by Eric Vall
“What about me?” I asked. “I always seem to be out here with her when it happens.”
“Nope,” Tara said with a shake of her head. “Remember the first bear that attacked? It went after Bailey.”
Tara was right, that first bear had cornered Bailey, and I’d stepped in to help. But I wasn’t near her when it happened, and even with all of us out in the woods, she’d been the one that it had gone after.
“I guess that’s true,” I mused.
“Tav!” Bailey exclaimed, and she hit me on the chest.
“What?” I asked with a playful shrug. “Wild animals do seem to have a thirst for your blood.”
“Right,” Tara laughed.
“Whatever,” Bailey said with an eye roll.
“What were you guys doing out here anyway?” Anna asked with narrowed eyes. “I thought that we took down all of our traps.”
“We did,” I said, then I gestured to my measurer. “But I set that up to see how low the water has gotten.”
“Well constructed,” Paige said as she looked at the thing.
“Thanks,” I said with a smile.
“It looks pretty damn low,” Tara remarked as we all stepped over the dead wolf and leaned down by the stream.
“It is,” I said. “It’s dropped a few inches just since I put this up.”
“Well, a few inches doesn’t seem terrible,” Tara said.
“No, but when you consider this water is only a few feet deep to begin with,” Paige said. “Then it seems like a lot more.”
“That’s true,” the platinum blonde replied.
“Plus, the animals that are fleeing are stopping here to drink,” I said.
“We saw some deer here this morning,” Bailey explained. “That’s what the wolves were originally after.”
“Until they smelled Bailey,” Tara whispered loudly to Paige, who snickered in response.
“Is there a way we can stop the animals from drinking out of it?” Anna asked.
“Even if we could, we shouldn’t,” I said. “They’ve traveled God knows how far, and this could be the first water they see in miles and miles. We can’t take that away from them.”
Deer were one of our main sources of meat, and a lot of them had probably already died in the fire. No doubt even more would by the time this was over, so we couldn’t risk harming the population even more.
The water was incredibly low, though, and there definitely wouldn’t be enough for us to water down the entirety of campus to try to deter the flames. Even if we did put down water, it was so hot out that it could dry back up in a matter of hours. I needed a new way to put up lines on campus.
“I guess that makes sense,” the redhead sighed.
“It does mean that we’ll need to haul water, though,” I said. “This supply isn’t going to hold up much longer.”
“From how smokey the air is, I’m not sure we have much longer,” Paige said with a frown.
She was right, it had gotten even smokier just since Bailey and I had been in the woods, I could smell it. The fire was definitely headed our way, and we needed to get everything prepared for the worst. We’d done all we could at the farm, now the campus was our priority.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “Today we’re going to work on packing the truck with supplies and making sure that everybody has their evacuation bag ready.”
“Alright,” Anna agreed. “I think pretty much everyone is up already.”
“Great,” I said, and I turned to Paige. “Do you have a current list of our supplies?”
“Inventory was updated last week,” she said with a nod.
“Okay,” I said. “I want you to log everything that gets put on the truck at the very least. We need this done as soon as possible.”
If we had to evacuate before day’s end, then we needed to at least have some supplies ready to go.
“I can do that,” the brunette agreed.
“Have you contacted Renee?” Paige asked.
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “Why?”
“Oh, I just figured you were going to talk to her about us evacuating to the fort,” the brunette explained.
“That’s not a bad idea,” I sighed.
I knew that Renee wouldn’t have a problem with it since she wanted us there permanently. But at the same time it was much more respectful to contact her first, so I’d try to do that before I started to get everything going for the day.
“What should we do with the wolf carcasses?” Anna asked. “At this point, I don’t think it makes much sense to bring them back to campus.”
“I don’t think so, either,” I said. “We won’t have enough room for all the supplies we have as it is.”
“We’re just going to leave them here, then?” Bailey asked.
“We are,” I said. “We have other pressing matters to attend to. If everything works out well, then we’ll make an effort to bury them later, but for now, we’re going to let them be.”
We already had a freezer full of meat and canned and dried goods in the gym to pack. We didn’t need to worry about skinning and smoking five hundred or so pounds of wolf meat.
Besides, if Paige was right, then we might not even have enough time to do that in the first place. The fire could hit us anytime within the next twenty-four hours, depending on how the wind blew, and we needed to make sure that we were prepared.
After that was decided, I hopped onto one of the ATVs and Bailey and Paige hopped on behind me while Tara and Anna took the other one. We hurried back to campus to find all the civilians gathered around, obviously waiting for our return.
“We heard the shots,” Rolly said after I turned the small vehicle off. “Everything okay?”
“More wolf problems,” I said with a shake of my head.
“Everyone’s alright, though?” Betty inquired.
“We’re all fine,” I assured her. “We’re going to run out of water there sooner rather than later, though.”
“What are we going to do if the stream dries up totally?” Jeff asked.
