40. Phoenix

CHAPTER 40

Phoenix

T rapped.

It was the only word that kept racing across my mind as we sat there on the bank of the creek, fire blazing all around us. There was no going back, fire had cut off our escape route. But the small clearing we were in was getting smaller and smaller with every passing moment. Flames already pressed against the opposite side of the creek. Soon they'd be on this side too, as soon as they were done consuming the house only thirty yards to my left.

The air was hot and full of ash. My helmet helped to block some of it, but the smoke made my lungs burn and my eyes water. It wouldn't be long before breathing would become too difficult. We were already slowly suffocating. I figured we only had minutes to figure something out before it was too late.

I turned side to side, searching for any way out of this mess I'd gotten us into. In an attempt to get Charlie out alive, I'd gotten us both trapped in the wildfire. But I wasn't giving up yet. Not when the man I loved was depending on me. There had to be a way out. I just knew it.

My gaze flicked side to side. Driving the motorcycle through the fire didn't look like a good idea. As far as I could tell through the smoke and the haze, the fire was far too deep to try to punch through with a burst of speed. But my brilliant plan to follow the creek hadn't exactly panned out either.

Then my eyes zeroed in on the water and the way it ran under the fallen burning logs.

Maybe there was a way out.

Reaching down, I flicked the engine off on the bike. It wasn't going to be any use where we were going.

"Get off," I called, pulling off my helmet and tossing it to the ground.

Charlie hopped off, coughing and sputtering, but saying nothing. I dismounted the bike as well and laid it gently on the ground, like a body being laid to rest. That bike and I had been through a lot together and it was my first real purchase after I'd sold my book. I loved it. But I couldn't take it with me. Besides, it could be replaced. Charlie on the other hand, could not.

"Come with me," I said, holding out my hand.

Charlie took it without hesitation.

"Where are we going?" he asked, tears streaming down his face from the smoke. His skin was smudged with soot and ash. "How are we gonna get out without the motorcycle?"

I lifted a hand, pointing to the gap below the burning logs. "Through there," I said, stepping into the cold water without hesitation. "We'll have to go under them. "

I felt the hesitation in his grip as I pulled him into the water. But he never stopped walking. Instead, he followed me to the center of the creek where the water came up to our knees. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was deep enough to cover us. I just hoped it remained so.

"This is gonna be a little freaky," I explained, pulling him toward the downed trees. "But we need to dive under, go under the tree, come up for air, and keep going." I pulled Charlie close, kissing me hard on the lips, knowing it might be the last time. "I'll be right beside you the whole way, alright? I'll never let you out of my sight."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

I could feel him tremble in my grasp. "No," I replied honestly. "But it's our only chance. If we stay here, we'll die."

He stared at me for a long moment before he finally nodded, the fear evident in his eyes. "Okay… I… I trust you, Nix."

"I love you," I said, kissing him again. "Now let's get out of here."

I pulled Charlie as close to the burning log as I dared, the flames biting at my skin even from a few feet away. Both of us kneeled down in the water, letting the biting cold envelope our heated skin.

"Use the rocks to pull yourself along the bottom," I said, letting go of Charlie's hand. "On the count of three, okay?"

Charlie nodded. "Okay."

"One… two… THREE!"

I held back for just a second, making sure Charlie went under first. Then I plunged my head into the freezing water, forcing my eyes to stay open. With Charlie firmly in my sights, I began to pull myself along the creek bed right behind him.

Overhead the water took on a bright orange glow, and I knew we must be under the burning tree. I prayed to whatever was listening to keep that log aloft. Should the fire weaken it enough to let it crack and fall, it would crush us both in an instant. There would be no coming back from that.

With that in mind, I pulled myself through the water faster, my lungs burning from the smoke and lack of air. However as soon as the water above me seemed to lose its glow, I grabbed Charlie and forced us both up. We broke the surface, gasping for air and immediately were met with more ash and smoke. I glanced back, seeing the giant tree burning behind us. But as I turned to the front, I saw there were still several more fallen logs to go.

"That was easy," I said, giving Charlie a grin even though we were both quaking with fear and adrenaline. "We just have to keep doing that until we're out. It can't be that much further."

Charlie nodded, pulling me in close. He kissed me, his lips tasting of cold mountain water and ash. "I love you too," he said. "I didn't say it before we went under." He gripped me harder, his hands shaking. "I'll never hesitate again. You're too important for that. I'm so sorry I ignored you for all those years. I'm such an asshole… I–"

"Charlie," I said, forcing him to look at me. "I love you and I forgive you." I gestured to the burning forest around us. "But we can do this when we're out of here, alright?"

He nodded, shaking himself out of it. "Yeah. Okay. You're right."

"Come on. Let's get under this next tree."

Together we repeated our escape method, diving under each burning tree, pulling ourselves along the bottom, then coming up for air once more. Slowly and methodically, we made our way downriver. There was more than one occasion where a smaller tree had fallen into the water itself and blocked the path. However, thanks to our soaked clothing and cold skin, we were able to hop the logs without getting burned, even if they were still glowing hot .

Finally, after resurfacing one last time, the air didn't smell so foul and up ahead I could see blue sky beyond the flame.

"Charlie, look! We're almost there!"

He turned toward the patch of blue sky, a smile spreading over his face. But it fell a second later when he saw what lay between us and the way out.

There were at least five large fallen trees in a row. Some of them were just thick trunks, still burning furiously. But a few of them were the tops of trees, their upper branches full of flame while the others pierced down into the water like spears. Getting under the logs was no problem. But getting through the tangle of branches underwater was going to be a challenge. Not only that, but there would be no place to come up for air in between. We'd have to swim the entire length in one breath.

