Fire Country: Bode's Love Story

Running Toward Trouble

As soon as the rig rolls to the accident, my boots are already hitting the pavement before the truck can even come to a stop. I'm a blur streaking off toward the black streak marks and pieces of red metal and glass shining back up at me. I let it crunch under my boots as I see Gabriella's car tipped over onto its right side with the front end perfectly smashed into the base of a massive tree. I take off, stumbling down the embankment until I hear Eve call out after me, "Bode, stop!" She yells at the top of her lungs as she holds her hand out in the air, signaling me to obey. I step forward anyway calling out over my shoulder, "I have to get them out!" As soon as I move forward the ground underfoot begins to sink ever so slightly, pulling the car with it. "The grounds unstable Bode. If we're not careful the ground is going to swallow that car!" Eve belts out as she comes down the embankment carefully. My dad looks at the scene below and goes instantly white, "She's right Bode, hold your position or we're going to lose them," He says as he runs a hand through his hair. "What do we do?" I call out, looking to my dad and then to Eve for answers. "What do we do!" I repeat more sternly. My dad throws his hands up in the air, "You have to let me think Bode!" He yells just as his radio crackles to life. "The fires switched directions. It's heading eastbound at a pretty rapid clip. We need more support," The black box drones out. We look to the sky and see gray smoke snaking its way upward, "The situation just got worse. The fire we just came from is now heading straight toward us and all that gas that car has leaked has made this scene into a giant fuel-packed bomb," My dad lets out as he stares at the car that houses the women we love. All I can do to keep my feet rooted to my spot is clench my hands into two tight fists until I hear a faint voice speak out, I would know it anywhere. "B-Bode?" Gabs calls out shakily. I crane my neck to try to steal a glance at her, but all I see is the destruction of the car that was carrying her to a doctor's appointment I was supposed to take her to. "Gabs!?! We're here and we are going to get you out of there in no time okay?" I say reassuringly. I listen hard for her response, it's shaky but it's there, "O-Okay." With the sound of Gabriella's voice, my dad snaps back to commanding his crew, "Eve, I need you to get on your stomach to see if you can see Sharon and Gabriella through the trunk. But watch your step, one wrong move can shift the dirt just enough to bring this big tree down on top of them," He says. Eve drops down, automatically calling out the scene as she sees it, "I see them, chief! Sharon is unconscious but she must have gotten herself free from her seatbelt. How are you doing down there Gabs?" Her voice is missing all the tones it used to have before as she stumbles over her words, "I-I hurt every-w-where and I'm so tired," She gets out. "I know Gabs but you can't close your eyes? Do you hear me? You can't close your eyes, we need you awake," Eve says as she gets up and waves my dad over. He slides down, joining Eve and I, "It doesn't look good does it?" He says softly as he stares at the overturned car. Eve shakes her head, "I don't like this chief. I can't get close enough without compromising their safety. We're dealing with concussions and who knows what else is waiting for us inside. And Gabriella's in shock-It's not good," She expels as she rubs at her forehead in frustration. "On this ground, we'll never stabilize the car fast enough before those flames crest that ridge and tear right through here," He points dramatically toward the surrounding brush and trees that will only make the fire burn hotter and faster. "My-my leg feels funny," Gab's small voice calls out, reeling us back to her. Eve presses her stomach back to the forest floor, peering down at Gabriella who is beginning to tilt forward, she's going to pass out, "Gabriella don't you dare close your eyes! Do you hear me? Don't you dare close them, girl!" Eve shouts out. I can hear Gabs break as she starts to sob, "B-but I'm so tired!" She bawls. Eve slaps the dirt in frustration, turning back to my dad, "If I don't go in there chief we're going to lose three lives today and it's going to hurt like hell," Eve spits venomously. My dad grits his teeth together, "If you stomp through there it won't be a rescue it will be a recovery!" He spits back. I watch as Eve and my dad take up a stance just a few inches from each other's face. I step between them, pressing my palm to each of their chests, "Getting into a spitting match with each other is only going to get people killed, SO PULL IT TOGETHER NOW!" I holler. "I'm