fire watch - episode 003 - The Delilah fire mystery

part 42 evactuation at last

When it was day 148.
Oswin came into Tom's area where Delilah was laying on the bed and Tom was watching the forest "hey guys, so I just got a call from the forest service and the helicopter is on route to come and get us right now. We need to get out stuff together, and we can't leave anything behind because people come through the clean the towers and anything you leave behind they just throw away believe me I have experience in this matter” they packed up all of their stuff making sure not to leave anything behind, they had to help with Delilah because she wasn't able to get everything she wanted, Oswin said “we'll have to walk to the meet up point. Don't worry Delilah, I'll push your wheelchair and hold your stuff” she smiled “thank you, but you can put my bag on the back of the wheelchair to make things even easier” Tom carried her down the stairs. Oswin set up the wheelchair which wasn't actually too difficult. They started moving towards the meeting point. As they moved Delilah looked around "weirdly enough, despite everything that has happened, despite all the horrible things that have happened... I am going to miss this place, it always had a sense of beauty. Right here was where I ate that candy bar that wasn't good" Oswin giggled "that's a good memory" Delilah pointed "every time I went on a hike I would go along that trail because it always had the very best views" Oswin nodded "that is a really good one perfect for going down the lake" Delilah nodded "yeah it was perfect when the sun would set it would look so beautiful. This will also make one hell of a good story" Oswin nodded in agreement "yeah, and it really needs to be told because everything is completely real, even I have a hard time believing everything that happened... happened" "it'll take some convincing" "you're kind of living proof" they made it to the pickup spot which was at the top of a hill, Oswin said “they're going to get here soon. They just have to go through the safest route to get here and well in a forest fire the safest routes aren't entirely easy to come by” as they were standing waiting and watching the trees Oswin said “this is good, because the forest service are now speeding to put the fire out which is a good thing they got a huge boost in funding by the forest service president because he believes it could spread to other forests and other parks which it currently is doing, he is losing money and he can't have that” Delilah asked “how far have they got?” “Well it's now 47 percent contained however that number can go up and down like a yo-yo, so you know it'll take them a few months then after a few months this place will be back to normal, and then they'll invite us back. They have said we're coming back, well me and Tom" they sat talking about the future together.
15 minutes later.
They began hearing the distant sounds of helicopter blades which filled them with hope, a minute later they turned to see 4 planes flying over however they weren't actually for them, the planes flew directly over them then began dropping water down on the fire Delilah cheered looking excited “that was so cool!” Oswin nodded “hell yeah, I've never actually seen them do it in person before, that was really cool” to the relief of everyone, behind them were 8 huge black and green military helicopters with search lights scanning the ground which they all thought was kind of pointless because it was the middle of the day, so it wasn't like they couldn't see anything however there was a lot of smoke so they were probably using the lights to find people, although Oswin didn't think they would be partically effective. Oswin waved her arms attempting to signal them while also yelling trying to get their attention. A moment later, one of the helicopters noticed them and broke away from the rest getting lower and lower until it finally landed. Men in orange and black uniforms ran to them and asked them what had been happening. They explained everything as best they could however they really wanted to leave, so their explanation wasn't perfect. Delilah sat on the ground being held up by Oswin and Tom as the others collapsed the wheelchair putting it into the back of the helicopter. Oswin got in the helicopter first then Tom helped Delilah inside making sure she was secure and wasn't in pain, Oswin grabbed his arm pulling him in closing the door.
They began flying.
As they went, they looked down at the forest. One of the men said “okay would you like us to take you to the site where your cars are parked?” Oswin nodded sounding exhausted “err yes please” he nodded “okay then you can leave this place” Delilah said “not yet, we've got to drive to the police station” he frowned “why?” “Well it's a story they need to know” he nodded “okay” it was strange the moment they took off they all seemed to realize how exhausted they really were, they were barely able to move feeling like they were about 10 times heavier than usual. They also had a strange thought that everything that had happened, really had happened, it wasn't just some dream all of it was real, it was strange to visualize all of it strangely enough. The forest service dropped them off at the car site. Oswin said “this is very embarrassing because I don't actually have a car” Tom said “don't worry, I do” they went to his pickup truck. They put Delilah in the back and put her wheelchair in the back area of the pickup truck, Tom said “okay, let's go to the police” Oswin sniffed herself “I like how you never really know how bad you smell until you're in an area which smells good” Tom laughed “I know right. Holy shit” Delilah smiled “we haven't had a shower for like 148 days, Jesus” they began driving they then arrived at the police department as quick as possible.
5 minutes later.
Tom was explaining everything to the police, they both knew they had said they weren't going to talk about it however it seemed to hit them that they didn't actually do anything wrong and in the heat of the moment they assumed they didn't have evidence when actually they had an incredible amount of evidence. They went and got his dead body from the woods. They listened to his tapes and looked at the research, they also listened to the recording of him saying he was going to kill the girls, Delilah explained “yeah, he also did this to me” the police got her a nicer knew wheelchair the forest service also paid her 50,000 credits because of the damage and emotional trauma, which Delilah said was pretty good deal however the forest service weren't done, because they also paid and helped her sign up for the surgery she desperately needed. Tom, Delilah and Oswin got back outside in the car and started driving home, Tom asked Oswin "so do you have a house?" "Err, no, I always lived in the towers and when they'd give us the time off I'd just stay in crappy hotels" "well you have a home now and trust me it's a nice one" she smiled kissing him "thanks!" Delilah smiled from the back seat "yeah and trust me you're going to love it, I know I did" Delilah looked out the window as they drove away looking at the forest she had escaped and had so many memories connected to it, however all she could see was the burning trees and smoke clouds. Before Oswin could reply to Delilah's sentence, Delilah fell asleep. The journey home was very long and Delilah slept through all of it.
A few months later.
Life was finally looking up. Delilah was still waiting for the surgery she required, it was very difficult because there were only a few doctors on the whole of Zarlum that were able to do it and even when they found one it would be extremely expensive however that didn't matter because the forest service were the ones paying for it, Delilah did feel bad about that at first however then she remembered how long they wanted to leave them there for while they were living in an industrial oven with her injury. Delilah decided to use her 50,000 credits on a state-of-the-art wheelchair which was the best one on Zarlum, it was fast, silent and insanely comfortable, which she really liked and wanted because she would basically be living in it. She started trying to get used to be on a wheelchair however with her injury she wasn't able to sit up straight without feeling pain, so she couldn't try and get used to it until the surgery was finished. Tom was extremely proud of her because throughout all of it she didn't break her promise; she has not had a single glass of alcohol. They were both proud of her and Delilah knew that even though she couldn't hear it, she knew her mother was proud of her. She did have a few problems such as having to take almost 11 pills every day which Tom didn't think was normal however none of them had ever been in that situation before so didn't know the norm, Delilah also felt uncomfortable asking for help even when she needed to, but she was getting better. Delilah wrote all what happened Tom said ''you're going to do very good in University'' Tom and Oswin sat on the deck watching the water Oswin said ''this is the best time of my life'' Tom said ''thanks for making me happy again'' ''of course you made me happy to, and also you saved my life in many ways. If you weren't out there I wouldn't of been able to fight Mark on my own. I would've been killed, and he would've got away'' ''of course I would've helped. You know what next time we go out there it will be actually normal'' ''yeah hopefully but to be honest normal is boring, no one likes normal'' ''I'll drink to that one'' they clinked their glasses together as the sun set over the mountains.