Page 68 of Burning Justice

They raced to her spot. Orion landed on his knees and pulled back the shelter. He sucked in a breath. Tori’s shirt had done its job, thickening and carbonizing to create a protective barrier between her skin and the fire. Not perfect, but better than being exposed to flame.

But her face hadn’t been so lucky. Skin on her cheek and beside her hair had peeled away, leaving a nasty-looking red patch.

“Tori.” Orion brushed her hair back from her shoulder. The guy sucked in a choppy breath. “Tori, wake up.”

Kane shifted her to her back, untangling her from the fire shelter, which he dragged away and tossed aside. He crouched on the other side of her and scanned her, then yelled, “Medic!”

Hammer would know what that meant. Kane didn’t need to say anything else.

He reached over and felt for a pulse. “She’s alive.”

Orion didn’t breathe.

“We need water.” Kane rummaged in his pockets and found a few things, like gauze and a multitool that was hot to the touch. He dropped it on the scorched ground.

Hammer came racing over. He tore open a gauze packet and pressed it to the side of Tori’s face. “Is she breathing?”

Kane tilted her chin and turned his head, listening for a puff of air from her nose. Come on. He felt a tiny puff of air on his cheek. “She’s breathing.” He sat up. “We need to get her out of here.”

Orion looked like he was about to pass out, seeing the woman he loved like this.

“Hold steady.” Kane squeezed the younger man’s shoulder. “Keep praying.”

Skye and Jade came over. Then JoJo and Cadee. Vince stood beside Cadee. Saxon said something low to Hammer that Kane didn’t catch. All of them looked like they’d been through a war.

It was a mercy that only Tori had been badly hurt. Thanks to that chemical drop, they had survived. Everyone was alive and would stay that way long enough to see another day.

To have a chance at a future with the people they loved.

“We need a chopper.” Orion turned to Jade. “Call for a pickup. We need to get her to the hospital. Now.”

“The chopper can’t land in this smoke. It’ll choke the engines.”

“Then we hike out. Carry her with us.” Orion looked like he was about to bust out of his skin.

“We can carry her between us.” Kane had rigged a sledge a few times to drag an injured buddy out of the line of fire. They had enough people they could rig something up and each hold a corner. Get her out of here.

Jade nodded. “We’ll use a fire shelter.”

“Which way are we going to go?” Vince looked around. “How do we get out of here without walking a hundred miles in the wrong direction?”

Orion said, “We only have to get far enough to get picked up.”

Kane was all for hiking out, but in their condition and with equipment, it would take too long to pick their way down the mountainside. Not the first time, and God would be with them every step. “We can do it. If we’re careful. It’ll be slow going, but we aren’t going to get out of this by staying put.”

Orion nodded.

Kane heard a crackle, down by Tori’s hip. Then broken speech. A radio. He dug it out and found it hot to the touch. “Ouch.” He got the button pressed down. “Hello? Can anyone hear me?”

The handset crackled, and he could hear someone speak, but only broken syllables.

In the distance, a train whistled.

Fourteen

Water hit the fire, and mist evaporated into the air. The entire hillside next to the train blazed with flames. The two water tankers on the train both had spray hoses attached, and Mack had commandeered one. Crew was on the other.

Grizz let loose on the whistle again. Mitch was up there in the engine car with him and the driver and conductor, trying to contact the smokejumpers on the radio.

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