by K J Kalis
“We can’t talk right now. Once we get out of here, I’ll tell you everything. Go get leashes for the dogs.”
Van came down the steps surprisingly calm. He had on a baseball hat, jeans and work boots. “We ready?”
“I think so. Jack is just getting leashes for the dogs.”
“I’m going to start the truck.”
“That’s fine. There’s a firefighter waiting for us. His name is Chuck.”
Van didn’t say anything. He just nodded.
“Jack! I need those leashes!” Kat yelled, just as Jack came running back to the kitchen.
“I’ve got them! Here!” Jack shoved the leashes at Kat. “Mom, I can smell smoke.”
“That’s why we are leaving, buddy. Here, get the leash on Woof, okay?”
Kat bent over to put the leash on Tyrant and she watched Jack do the same. Just as he was getting ready to clip the leash to Woof’s collar, Van opened the door. Woof, seeing the open door, bolted.
“Woof, come back!” Jack cried, running out the door behind Woof.
Kat ran after them, terrified, tossing Tyrant’s leash to Van. Woof and Jack were both out in the yard. “Jack!” she screamed, “Jack! Where are you?”
The smell of the smoke and the darkness had surrounded their house. From their front yard, Kat could see the glow of the fire creeping toward them, the wind swirling ash and embers around them. Chuck was waiting for them by the garage. “We’ve got to go now!”
Kat couldn’t focus on Chuck. “Jack! Jack!”
Jack came running back around the side of the house. “I can’t find him,” he said, tears running down his face. “He ran away. Mom, I need Woof. Where is he?”
Kat took Jack’s hand and they ran into the backyard, yelling for the frightened dog. Chuck and Van followed, all of them yelling for Woof. After a minute or two of yelling, there was still no sign of him. Kat glanced toward the front of the house. The glow was getting closer. A thud in the distance told her that a tree had fallen in the path of the fire.
Van jogged over to her. “Kat, we have to go. We won’t make it out if we wait much longer.”
“We can’t leave without Woof!” she yelled.
The idea of their terrified dog burning to death in the fire was something Kat couldn’t live with. Not after what they’d been through. Woof had been the one who had really saved Jack after he’d been kidnapped. Woof had stayed by Jack's side for weeks, never leaving him. Woof was Jack’s safe space. Without him, Kat didn’t know what Jack would do.
She ran back around the front of the house, opening the door to the truck. “Tyrant! Voran!” Kat yelled the command in German for Tyrant to go find. She pointed to the woods. “Voran Woof!” She said a silent prayer as the Belgian Malinois took off at a run into the backyard through the swirling soot and smoke, hoping Tyrant understood. She said a silent prayer that she hadn’t sent both of her dogs to their death.
Kat ran as fast as she could back to the backyard where Van, Jack and Chuck were huddled together. “Mom! What did you do?” Jack yelled over the sound of the approaching fire.
“I don’t know. I hope…”
A minute passed, then two. Kat searched the backyard, pulling her t-shirt up over her face to keep the smoke out of her lungs. Fear surrounded her as the fire approached. What had she done? What if Tyrant and Woof were both lost to the fire? The smoke got thicker and the wind picked up, pushed toward the back of their house.
Chuck shouted, “We’ve got to go. The fire is coming too fast!” Kat saw him wave his partner to go ahead without him.
Kat looked at Van. “Get Jack to the truck. I’ll stay here for another minute in case they come back.”
Van picked up Jack who was sobbing and protesting that he didn’t want to leave his mom. Kat saw Chuck look at her. “Chuck, go! Don’t wait for me!” Chuck nodded and ran back toward the truck.
Kat started to cry, fear gripping her. The blackness and smoke surrounded her. She started to cough. “Heir, Heir!” she yelled as loud as she could, hoping Tyrant would hear the command to come back. She stood and waited. Another minute passed. She turned and looked toward the front of the house. The glow from the fire was gaining speed, nearly pushing over onto the street. “Heir! Heir!” she yelled, between gasps. She knew she only had another minute before she’d have to abandon both Tyrant and Woof to the fire.
