Fire From the Sky: Trial by Fire

by N. C. Reed

  Clay hoped it was enough too as he watched his friends battling to save his family's barn. Greg was throwing water like he knew what to do, which was more than Clay knew, and the Webbs were providing the muscle to keep the hose straight. As he watched, the flames on the barn wood began to be extinguished and two of the men ran inside the barn with wet towels and the garden sprayer, presumably looking for any fire that had evaded them.

  Just as Clay was convinced the fire was out the pump began rattling behind him and the hose went limp in Greg's hand.

  “That's it!” Jake called, making a throat slash motion at Greg, who nodded and began pulling the hose back to the truck.

  “Sorry pal, but we got to go,” Jake told Clay. “We need to try and pull some more water out of the pond and fill this thing in case this happens again.”

  “Yeah, go ahead!” Clay slapped Jake's shoulder. “I need to go too! Thanks, guys!”

  “Sure thing, brother!” Greg grinned even as he simply piled the used hose atop the truck, albeit careful so as to avoid knotting it. “See ya!” he called as the truck sputtered and jumped before smoothing out and gaining speed.

  “How 'bout that,” Clay mused, shaking his head. They had averted disaster for the moment, anyway.

  -

  “Look!” Zach shook Abigail's shoulder. She did, following his point to see flames climbing into the sky just east of where they were.

  “Hang on!” she told him and veered the dozer toward the flames. Zach did just that, torn between trying to keep a lookout as he was supposed to and watching as Abigail guided the big bulldozer over to the flames. Rather than try to surround the flames she simply lowered the blade and plowed through the small fire, throwing dirt from both sides of the blade.

  “What are you doing?” Zach practically screamed, climbing behind the seat as flames licked around them.

  “Relax,” she told him even as she ground the small fire out beneath the treads. “We're fine.”

  “You may be fine, but I am definitely not fine!” Zach replied.

  “I do it all the time, Zach,” she promised, even as she pivoted the bulldozer to return to her original track. “No big deal.”

  “No big deal?” Zach's incredulity came through loud and clear. “That was a hell of a big deal! Running through fire like that! I'm too delicate for shit like that!”

  Abigail realized then that much of Zach's outcry was for show and laughed at his antics. She felt his hand patting her shoulder lightly as he resumed his place near her.

  “That was cool as hell, Abby!”

  “Yeah, some days are like that,” she nodded.

  -

  The near miss with the barn proved to be the last direct threat to the homes and other structures on the ranch. Hot spots continued to pop up over the next hour or so, and two grew large enough that they had to be plowed around to deprive them of fuel, but the fire at the main barn proved to be the worst of it.

  Abigail cleared a two-lane swath of ground off of the eastern border of the ranch and returned as the last hot spots were being eliminated. She and Zach along with Corey Raynard took an ATV and she made a circuit of the ranch, checking for trouble and looking at the fire as it passed along both sides of them. Her prediction that Nickel Creek would not be sufficient to prevent the fire from reaching them had proven to be all too accurate.

  “Uncle Clay, bring your tractor over to the western fence line and make a couple of passes with the disc over here just to be safe,” she called as she observed the fire passing to their west. Five minutes later Clay arrived with Gordy riding shotgun and began to do just that, tearing up a wide path of ground to deprive the fire of any fuel that would allow it to move back in the direction of the farm.

  “One last thing to do,” she decreed, satisfied that the danger had mostly passed. “I want all three tractors to head to the southern line of the farm and carve a path around there to prevent any back burn. Once that's done, I think we can stand done so long as we keep a wary eye out. Well done, everyone!”

  By four that afternoon the danger had at long last been averted. A line of freshly turned dirt protected them from the fire turning back on them and the fire to their north had died from a lack of fuel. Once the flames had hit the break they had carved out across the creek, the fuel starved fire had sputtered and died, the only threat remaining from that direction having been the hot embers carried across by the high winds.

  The western border of their land had never been seriously threatened and the break hastily carved out by Clay's tractor had prevented even the small blaze on that end from becoming a problem. The eastern side had been much more troublesome as the fire found fresh fuel there and ramped back up, becoming a major fire all over again. Abigail's work there with the dozer prevented the fire from creeping onto the ranch however, and the fire had already moved well beyond their borders by late afternoon.

  “I think we're in the clear,” Abigail said tiredly as the sun began to dip into the horizon. “We need to have someone watching in the towers and the cupola for flames flaring up, but unless something unexpected was to happen, I'm pretty sure we're good.”

  “Abigail, you're done a magnificent job,” Gordon told his granddaughter. “If you hadn't been here, I don't know that we could have survived this. Your being here has made the difference in where we lay our heads this evening.”

  Abigail flushed with pleasure at that, not because she was being complimented, but because it was the nicest thing she had heard in some time. She knew that her behavior of late had been horrible, but hopefully this had atoned for at least some of that.

  -

  “Seriously? Can't we just relax this evening?”

  That was the question on most minds as everyone gathered once more for a meeting in Building Two. Complaints dropped to a minimum as Leon had to be helped up onto the small platform they used as a stage, leaning heavily on Brick as Janice Hardy hovered in the background.

