications. Advise if conditions change. Medical will meet you at Engine 1 by the barns.”

Travis looks at Rob. “Move the truck around the north side. Get us as far out in the black as you can without getting near that drop. Watch for hot spots.”

“Copy.”