Page 70 of Weatherman

I saw the woman’s lips moving and heard the words, but it took a minute for them to register.

Now’s not the time to fall apart, Opal. You’re a Dragon Runner’s woman, and that comes with some responsibilities. Get your head out of your ass and step up.

My internal pep talk snapped me back to the real world, and I gave Tambre a sharp nod. “You bet.”

CHAPTER 32

It wasFine who spotted the tracks. Two parallel lines cutting through the woods. They were hard to spot on dry ground, but the crushed leaves showed a clear enough path to follow. It wasn’t easy, but Fine had a lot of experience with tracking.

“Shows they went that way but haven’t come back. Think it’s more campers?”

Weatherman sighed in irritation. They had already rousted a group of hikers from their campsites and started them moving toward the base to get them to safety. The air was winter cold as usual this time of year, but the bite had a singed, smoky flavor to it. The fire still burned and was moving fast at the last radio update.

Both he and Fine had helped construct one of the firebreaks yesterday. It was backbreaking work but necessary. Table and Mute helped drive the graders that cleared the vegetation while others felled some of the trees to keep the tops from igniting and passing the flames along in the branches. The wind had already picked up for the impending storm coming down from the north and wasn’t helping the fight. The fire warden had a huge map of the area and planned out where to make controlled burns tokeep the wild one contained, but it had already jumped in some places.

“This area here near the creek is where I understand some people might set up a winter camp. I ’spect the smoke drove ’em out, but it’s easy to get turned around and head the wrong direction. I want all y’all to make a quick run of the creek and only the creek to see if anyone is still around. Just one run, mind you, and then get out of there. Stick by the water, got it?”

Weatherman didn’t know if this search and rescue type of mission was protocol, but he didn’t argue. He was bone-tired and grumpy from lack of sleep. He didn’t remember the last time he ate something besides the protein bars he and Fine had stuffed into their gear, and they were down to their last two bottles of water. The air was smokier and smokier, and he longed for the next time he could take a clean breath.

Still, those tracks might mean people either stuck or lost.

The radio crackled, and Fine clicked it to answer. “Repeat, over.”

It was hard to hear through the static, but the faint words sent alarm through both men.

“The fire jumped the last break, and the wind changed directions. It’s headed your way. Get your asses out of there now!”

Weatherman cursed long and hard as he gazed at the four-wheeler tracks. They were fresh enough to tell him that yes, someone was at the end of them, and that someone was probably still there. Maybe an old guy trying to protect a family moonshine still or a group of kids that had more daring that sense. Either way, he couldn’t leave until he checked it out. “Let’s go in a ways and listen for anything.”

Fine reluctantly agreed, but Weatherman thought it was more because he didn’t want to be left alone in the woods. They followed the tracks for about a quarter mile before stopping.This was close to the area where they’d found the bear baits some weeks ago. They shut off the two four-wheelers and waited a moment.

Weatherman closed his eyes and tuned his ears to the ambient noise of the forest. There was a low-pitched ring that resembled tinnitus; otherwise, it was deadly silent.

Then he heard it.

A scream.

It might have been a woman, a man, or an animal. It was faint, but something sounded in pain.

“Did you hear that?” he asked a white-faced Fine.

It came again.

“I heard it that time.”

Weatherman sniffed the cold air. He had only one choice. “If you want to bug out, I won’t judge you, but I’m gonna go check it out.”

Fine swallowed hard but found his balls and started his squat vehicle. “Let’s go.”

They went about another mile and a half into the thick brush. It was slow and rough, but the tracks kept going. The weird ringing in Weatherman’s ears intensified, and he realized this was the beginnings of brown noise. Fire itself was silent, but the kinetic energy it gave off produced random low frequency sound waves. The beast was on its way.

Another scream reached them, and it sounded a lot like an angry animal, but it could still be a human. It was definitely closer.

“Over there!” Fine pointed to something in the distance.

It was hard to make out, but there was an old cabin among the trees. Whatever was screaming came from that structure.

“Something or someone is trapped inside.” Weatherman glanced at the ground. “It’s probably faster to go on foot than try to finagle this path. If it’s an animal, we’ll free it to takeits chances. If it’s a person, we can carry them back here easily enough.”

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