It looked like an impossible task.

"Come on," Charlie said, seeing the look on my face. "We can do this. You and I used to ride our bikes through the woods, threading between the trees at top speed."

"We're lucky we didn't die doing that."

"You're right. We were lucky. And we'll be lucky here too." He pulled me toward the burning trees, his hand locked around mine. "I've got too much to live for to die here. There's so many things I need to do with you. The life I've always dreamed of is on the other side of these trees. I'm not gonna let a little fire stop me." He turned toward me, pulling me close. " May we rise from the ashes as one to walk through life hand in hand, " he said, reciting the dedication in my book.

I nodded, tears filling my eyes. "Yes," I said at last. "Yeah, we can do this. We will do this."

"I love you, Phoenix. No matter what happens, I always will. "

"I love you too, Charlie."

"Now let's get the hell out of here."

Getting as close to the fire as we dared, we looked at one another, took a deep breath, and dove under the water.

Slipping under the first giant log was easy. The second, however, was much closer to the water, forcing us both to press our bellies to the rocky bottom of the creek as we crawled through the water. I was feeling pretty good until we reached the third tree. It was one of those that was covered in branches. Above us, everything was bright orange-yellow, the flames touching the surface of the water as the tree burned. Charlie and I came up against a wall of broken branches and leaves.

Grabbing him by the hand, I pulled him to the right, heading toward the lower part of the tree where the branches were thinner. My lungs were already starting to burn, but I forced the feeling away. I could wait a bit longer.

After what felt like a century of searching, we found a gap through the branches. I let Charlie go first, helping him squeeze through before following behind. The next tree was much the same, and we had to search once more. By the time we found the second gap, I thought I was going to explode. I knew I only had a few seconds left until my body was going to inhale the water regardless of my determination to stay alive. I glanced upward, noticing the flames still licking the surface. There was no oxygen up there and no place to breathe without getting burned even if there was.

We had to keep going.

Immediately on the other side of the gap was another fallen log and then another. Both Charlie and I were racing along the bottom of the creek as fast as we could, bubbles escaping from our lips as we fought to keep our air inside. I pressed my lips shut and clenched my teeth, knowing the moment I opened my mouth water would come rushing in. My fingers scraped painfully against the rocks as I yanked myself along. I screwed my eyes shut, no longer able to keep them open as I concentrated on not drowning.

A lifetime seemed to pass under the water and there came a moment when I knew I could hold my breath no longer. I thought of all the wonderful things Charlie and I would never get to do, and the sadness nearly overwhelmed me.

Just then, I felt a hand on my back, and it yanked me to the surface. Coughing and sputtering, I inhaled mostly air as I came out of the water. For a long moment I sat there on my hands and knees, hacking until I could get a good breath at last. It was only when I felt a hand on my shoulder that I looked up and saw Charlie sitting beside me. His dark hair was plastered to his face and rivulets of water ran down his soot smudged skin. Those brown eyes of his were fixed on mine, a smile slowly spreading over his face.

"W-We… We did it," he sputtered.

I glanced over my shoulder, the wildfire raging some twenty feet behind us. We'd not only swam through the maze of fallen trees, but we'd overshot the end of it with room to spare. Somehow, against all odds, we'd made it out of Creekside and into the wilds beyond.

My ears perked up as a high-pitched wailing filled the air. My gaze lifted to the mountain road at least a half a mile in the distance. There I could see the flashing lights of the rescue vehicles and at least three other cars. One of them, if I wasn't mistaken, was my parents' minivan.

"Tony sent the rescue team. And my parents it looks like," I said, pointing up at them. "They probably think we're both dead."

"Well," Charlie sighed. "I guess we better go let them know we're okay. "

We both stood up in the center of the creek, the cold water rushing around our legs. Charlie grabbed my hand to pull me along, but I didn't move. Instead, he stopped and looked back at me.

"Are you okay?"

"Were you serious?" I asked, my own insecurities getting the better of me for a moment. "That you want to spend your life with me?"

Charlie stepped closer, slipping his hands around my waist. "Nix, I would marry you here on the spot if you asked me. I'd move to Boston if you wanted. Hell, I'll even try to be friends with Tony if that's what it's gonna take."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I know things are hard for you sometimes," I said, looping my arms around his neck and leaning my forehead against his. "I'll do everything I can to make it easier, okay?"

"We can do that for each other," he replied. "I've been avoiding life for a long time because it's scary. But I've realized that it's going to be scary either way, so I might as well try to live it, right? It won't be easy, but I want to share this life with you."

"Me too."

He leaned close, kissing me softly. "So, I guess you really lived up to your name, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on," Charlie laughed. "You have to see the irony in all this. A guy named Phoenix just ran headfirst into a wildfire and now he's walking out of it, covered in ash and soot, and starting a new life?" He grinned. "It's like your parents knew what was going to happen to you."

"Don't you ever tell my mother that her stupid name caused all this," I growled. "She will be insufferable for the rest of time."

Charlie burst out laughing and I followed quickly behind. With the fire safely behind us and our lives still intact, the world seemed brighter and lighter than it had in years. Eventually we turned away from the fire and began walking through the creek toward the mountain road and the rescue team waiting for us. I knew my parents would be inconsolable and Tony would be pissed at me for being so reckless. But I didn't care. It was worth it. If I hadn't raced into Creekside, I wouldn't have my Charlie at my side. My best friend in the entire world.

And that day we did rise from the ashes as one to walk through life hand in hand. Just like I always knew we would.

And I couldn't have been happier.