Kat turned, seeing the truck pulled out on the street. Tears ran down her face. She was scared for the dogs. She was scared for herself. It was a choking fear that nearly buckled her knees.
“Kat!” Van was yelling for her from the front yard. “We’ve got to go!”
“One minute!” she coughed, yelling “Heir, heir!”
A jingle to her left caught her attention. Out of the smoke, the black-faced Belgian Malinois with the pink collar came running to her. Tyrant looked at Kat and ran back into the smoke. Kat’s heart sank. Then she heard the jingle again, this time closer. Both dogs emerged out of the smoke, Tyrant herding Woof towards Kat. Woof was shaking and had a limp, but seemed otherwise okay. “Woof!” Kat cried, more tears running down her face. The exhausted dog came to her and stopped, head down, mouth open. Kat leaned down and scooped up Woof in her arms, calling Tyrant to follow. She yelled as she ran to the street, “We’re here! We’re here!”
Van ran around the side of the truck and pulled Woof out of Kat’s arms. Chuck opened the door and Van set Woof down on Jack’s lap. Tyrant hopped up in the cab with Kat. “Everyone in?” Van yelled.
“Yes, we’re all here,” Kat said. “Thank God,” she whispered, running her fingers through Tyrant’s fur. The truck pulled away from the front of the house as the fire licked up at the side of the road.
Chuck looked at Kat, “That was close.”
“No kidding. Where’s your partner?” Kat realized she had totally forgotten about the other firefighter that had come to the door with Chuck.
“He took the fire department’s truck. I sent him on ahead to do more evacuations.” Chuck looked out the window, “Man, that fire came up fast.”
Kat glanced at Van, who had his eyes completely focused on the road. She wasn’t sure how he could see. The smoke was so thick that even the powerful headlights from the truck could barely cut through it. The only saving grace was the glow from the fire. As they drove down the street, they passed a house that was totally engulfed with flames. “Oh my God,” Kat breathed. “That house. It’s totally gone.”
Chuck put his hand on the back of Kat’s seat. “There wasn’t anyone home. I checked that one myself.”
Kat turned back toward the road, “Watch out!”
A burning tree fell down across the pavement just as they passed. Van gunned it and they made it through, the embers and flying branches scraping at the truck. Kat’s heart was in her throat, her stomach clenched in a tight knot.
“How much farther?”
Chuck looked through the windshield from the back seat. “A few more miles, I think. This is a big fire. I can’t tell exactly where we are. Everyone doing okay?”
Kat and Van nodded. Jack was silent, his head down, his face buried in Woof’s fur.
“How’s Woof, Jack?” Kat said, trying to keep herself calm.
“He’s scared, Mama.”
“I know buddy. You know what?”
“What’s that?”
“The guy sitting next to you is a brave firefighter. We are all going to be okay.”
Jack nodded and sunk his face back into Woof’s fur. Kat didn’t know what else to say.
Out of the blackness, some yellow flashing lights appeared. They were high, higher than you’d normally see from a car. “Van, what’s that?” Kat leaned forward in her seat, squinting, trying to make out the shape ahead of her. Van slowed the truck as the shape became clearer. They pulled up behind it and stopped.
A school bus was parked on the side of the road. “Why aren’t they leaving?” Kat put her hand on the door handle.
“Don’t you dare. Stay h
ere,” Van growled.
Kat quickly looped leashes around Woof and Tyrant’s necks and held them tight. “Stay!” If they were going to jump out of the truck, Kat was going with them. Sensing the danger, neither dog moved. Chuck and Van got out of the truck, disappearing into the smoky darkness.
Kat squinted through the windshield, but the murkiness surrounding the truck made it nearly impossible to see. She felt restless. Van had told her to stay put, but she knew she needed to help if she could. She looked at Jack. “Buddy, I need you to do a very important job for me, okay?”
He didn’t say anything, panic on his face.
“I’m going to give you these leashes. I need you to hold on to them very tight so the dogs don’t get out when I do.”
“But Mom, Van said to…” Jack’s voice cracked.