  “I hate to have all of you out just for a brief time like this, but I wanted to say well done,” he told the group. “Everyone working together is what saved us today. You did something special here, and I want you all to see that, and to know and realize that working together, just like this, there ain't much you can't accomplish together. Things is hard, and likely to get harder make no mistake. But if we stick together and we watch out for each other, we can make it. May not be like it used to be again, but it can still be a damn sight better than in a lot of other places.” He paused as everyone clapped in agreement.

  “One last thing I got to say before my wind gives out,” he continued once things had calmed. “My great granddaughter, Abigail, is the one who was calling the shots during this emergency, and I want to mention that not because she's my kin, but for the simple reason that I doubt we could have managed half as well had we not had her with us. Add to that the work Jake and the others did to get that truck running after Jose and them went to get it. Everyone played a part. Abby, you did good, girl, and we thank you,” he smiled. Abruptly he nodded at Brick, who led the Old Man off the small stage and straight out the door for home. Abigail took a deep breath and then decided to take a chance, climbing up on the stage herself.

  “I may have been 'calling the shots' and the Old Man put it,” she said gently, “but it was all of you doing the work. No one deserves any more credit than anyone else, me especially. I owe a great many people here an apology. They know who they are, and what for, but especially to Uncle Clay and . . . Aunt Lainie,” she smiled slightly at the redhead. “I ain't been the best person to know the last few months. I'm sorry. That won't make up for it, but it's all I got. Thank you, all of you, for your hard work during this. No professional crew would have accomplished more than you did the last three days. Be proud of yourselves. You earned it.” She stepped down without waiting and decided to go home herself. She was out the door before anyone could stop her, headed for home, a bath and her bed.

  She had made a start at turning things around. S
he'd take it and be glad.

  -

  The next morning allowed everyone the first real look at the damage the fire had left behind. For the first time in five days there wasn't a pall of smoke hanging in the air, obscuring vision and making eyes water. First impressions were mixed.

  On the one hand, the farm had escaped relatively undamaged. The near miss with the main barn was even more sobering the day after when people had a chance to take a look at the damage. Had it not been for the fire truck, the barn would have been lost.

  “If you guys hadn't gone to get that truck, we'd be in a world of hurt at the moment,” Gordon noted, looking at the near miss.

  “Wasn't just us,” Jose Juarez shrugged. “We brought back a useless vehicle, the way it was. Jake, Ellen and Deputy Holloway worked all night and into the next morning to get it working.”

  “Like Abby said, it wasn't just one person,” Gordon nodded. “You know, looking at what everyone accomplished working together, it makes me think we can make. I mean, really make it.”

  “It's something to build on,” Jose nodded. “This, none of this, has been like any of us imagined,” he admitted. “We were so sure we had planned for every contingency, every emergency. Yet every time we turn around, there's something we didn't think about, didn't consider, didn't plan for. It's enough to make you doubt your intelligence. We all thought we had this thing figured out, locked down and done.”

  “Life's like that son,” Gordon shrugged. “All a man can do is get up in the morning and thank God for day and the blessings it brings, and ask for the wisdom to do what's best for himself and his family. There are some things you can control, and some you can't. Better to learn what you can't control and then let it go. Lets you focus more on what you can do.”

  Jose nodded at the wisdom in the older man's words. They were easy to hear and remember. Maybe they would be easy to apply, too.

  -

  “I don't believe it.”

  Abigail sat on the ATV with Jake, Gordy, and Kade Ramsey, looking at her fire plow. Somehow, some way that she couldn't credit, the flames had washed over and around her machine but left it intact rather than burned over.

  “How 'bout that,” Jake mused, climbing off the ATV and walking over to the smoke and ash washed bulldozer. “Made it through okay.”

  “It still won't run, though,” Abigail noted. “We can bring a trailer out and get it in a day or two. I didn't expect it to survive,” she admitted.

  “Hard to kill something like this,” Jake shrugged as he climbed back aboard. “Built tough.”

  “So, they are,” Abigail nodded. “Let’s go,” she said to Gordy, who put the ATV in gear and continued their tour.

  –

  “As best we can figure, we lost maybe five acres of grass, which will grow back in a few weeks,” Clay reported to Leon later that day. “We also lost about eleven or so acres of pulp woods down on the west end. A little patch of pines that I honestly forgot until I saw the flames. They're not much more than sticks now, but the trees are still up so they 'll probably grow back.”

  “We got lucky, boy,” Leon sighed, settling back in his chair. “Can't count on luck every time, though. That's a recipe for disaster. And I don't mean just the fire. It's time we faced the fact that we need more organization than we got. A lot more. We got too many people around here to leave everyone doing their own thing. Pretty soon we 'll have people working at odds of each other and then one day we 'll have words, and the next day we 'll be looking at fighting. We can't stand that. We can't stand no divisions amongst us or we're looking at failure, right in the face.”

  “You're right,” Clay admitted. “This has gotten way bigger than we had thought about, and it is out of control in a lot of ways. So far, every time someone has gone off on their own, doing their own thing, we've come out of it smelling like roses. Smart people make smart decisions more often than not. But sooner or later they 'll make a bad one. And it may only take one bad one to cripple us.”