“What we were planning to do already,” I said. “We’re going to haul water from Otter Creek, and if we have to we’ll find a source that’s even further away and haul water from there.”
The crowd nodded, but nobody said anything. It was a scary time, and this news didn’t help one bit, if anything it made it worse. The creek wasn’t much better than the stream as far as water level, and I knew that it was still too risky to try to dampen the area, especially when we couldn’t be sure when the fire would arrive. I could already tell that it was gearing up to be another hot day, and if we put water on the ground then it could end up being a total waste if it had time to dry up before the fire hit.
I hadn’t told the civilians Paige’s calculations yet, but if they were correct, which I presumed they were since it was Paige, that meant that we could be evacuating as early as today. They were already stressed enough, but as long as they had their evacuation bags ready, then we could leave at a moment’s notice if we needed to.
Even if their bags weren’t ready, we’d still have to go.
The smoke was already heavier in the air than it had been earlier when Bailey and I headed out to the woods, and it was only getting worse. The fire was definitely on its way, and we needed to get things done for the day.
“Has everyone packed their evacuation bags?” I asked the group, and they nodded their heads. “Alright, I want everyone to get their bags and place them in one of the military trucks. After that, meet me at the gym, we’re going to start going through the supplies and loading them up. We’re also going to be working on fire lines around campus today. We need to move quickly, so get your bags on the truck as soon as possible.”
Everyone nodded and moved to disperse, but Betty called out quickly before they left.
“I put out protein bars for breakfast,” she said. “And some fruit, make sure you grab some.”
“Thank you,” I told the older woman as e
veryone meandered away.
“It’s alright,” she told me with a small smile, and she patted my shoulder. “You’ve got enough to worry about without thinking of what everyone is going to eat as well.”
“I do appreciate it,” I told her, and she smiled again and headed inside.
“Should we go get our bags, too?” Paige asked. “Or is there something you want us to do in the meantime?”
“I need to call Renee on the radio,” I sighed. “You all get your bags and head to the gym, if I’m not there yet when people start to show up, then I’m sure you can handle it.”
“Alright,” Anna agreed, and she led the rest of the girls toward the dorm building.
I followed them inside and made my way to the supply closet where the CB radio was. As much as I wanted to remember the good time that Kimmy and I had in there, there was too much on my mind at the moment.
I sat in front of the radio and let out a deep sigh.
Our water source was nearly gone, the fire could be there any second, and we’d only managed to protect the farm so far. Not to mention the fact that there was possibly another group nearby that we still had to worry about.
I grabbed the mic from the radio and held down the small button with my eyes still closed as I breathed deeply.
“Tav to Renee,” I said. “Come in, Renee.”
I waited several minutes, but there was no response, so I let out an exasperated breath and raised the mic to my mouth again.
“Tav to Renee,” I said. “Come in, Renee.”
“Tav?” Renee’s voice crackled through the speaker, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“I’m here,” I answered.
“Is everything alright?” she asked.
“Not exactly,” I sighed.
“More news about the fire?” she inquired, and I could hear the concern in her voice.
“Not yet,” I said. “Although it’s smoky here, so it has to be getting closer.”
“We’ve smelled a bit of smoke,” Renee told me. “But nothing major.”
If that was the case, then it seemed like the fire was likely to stay on the Vermont side of the lake, which was both good and bad. Good, because that meant we’d for sure have a place to evacuate to, but bad because that meant that our home was definitely in danger.
“Listen,” I said quietly into the mic. “I have a favor to ask, but it’s a big one.”
“Whatever you need,” Renee answered quickly.
“If things go south here, we’ll need somewhere to evacuate to,” I said.
“Of course,” she agreed. “You’re welcome here anytime, you know that.”
“I appreciate that,” I said. “But I didn’t want to show up homeless on your doorstep, either.”
“You think the fire’s headed for you, then?” she asked in a small voice.
“I think so,” I said. “It’s getting smokier by the hour. We managed to get the farm ready yesterday, but we still have to worry about our home.”
“Alright,” Renee said. “But you come whenever you feel like you need to. I don’t care what time, day or night. We’ve got plenty of room, and heck, I told you a few days ago I wanted you all to come live with us.”
“Thanks, Renee,” I said sincerely.
“And Tav,” she said, but she paused for a second.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Take care of yourself,” she said.
“You, too,” I told her with a soft smile, then I hung up the CB mic and let out an audible sigh.
“Knock, knock,” Kimmy said quietly as she pulled the door open.
“Hey,” I greeted her halfheartedly.
“You speak to Renee?” she asked with a soft smile.
“Yeah,” I answered, too exhausted to elaborate.
“Are you alright?” the dark skinned woman asked as she sat down next to me.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured her. “There’s just a lot going on right now.”
“I know,” she said with a nod. “I can’t even imagine what you’re dealing with.”
“I just want to look out for my people,” I explained.
“We all know that,” Kimmy said, and she reached over and put her hand on top of mine.