Kat knew he was at the edge of breaking, but she needed to help Van, to see what was going on. She couldn’t just sit there and wait, wondering. “I’m just going to check on Van. I’ll be right back. Whatever you do, don’t get out of the car. You stay and protect the dogs, okay? Woof and Tyrant need you.”
Before he could answer, Kat handed the leashes over to him, watching him wrap the ends around his small wrist. She opened the door, smoke rushing into the truck. She made her way forward, gingerly, trying not to trip on debris in the road. “Van? Chuck?”
“Over here!” She heard voices coming from the side of the bus that faced the edge of the road. The men were bent over, looking at the front tire. She ran forward, staying to the side of the bus.
“What’s going on? Why are they stopped?” Kat looked up at the windows of the bus. There were pale faces dotting the windows, their eyes wide with fear.
“Tire blew. She was trying to get the kids from an overnight camp.” Van pointed to the front tire. It was resting on the rim. “They hit some debris on the road. Shredded the tire. We’ve got to get them out of here.” Van looked at Kat, his eyes watering in the smoke. “Chuck and I will make room in the bed of the truck. We are going to have to get them out.”
“Are you kidding?” Kat said, her breath shallow. She coughed.
Chuck shook his head. “There’s no other way. They’ll die out here if we don’t get moving right now.”
Kat nodded, knowing their plan was crazy, but it was the only one they had. Kat pounded on the door to the bus. “Let’s go. Everybody out. Leave everything. There’s no room in the truck.” She looked at the bus driver, who nodded. “Follow me in a single file line. Keep a hand on the person in front of you.” Kat looked at the driver. “What’s your name?”
“Loretta.” The woman looked to be a grandma. She was shorter than Kat, not more than five feet tall with a pile of gray hair on her head.
“Loretta, I’m Kat. I want you to go to the back of the bus and clear every seat as the kids come out. I’ll be at the front, you’ll be at the back. Got it?”
Loretta nodded. There was no time for any other talk. “Let’s go!”
Kat stepped down off the bus, taking the hand of the child behind her. It was a girl with a long braid wearing a t-shirt. She was crying. Kat wanted to comfort her, to hold her and tell her it was okay, but there wasn’t time. “Grab my hand,” she yelled, the crack of a tree hitting the ground nearby, embers swirling around the kids as they got off the bus. “Come on. Follow me!”
Kat made her way toward the back of the bus leading the line of children, moving slowly but surely. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, she kept telling herself, batting the floating embers away from her face, feeling their sting on her skin. It was something she learned from spending time with SEALs. She thought of TJ Weiss, the SEAL that had pulled her out of the Humvee in Afghanistan, his strong hands dragging her away from the wreckage just as a rocket-propelled grenade hit what was left of it. She gripped the girl’s hand a little tighter, looking at the back of the line. Loretta was off the bus, the kids holding hands like they were preschoolers, though Kat guessed they were in middle school.
Chuck ran back to them, “The time is now! We’ve got to get them in the truck and get out of here before we are covered in fire from all directions.”
The wind had picked up, the howl of the Santa Ana winds coming up out of the canyon, the crackle and whine of fire pushing toward them. Only the road was keeping the fire at bay. Kat wasn’t sure how long that would hold out. The fire was sending embers and fallen trees over the pavement. The flames would eventually win, crossing over the very place they had found shelter. Kat pulled on the girl’s hand, encouraging her to move a little faster. When they got to the truck, Van was waiting. He lifted the kids up in the back, telling them to get down and to squeeze together. Loretta brought up the back of the group, their arms and faces already covered in soot.
“How many, Loretta?” Kat leaned forward to hear her answer.
“Thirteen, including me.”
Kat saw the last child climb in the back of the truck, a little girl so white against the glow of the approaching fire she looked like a ghost. Chuck climbed up with them, looking at Kat. She made the numbers one and three for him. He started to count and gave a quick head nod. “We’ve got them all. There’s room in the cab. Why don’t you ride up there?”
Loretta squinted and coughed. “No. These are my kids. I’ll ride with them in the back.”
She climbed in, sitting down between two of the kids, putting her arms around them, comforting them as best she could.
