“Ain’t just Bunny; it’s Phoe and Tati and the other women. Can’t return without telling them something,” Chance agreed. Levi twisted his head and frowned.
“You hear that?” he asked. Everyone shut up and listened; silence echoed around them.
“Blow your whistle,” Levi demanded. Chance blew hard three times, and they listened. Faintly, three whistles returned, floating in the air.
“Pyro!” Shotgun exclaimed.
“Which way?” Chance demanded. Shrugs met him, and Chance blew a third time.
“There!” Diesel yelled, hurrying off in a direction as the faint reply drifted through the wind. They reached the bottom of an incline and started up it when a figure appeared. He wore the yellow of the firefighters but leaned heavily on a branch. The sunlight was shading his body in shadow, and he stood tall and bulky. The firefighter’s helmet covered his face, and he kept his weight off his left leg as he whistled. Hellfire knew they’d found their missing brother.
“Pyro!” Chance yelled and as one Hellfire began racing up the slope. Pyro whistled again, not hearing or seeing them. Diesel arrived first and clasped his friend by the arms. Pyro stared blindly at him and raised his whistle.
“Dude!” Diesel cried, pushing Pyro’s arm down. Pyro jolted at the contact, and his eyes moved slowly to meet Diesel’s. A frown crossed Pyro’s face, and he poked Diesel in the shoulder. When Diesel rocked back, Pyro dropped his crutch and grasped Diesel tightly.
“It’s okay, brother, we got you,” Diesel whispered, and Pyro clung to him.
“Broke my fuckin’ leg in two places. Couldn’t get to you,” Pyro said hoarsely.
“Sit Pyro down,” Chance ordered. Shotgun let out a startled yell as Pyro’s fire jacket moved of its own accord.
“What the fuck? You save an animal?” Shotgun asked, warily eyeing Pyro’s coat. Diesel yanked the zip down, and they gazed in disbelief at the kid clinging to Pyro’s neck. Pyro had rigged up a harness which the boy hung from.
“Holy shit, Pyro found Logan!” Tiny exclaimed as Logan stared mutely at them.
“Pyro, we need to sit you down, bud,” Bear spoke, his hands reaching for Logan. Logan shrieked and clung to Pyro, and Pyro patted him on the back.
“Kid’s in shock, ain’t said a word since I got him. What with deploying the shelter and then having two waves come over us, Logan’s mute,” Pyro explained. Pyro leaned against Tiny, letting Tiny take his weight, and dropped to the ground.
“You don’t look so hot yourself,” Diesel said, supporting Pyro’s broken leg as it stretched out. Pyro slumped gratefully on the dirt and grabbed the bottle of water Shee gave him and popped the top, giving it to Logan. Chatter offered a second as he crouched by Pyro.
“You strapped your leg?” Chatter asked, and Pyro nodded.
“How did you break it?” Chatter inquired as he checked Pyro over. Every time someone moved towards Logan, the kid made an animalistic noise and burrowed into Pyro.
“Kids fine, I looked Logan over before and after we got into the shelter,” Pyro said to Chance. Chance was relieved to see colour coming back to Pyro’s face, and the blank look was disappearing.
“Why the fuck did you run off?” Chance demanded.
“Because I saw Logan. I yelled to Chatter, but he didn’t hear, so I carried on. Those few seconds made the difference in saving the kid’s life,” Pyro replied. Pyro winced and yelped as Chatter found the two breaks and replaced the branches Pyro had used as splints. Chatter tightened straps around them and checked Pyro’s statistics.
“Okay, brother?” Diesel asked, staying close to Pyro.
“My girl, she needs to know.”
“We’ll contact her, Pyro,” Chance said reassuringly. He’d already called it into command and let them know Pyro and Logan had been discovered, and they were assessing injuries. Command radioed back, demanding an update, and Chance replied.
???
Bunny
“Hellfire found Pyro!” Big Al yelled. I stared at him, hope written across my face. “Yeah, baby, they’ve got Pyro alive!” Whoops and catcalls echoed from around the parking lot as people celebrated.
“Oh, thank God,” Phoe whispered, sinking down beside me.
“And that fucker spotted the kid and kept him alive. Hellfire’s returning with them both!” Big Al roared, and the crowd got wilder. Huh. That was unexpected.
“Bunny?” Phoenix said and offered me a handkerchief. Damn, I hadn’t even realised I was crying. I felt like a weight had lifted from my chest, and I could suddenly breathe. We had news an hour ago that the blaze was burning itself out, but there’d been nothing from Hellfire. Volunteer rescuers hadn’t been allowed to go because of the status of the fire, but they were present, ready to roll. The news whipped through the crowd, and I saw Logan’s parents. Mrs Carter was being held by her husband, and her eyes were reddened. She sent me a spiteful look. That I would not take nor suffer.