I don’t care.
I duck under a thick branch as I sprint forward, racing against the oncoming flames. The storm is howling in the sky and the wind is swirling around, changing directions every few seconds.
This is beyond stupid. It’s reckless and crazy, but something comes over me and I can’t stop it. I’m saving those poor birds.
I may be in an orange jumpsuit. I may be chained and caged in like an animal. But I am still a good person.
They took everything from me, but they can’t take that.
I’m breathing in thick smoke and coughing as I run. It’s hell in here. It’s like the end of the world.
“I got you,” I call out as I get closer.
They’re sticking their poor heads out of the nest and squawking loud, desperate for help.
“I’m here,” I say as I arrive.
I carefully peel the nest off the thick branch and stuff the whole thing into my jumpsuit.
“Oh shit,” I whisper when I look back and see the fire all around me. It’s cut off my exit. The low thick branch I ducked under is already in flames.
“Angela!” I shout as loudly as I can.
She doesn’t answer.
But the forest does.
A huge flaming Redwood cracks like the sound of a cannon going off and falls between me and my group with a devastating crash.
I cradle the baby chicks through my jumpsuit and say a final prayer.
CHAPTER TWO
Declan
* * *
“Come on, rain,” I grunt as I slam the roaring chainsaw into another tree, slicing through the thick trunk.
It breaks my heart to do this, but there’s no other way. I’m trying to save my mountain and hundreds of acres of forest behind me from this vicious insatiable wildfire.
My arms are burning—my biceps jacked to the max—as I force the chainsaw through. The trunk spits out woodchips all over me as the chainsaw passes the midpoint. The big old Redwood that’s older than me groans as it sways from side to side.
“Fall over,” I grunt as I force the chainsaw through the tough wood.
A deafening crack booms through the burning forest as it wobbles. I yank my chainsaw out and hurry back as the old guy tumbles down, taking a bunch of smaller trees with him.
“Sorry,” I whisper as I watch the tree fall with water in my eyes. “It was the only way.”
There will be time to mourn the destruction later, but right now, I have to keep moving or the rest of the forest will face the same fate.
I’m cutting a thick scar through the forest from the edge of the sloping valley to the river on the east side. It should stop the fire from spreading to my area of the forest. If the flames manage to jump the line, I don’t know what I’m going to do.
My house is down there tucked away in the wilderness. It’s all I have.
After working in construction for ten years, I saved up enough money for a plot of land and my house. I have enough to live on for decades with my kind of lifestyle, but I’ll be ruined if it all burns down. I’ll have to move back to civilization. I’ll have to get a job.
I can’t think about that right now. I have to stay busy.
My heart is hammering away as I grip my chainsaw and sink it into the next tree trunk. This one goes down easier and before it hits the ground, I’m on to the next one.
The blade cuts through half of it and then begins to sputter.
“No…”
It runs out of gas on me. It’s lodged in the trunk and I have to yank it out with a grunt.
I run over to my canister of gas, but it’s empty. Fuck.
Oh well, I guess I’m doing this by hand.
I grab my axe off the ground and rush back to the tree with my head aching. This smoke is starting to get to me. My lungs are on fire, especially with the heavy workout making it worse, but I keep going, slamming the axe into the trunk with hard chops and savage grunts.
In between heaves of the axe, I hear something.
I pause, pulse racing.
There’s no way anyone is around here. I’m deep in the forest.
Far from civilization, just how I like it.
“Help!” I hear a faint feminine voice scream. I can barely hear it over the crackling and popping of the burning trees in the distance, but she’s there.
And I’m the only one around to help.
I yank my axe out of the tree and pull the handkerchief over my mouth. I grip the axe and start running toward the sound.
I’m heading into the flames. My skin starts prickling with heat.
“Where are you?” I shout back.
“Over here!” she hollers. Her voice is coming through louder now. I grit my teeth and sprint forward, leaping over roots and ducking under branches.