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Chapter 5: Smoke
More smoke.
No visible flames now, but that didn’t mean anything in this hilly landscape. Fire could be in full force just beyond the ridgeline.
“Wind must be turning,” Brie said to Arial as she grabbed another wet gunnysack to beat out the embers on the line.
“If it does, we’ll have to run for it.”
Everyone in town had been trucked to the fire line. That didn’t mean big numbers, as most of the town had been deserted for years. At any rate, protecting what was left of the community meant everyone who could walk was fighting the fire.
If it got away from them, it would gut the town — right down to the water where Miss Ann was moored.
When the smoke had thickened earlier, they’d begun thinking they should cast off; then the trucks arrived and the firefighters demanded they join the effort.
Much of the forest was long gone, and most of the small communities with it. All from a combination of out-of-control fires and a lack of jobs other than the meth business.
All this went through Brie’s head as she grabbed another freshly soaked gunnysack and went after the glowing embers in her section of the line.
Arial was to her left, and Tommy to her right. Both their sweating faces covered with soot, their clothes filthy…