  “Got that right,” Leon's voice was firmer than it had been in days, Clay was relieved to hear. “So…we may as well go ahead and officially make Gregory our lawman. He can deputize a couple handy people to help him when the need arises, but I think it won't be needed, at least nor for a while.”

  “What else?” Clay nodded, making a notation in his notebook.

  “Put Abby in charge of fire safety,” Leon ordered, watching Clay carefully for a reaction. All he saw was Clay nodding as he continued to write.

  “Tell her I want this place fire proofed as much as possible, and I don't mean just from forest fires. She's smart enough and trained enough to help us make sure we're reasonably safe from fire. And she needs to get with Jake and train several people to use that fire truck. While I'm thinking on it, you and that band of outlaws you run need to find us another one if you can. If we can just get the pump and the other gear it won't matter if the truck runs or not I reckon.”

  “Anything else you want?” Clay raised an eyebrow.

  “An ambulance,” Leon nodded. “Or one of them fire rescue rigs, either one. Ain't necessarily got to steal one of them since I'm sure we got everything that goes in one sitting around here somewhere. We need to be ready to respond to medical emergencies anywhere on this place. Or off it for that matter, considering how often you bunch go gallivanting around the country side stealing shit.” His grin robbed the words of any real sting and Clay laughed, shaking his head.

  “Stealing might be a bit strong.”

  “I ain't a'gin it, just pointing out the need,” Leon chuckled. “We need to officially put Pat in charge of that clinic. She can organize it any how she wants, but we need it clear and known that she's the doctor and what she says goes. Another thing that comes to mind is having little Maseo teach others how to do at least rudimen'try first aid. Enough to get a body by in a pinch, say.”

  “Good idea,” Clay made another note. “We had actually discussed some of this before, but we haven't had the time to implement it. We've used all our training time getting people set up on their rifles and handguns.”

  “And that's needful,” Leon nodded. “Gonna be more needful shortly I'd imagine as folks remember us out here in the boonies. But that ain't all there is to it. You need to start thinking like me and not so much like a soldier. Ever problem you face ain't gonna need shootin'.”

  “I know,” Clay agreed. “We've all seen the holes in our preparations since things went to hell. We thought we were ready, Old Man. I mean really ready. Studied, read, gamed out stuff that could happen. But we still missed so much,” he sighed.

  “Wanna know why?” Leon asked, leaning forward.

  “Of course,” Clay looked up at him.

  “Cause you planned on things being bad for a bit and then going back to normal,” Leon told him flatly. “I kept cautioning all of ya not to overlook long term living. Ever one o' ya promised me you hadn't, but you did in some ways. You and the others you brought home, all of you were thinking like soldiers and you couldn't get outta that thought process. Ain't a bad thing to have that mindset, especially in these time, but it leaves you overlooking stuff. Same as the lambs around here can't see the things you see. Can't imagine someone they know being a bad person or doing bad things. You gotta get outta that mindset boy,” Leon warned. “You got to start thinking long term changes, not just short-term patchwork solutions.”

  Clay thought about Leon's words long after he left the Old Man's house. He had a list of things to accomplish over the next few days, but it was Leon's warning about his thought process that was foremost in his mind at the moment.

  He knew that it was true. He had lost sight of what life would be like in a permanent situation like they were in now. Instead of adapting, or being prepared to adapt to the new dynamic, he had concentrated on making sure they could maintain the old one. Generators, solar panels, modern equipment for the clinic, the list went on and on. True, that was all needed and would be used, but was having it ignoring
the truth about their new circumstances?

  No. He almost shook his head as the firm answer echoed in his mind. No, they weren't ignoring reality. The plan all along was to give them time to adjust and get things running in the reduced environment they found themselves in. The twins in particular had done a tremendous job in preparing them for that.

  But everyone had agreed that it was all a stopgap solution. That no matter how many spare parts, batteries or anything else they managed to gather, at some point they would all be gone. When they were, that would be that. No, they weren't ignoring reality, they were just trying to give themselves a cushion, that was all. A grace period of sorts where they would still have modern technology and equipment to fall back on until they had managed to assimilate the older ways they would need to use in order to survive in a world where everything was fried by a solar explosion.

  Leon was right about one thing, however; they had to have more organization, and they had to have it now, not later on.

  –

  “So…this is what Leon wanted,” Clay finished talking to the assembled people. “Greg will be our police, starting today. He will be empowered to deputize a couple more people if and when needed, and it will be up to him to train them. Abigail will be responsible for fire safety, including her and Jake training a group to use that fire truck and fight fire effectively.”

  “Patricia will be in charge of the clinic, officially rather than just de facto, and decide who they will train to help out. Tandi will begin training some people in basic emergency first aid, as well. I'm sure that Kaitlin can probably help considering how much ER time she has.”

  “Mister George will be responsible for inspecting any new construction to make sure it's safe. Normally he would be involved in any new construction anyway, so that would make sense even if he wasn't the best builder anywhere around here.” George nodded at the assignment and the compliment but otherwise stayed silent.