Even in my agitated state, the feel of her skin on mine was enough to both calm me and excite me all at once. Her hand was soft and velvety, and I brought it up to my lips and kissed the inner part of her wrist as she wrapped her fingers into my beard.
“Thank you,” I whispered against her skin.
“For what?” she asked, and her brown eyes looked at me curiously.
“For checking in on me,” I told her.
“Of course,” she said, and she leaned in and pressed her lips gently against mine.
It was a natural instinct of Kimmy’s to check on someone in distress, and I knew she didn’t think anything of it, but it meant more to me than I could possibly let her know. I was capable, and that’s what everyone saw, so most often it was me checking on others, and while that’s the way I preferred it, it was still nice to know that she cared enough to come in and see how I was handling everything.
“We should probably get out there to everyone,” she said after a moment.
I knew she was right, but part of me didn’t want to leave that supply closet. This was one of the toughest missions I’d ever handled, even compared to my time in the military, and I wasn’t looking forward to having to rip anyone from our home.
“You’re right,” I said, and I stood up and gently pulled her up by her arm.
Kimmy smiled at me, leaned up, and kissed me on the mouth once more. Her full, pouty lips covered mine for a split second before she pulled away.
We headed outside, and I went over to the table where Betty had set out power bars and fruit, and I grabbed a bowl of some pears and a peanut butter flavored bar, as well as some coffee. I quickly ate my food and put my bowl with the others, then I grabbed my still half full coffee cup and headed over to the gym where people were already gathered.
One of the military trucks was parked near the entrance, and as I walked by I saw that there was a line of civilians each passing boxes to the next so they could fill up the truck. Anna and Jeff were inside the back of the vehicle stacking things carefully, and Paige was at the front of the line with a clipboard as she pointed to things that needed to be loaded up.
I walked over to the brunette, and she stopped what she was doing and looked up at me.
“It looks like you’ve got this handled right now,” I said with a nod.
“We do,” she agreed. “I sent Joe and a few others out to gather up the axes and things that you’ll need to chop trees.”
“Thanks,” I told her, and I headed outside and found the group of men by one of the military trucks. We got the axes from the back of the vehicle we’d taken to the farm the day before, then I had most of us start chopping down any trees that were too close to campus. The rest of the group I had use the rakes to gather up any pine needles or debris.
The morning light was clear now, but there was still a haze from the smoke. It was barely past dawn, though, so we had all day to work as long as the fire stayed at bay. That should be enough time to chop down the trees around campus, but I knew that fire was unpredictable and we could get hit at any time.
There were fewer trees right near the buildings, but the ones that were there were quite larger than the smaller pine trees that surrounded Betty’s place. It would be a big job, but nobody complained, and we all just got to work.
I knew we didn’t have time to clear out enough trees to make a full fire line around the perimeter. Even if we did we’d have to go get the tractor and bring it out to get them done, which could take more time than we had. Plus, we couldn’t leave any stumps if we wanted to make a clear line, and that just wasn’t possible at this point. I thought about our options and decided that there was still one more thing we’d be able to do, particularly to keep the field from catching fire.
That was
the area I was most concerned about, the field where we allowed the animals to graze. Over there was full of grass and weeds, and I knew that it would go up quickly and only make the fire spread worse, especially since it led right up to the courtyard.
I left Joe in charge of the tree chopping for the moment, and I went and found Henry and Rolly. They were helping to load supplies into the truck, but I pulled them outside with me.
“What are we doing?” Rolly asked as we walked toward the truck that had the water barrels on it.
“We’re going on a little adventure,” I explained.
“I’m not sure what that means, but I like the sound of adventure,” Henry said with a sly smile.
“I was thinking you might,” I chuckled.
We piled into the truck, then I turned the key and started us off down our long driveway toward the main highway. Once we got onto the main road, I took us to the river that ran in front of the small town that led up to campus and hopped out.
“Are we watering the plants?” Rolly asked.
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “This is for something else.”
“Is he always this mysterious?” Henry asked Rolly with a raised eyebrow.
“Pretty much,” the old man chuckled.
“Alright, then,” Henry said, and he clapped his hands together. “Tell us what to do.”
“We need to fill these up first,” I explained. “Then we’re going to make a fire line where the field is behind campus.”
“Smart,” Rolly told me with a clap on the shoulder as he grabbed the hose from the back of the truck and lowered part of it into the water tank.
“Can’t say I’ve ever built a fire line,” Henry said, and his eyes narrowed with thought as he turned to Rolly. “Isn’t that what you did on the tractor yesterday, though?”
“Yeah,” the old man agreed. “But this is a different kind.”
“We’re going to light the field on fire,” I explained. “But in a controlled way so that we burn a line around the perimeter.”
“Hm,” Henry said as we got the water started and it flowed into the tank on the back of the vehicle. “Because fire doesn’t burn what’s already been burnt.”
“Exactly,” I agreed.
“So this will be to help us keep it under control, then,” the old fisherman said, and I nodded again.
