Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

Ayen

"Barker!" I screamed out just as the ground beneath me crumbled, too.

I plunged down to the ground, the six feet completely knocking the air out of my lungs when I landed onto the hard dirt. A groan escaped me while I rolled onto my side, prevented from moving any further from the pack on my back.

I'm so going to fucking kill him.

"Barker!" I called out, the haze so thick down there that it was hard to see anything. Whatever he'd said about smoke being more intense at the top of that overhang was fucking wrong, that was for sure.

I didn't hear anything from him, just the fire crackling way to close for comfort.

I hauled myself up, my shoulder nagging at me from where I'd fallen on it. Quickly checking to make sure that it was still in place, I stumbled forward while patting the ground in search of my partner.

He was lying prone on his side, with part of the tree pinning him into the dirt and no other movement visible. My heart leaped into my throat at the sight, fully convinced I'd just witnessed a man dying in front of me.

Crawling over to him, I shook him a few times, relieved to see that his mouth was open and he was pulling in a few labored breaths.

"Shit, come on." I patted my hands against his chest and face. "Wake up!"

Sweat was pouring down my face and causing my goggles to fog up from both the heat of the fire and my own body's rising temperature.

Barker let out a soft groan but otherwise didn't move.

The fire was probably about fifty feet away from us, and gaining fast. If we didn't get out of here now, we were fucking cooked.

Craning my neck up to where the overhang loomed, I noted it was a steep climb and wouldn't be easy at all to make. The dirt was rich and not packed enough to help us climb it. The second our hands dug into it, it was going to crumble away just like the tree had.

The air was too hard to see down further but maybe the incline tapered off enough for us to climb up it again.

"Okay," I said to myself, and threw my bag off of my shoulders to give me more room to work. I tucked both of my arms under Barker's armpits in order to heave him out from under the branch that was pining him. "Come on!"

My boots dug down into the dirt as I pulled, leaving deep tread marks that helped with me pushing back and counterweighing the branch.

Finally, when I was able to tug him free, he collapsed into my lap like dead weight. I panted and swiped a hand over my brow.

"Barker, you gotta get up." Slapping his cheek a few times did absolutely nothing. Not even earning me a groan.

He wasn't much bigger than me, but I had barely any muscle on me to begin with.

How the fuck was I going to carry him to safety?

Suddenly, my memory from earlier snapped into me.

I put my hand to my hip where the radio was still attached. Relief washed over me strong enough to bring tears to my eyes. I owed that man a fucking kiss, despite whatever the fuck was going on between us.

Tugging the communication device off my belt loop, I pressed the side button and said, "Help! We need help! We're near the fire!"

There was a pause of silence on the other end that felt like an eternity, but finally, a crackling response came back that I could barely make out.

Fuck, I needed better signal.

Clipping the radio back at my waist, I grabbed Barker again and pulled him up with me as I stood. Adrenaline was pounding through my veins, allowing me to drag him slowly as I followed the incline.

The popping sound of wood and embers exploding nearby had me jumping and stumbling as I tried to pick up the pace. This was not where I was going to die. Not after all the shit I'd been through in my life.

Getting taken out by the stupidity of someone else was not only ridiculous, but downright unacceptable as a way to die. If I was going to kick the bucket, it was going to be on my own terms. Not from some dumbass trying to one up the rest of us while endangering himself and dragging me along with him.

About fifty feet from where we'd first landed, I grabbed at the radio again and screamed into it. "Help! Near the fire!"

Finally, a clearer response came. " Who is this? What direction? "

"Gonzalez and Barker! I think we went west!"

I fucking hoped we did. If I was sending them in the wrong goddamn direction, I was going to be so pissed at myself.

" West? " The voice repeated.

Stopping under another overhang, I slowly lowered Barker down to the ground and ripped the pack off of his back. I had the contents of it emptied out all over in record time and dug through them to find one of those forest ranger compasses that Mac had sent us off with.

Finding it, I held it up toward the canopy of trees, trying to pinpoint the sun through the dense smoke overhead.

" Hello? " The voice called again.

I put the speaker up to my mouth. "I can't find the sun." My voice cracked.

It was getting harder to breathe in the smoke billowing from the burning foliage around us. I coughed into my scarf a few times, trying to clear my lungs in order to talk again.

There was a brief pause on the other end to the radio, and then a familiar voice was talking to me.

" Ayen, what way are you facing the fire? "

Fuck, I wanted to cry.

I pointed the compass toward it. "North. Barker's passed out."

" Use your whistle. "

"Hurry," I begged.

" Whistle, Ayen."

With a shaky hand, I pulled it out from where I'd tucked it under my coveralls and brought it up to my mouth. Then, with the biggest lungful of air I could manage, I blew like my life depended on it. At this point, it did.