Kylie & Jack 1: Humble Beginnings

8. Fast and Furious

New Year's Day, 12:18 PM

"Uh, I think I've got Bev and Carol coming with me up to the Corrabo fire shed," Kylie said, heaving the esky into the boot of her car, coughing heavily as the smoke filled her lungs.

Amy was inside, making more sandwiches with Brenda, Bernie, Kez and their Aunt Maureen; Janelle was constantly on the move, nobody had seen her stand still for three days. John and Mike were out on a truck somewhere; Janelle, Amy and Kylie hadn't seen or heard from them in about a week. Lizzie was in Taratatta with Kylie and Amy's cousin, Mandy. Kylie had spent two days since Boxing Day in her own home, the rest of the time had been spent at Murruma, cooking, cleaning, stacking and packing; driving and catching literally forty winks at any opportunity. Once, she fell asleep at the bar at three in the morning. Another night, she passed out on her parents' couch. She was running on caffeine and adrenaline, not a good way to break in the age old idyllic notion of "new year, new me". Bev and Carol found Kylie's car and ambled hurriedly forward, climbing in. Bev had three high–viz vests with 'Catering' written on the back for them and a fire radio in her hands.

The Corrabo fire shed was about a ten minute drive away, past the bloody dotted line on the road Brett Francis is so preoccupied with. They were going to drop off some lunch bags and drinks for the firies and then head back to clean up the pub and start preparing yet more food.

Kylie got into the driver's seat, her iPod was connecting and blasting AC/DC's Highway to Hell. She had the car idling, so put it into reverse, then drive and headed off towards the fire. Her body was tingling as she watched the smoke billowing high above the gum and pine trees, but knowing she had a job to do, kept her focused. The music was a good distraction, as was the driving. Kylie loved to drive, especially out here on country roads.

"So where are we off to after Corrabo?" Carol asked from the backseat. Kylie frowned, slowing a little to take a hairpin bend she knew well.

"What d'ya mean? We're coming straight back." Kylie answered, glancing for a second in the rear view mirror at Carol.

"Oh, I thought we were doing a second drop."

"Nah mate, the road's closed. Not even Ma can get past the fire shed. Nah, we drop this food off and then high tail it back here. They say the wind isn't expected to change 'til about two–ish, but who'd know." Kylie added rather blandly.

The road levelled out before them; the sky was black, tinged with grey, red and bright orange along the horizon. Up ahead, at the fork in the road, dark green pine trees lined the road and were overshadowed by sixty foot tall flames, peaking like demonic talons from the depths of hell itself.

Holy shit ... Kylie had seen some fires in her time, but she had never seen flames that high above the trees before. Her heart was starting to pound that little bit faster, having been beating surprisingly steadily. The fire shed was just in front of them now. She threw a uey off the road, so that the car was facing the road. Carol and Bev quickly unloaded themselves, slinging on their high–viz vests while Kylie popped the boot. Already, there were four fire trucks approaching, with one parked opposite Kylie's car. Behind the parked fire truck, was a fuel truck.

The beauty of Section 44 (only activated when the government declares a state of emergency), was that everything was brought to the fireground. From food, sunscreen, fuel for the tankers, even basic medicine like Panadol and eyedrops. Everything would be delivered to the firies so that the fire was never left to get the upper hand while the volunteer crews recuperated. During a Section 44, Janelle would head off for the Wangarra emergency services headquarters, where the SES and RFS buildings stood shoulder to shoulder and load her car up with as much equipment, gear, fire blankets, breathing apparatuses, even bottled water and return home to divvy it all up.