Van slammed the tailgate closed and pulled a tarp over top of them. “I don’t have time to tie this down. Hold on tight, okay?” he yelled. There were murmurs from the kids. Kat heard someone crying.
Chuck pounded the side of the truck, “Let’s go! Let’s go!”
As Kat ran back to the front of the truck and got in, she saw how close the fire was. Flames were licking at the side of the road, every little piece of tinder lighting up. Embers and smoke were pushing over the asphalt. She could see a few little sparks landing on the other side of the road. Chuck was right. If they didn’t get moving, they would be trapped. In a fire like this, there was nowhere to go. She looked in the backseat of the truck, out of breath, her stomach clenched. “Jack, you okay?”
He nodded and glanced out the back window to the bed of the truck, his hand wrapped so tightly on the leashes for the dogs that his knuckles were white. “Are the kids okay?” he asked, tears staining his face.
“They are. So are we. You did a great job with the dogs. How’s Woof feeling?”
“He’s okay. I’m worried about his leg.”
She put her hand on his knee, “We’ll get him looked at as soon as we get out of here, okay?”
“Promise?” There was a quiver in Jack’s voice.
“I promise.”
Van put the truck in gear and slowly pulled forward around the bus. “Nice and easy,” he muttered. He glanced at Kat, a little smile crawling across his face, “Don’t want to lose our cargo.”
How he could smile while they were in the middle of a raging wildfire, Kat didn’t know. What she did know was that she could feel the heat from the fire inside the truck. She couldn’t imagine what Chuck, Loretta and the kids were feeling. As she glanced back, she heard a tremendous clap, like a crack of thunder. A massive tree arched and fell, its branches on fire like a torch belonging to a giant. It landed on the center of the bus’s roof, as they passed, caving it in.
Kat leaned forward, one hand braced on the dash and the other one on the side of Van’s seat. She glanced at the road and the kids and then back again. Chuck had on his helmet, the clear visor down over his face. Most of the kids were under the tarp. A few had their heads out, their faces black with soot and ash. A few times Van veered to one side of the road or the other, avoiding debris. The truck eased around a curve. Kat knew they had to get down further into the canyon to get away from the fire. The view was spectacular in an eerie way, half of the canyon lit up in a wash of glowing red, orange and yellow. The other side was unharmed, the lights of homes up on the hillside
twinkling like they were a world away. Kat stared down the roadway. She could see where they needed to go, but there was a wall of fire in front of them. “Oh my God, Van. Can we get through that?”
She pointed. He slowed the truck to a stop and looked. “I don’t know. Gimme a minute.”
He opened the door and stepped out, a new rush of smoke and heat coming into the truck.
“Mom? Where is Van going? Why did we stop?” Jack’s voice quivered.
“It’s okay, buddy.” Kat didn’t know what Van was doing. She saw him look down through the valley and then go to the back of the truck, waving his hands and talking to Chuck. Chuck picked up his radio, said something and then shook his head. Kat’s throat tightened.
Van came back to the truck and put it in gear. “There’s no help coming. We either go through that or we don’t make it out. The fire department has ambulances waiting for us on the other side if we make it through.” Van cracked his neck like he was getting ready for a fight. “Chuck’s got the kids laying down. I’m going to go as fast as I can. That’s the only way.” Van glanced back at Jack. “Are you buckled in?”
Jack nodded, “Yes.”
“All right. Jack, we are going to be just fine. Your job is to talk to the dogs until I tell you otherwise okay?”
Jack nodded and started whispering to the dogs. Kat took a deep breath, fastened her seat belt and kept an eye on the road and the kids. Chuck gave her a thumbs up.
Kat looked at Van. “It’s time. Chuck just gave me a thumbs up.”
“Let’s do this.”
As soon as Van took his foot off the brake, the truck lurched forward. Chuck was seated down low in the bed of the truck. Ahead of them, Kat could see several places where fallen trees had gone across the road, their slim branches glowing and burning. Van looked at Kat, “Chuck said unless there is something big, we need to drive around we should just go through the debris. Hold on, okay? Any luck, this will be over in a few minutes.”