not going to-to lose them!" I get out, choking on my own words as this sick reality is cutting off my supply of oxygen. I feel arms wrap themselves around my shoulders and that's when I break. A grown man sobbing in his best friend's arms as he tries his best to hold me together, "Bode we will get them out alright? I got a plan okay?" He soothes. I pull away from him to stare into his eyes which had begun to leak with tears of his own, "Look the car is going to move no matter what so the best we can do is send enough packing down to Gaby to put around her leg. After that we send Eve through, she's the smallest so it will lessen the force sending that car down into the dirt. From there she can assess both Sharon and Gabs and send them out that trunk to us," He says as he uses his finger to carve the path he is cutting with his mind. I look at my dad who seems to have regained a little hope in this moment that had seemed to have none at all. "You heard the man, get to moving Eve," My dad belts out. Eve's body is already in action using the end of a pole to gently push blankets and a balloon down to Gabriella. "Gabs listen to me. I need you to wrap your leg with as many blankets as you can, okay that is step number one," Eve drones out as she slides down the last of the blankets. Gabriella who is only half conscious, slowly grabs the blankets, barely getting them into place before Eve is sending down the balloon pack, "Now I need you to wedge this balloon pack between the dash and your leg, but don't inflate it yet, okay?" Eve says as the balloon goes skittering down to rest near Gabriella's arm that has gone limp. "Damn it! She's lost consciousness, I'm going in," Eve says as she removes most of her gear, so she's just wearing a Cal Fire shirt, a pair of pants, and her black boots. Ever so slowly she ducks down getting over the lip of the trunk with no problem but as soon as she begins to move through the backseat the car begins to move. A blood-curdling scream rips loose from the empty space throughout the car, returning my mom back to consciousness who is mumbling Gab's name repeatedly. "Sharon I need you to grab that balloon and shove it between the dash and her leg!" Eve declares as she waits for the car to settle back down. My mom reaches over shakily, grabbing the pack and doing just as Eve instructed, "Now you have to inflate it so I can reach the front of the car without it tearing off her leg," Eve says. My mom's eyes are half-lidded muttering to Gabriella that she's going to be okay as she presses the button to inflate the pack. Gabs slumps back down in her chair as the balloon releases the pressure of the front of the car crushing her. As soon as it does Eve is mantling over the seat to rest beside them. Immediately she turns to my mom who shoos her away, "Help her," she mutters as she begins to rest her head back on the seat. But Eve ignores her as she sets to work, checking my mom over from head to toe. She makes quick work of packing my mom's leg wound with gauze, "They will have to get this out at the hospital but she's stable chief, send down the backboard and rope," Eve says. My mom raises her head high enough to look Eve in the eye, "You need to stop fussing over me and help Gabriella and my grandbaby," She says sternly but Eve doesn't back down. "Look at me Chief. If I don't get you out first then I won't have enough room to work on her," Eve says pointing a finger in Gabriella's direction. My mom shakes her head as we send down the backboard, "Get on Chief or I'll take you kicking and screaming," Eve says sternly, staring straight at my mom who tries to match her. A wave of dizziness almost topples her over, justifying Eve's point even further. My mom stares blankly toward Gabriella and where she's been pinned, "You get her out right after me," She says solemnly. By my mom's tone, I know that she's not asking a question, she's giving Eve her orders. With that Eve nods fastening Sharon to the backboard with finesse, "She's all good Chief!" She shouts back at us. Immediately my dad grabs the hoist, pulling my mom back up to safety into a set of paramedic's care. "Jake, Eve, get our girl out. I'm going to make sure Sharon is alright," He says as he scrambles after the paramedics who are already popping open the doors to the ambulance. It hurts like hell not being able to scramble after my mom but I know my dad is more than capable of being there for her. All I can focus on in that moment is Eve and the woman I love laying unconscious in the passenger seat. Maybe that's why it took me a few more seconds to realize that the smell of gas was burning the insides of my nostrils. That and the fire we had been fighting had just come to life a few feet up the road.