Under The Rubble
Part 2 - Behind The Line
"Dawson!"
"Dawson!"
"Dawson!" She cried, over and over holding her hands to her mouth as she watched the cabin engulfed in thick dark smoke. She ran to the door and put her hand on the metal handle, jumping back from it and holding her hand tightly. Too hot.
"Dawson!" she screamed, into the window as she saw him crawling on the floor, beneath the flames.
She looked at the shack in flames, then at the dark dirt track. She didn't know what to do. Did she save him and risk both their lives? Or did she try to find her way in the dark and risk getting lost? She looked between the track and the shack and made her decision. She turned quickly and looked at the track, trying to figure it out. She ran through the dark, through the woodland until she saw lights speeding by infrequently. It was a road, not a busy road but it was a road. A road with cars and most importantly, people.
She ran out and hopped over the barrier, she waved her hand at the side of the road desperately, crying so hard her throat hurt. The cars passed by, one at a time. Finally after a few minutes, one stopped swerving when she stepped out.
"What the hell do you think you are doing you silly, stupid woman!" an older woman shouted, getting out the car and slamming the door angrily.
"Do you have a phone?" she asked, ignoring her.
"No, I'm afraid not," she said, watching her.
"Get in the car and take me to one!" She ordered, rushing for the passenger door and getting the seat.
"I was in a hurry," the woman said getting into her car beside her and driving off.
"Now!"
"Jen!" Joey shouted as she parked her car roughly and ran to her side, ducking underneath the police incident tape. She took her in her arms, hugging her tightly, wrapping the blanket around her friend better. "Jen what happened?" he asked, watching her as the fire department struggled to get the blazing shack under control. "Doug called me, where's Dawson?" she asked her, when she collapsed back into tears in her chest Joey shook her head. "He got our right?" she asked. Jen shook her head.
"How could I let this happen?" Jen cried to her friend. "I told him I wished he would crawl into a hole and die and now look!" she shouted hysterically.
"He's going to be okay Jen,"
"Where are the kids?" Jen asked suddenly. She felt terrible, she hadn't thought about the children. She had left them with Joey whilst she took a romantic getaway with Dawson on the Edge of Capeside. They thought it would help, going back to their routes, in the end the routes were just as old and uneven as they were in the first place.
"I dropped them at Bessie's. She said she would look after them tonight and put up anyone who needs it," She tried to stay calm, even though her tears. "we can leave them Jen, and they will call when they hear anything," Joey said trying to persuade her away from the scene.
"I can't go! I can't leave! That's my husband!" Jen screamed, through the tears that blurred her vision and ached her skin.
"Okay, okay we'll stay," Joey said calmly.
Pacey Witter got out of the fire department jeep and slammed the door, putting his helmet on his head he looked around surveying the site as he spoke to the deputy. He had been in the fire service twelve years and it was always the woodland fires that worried him most, they were so much harder to control than residential. "Okay I want this blaze under control now. I do not want this spreading to any more woodland, there are twenty one log wood cabins around here I want them all evacuated as soon as possible. I want roads closed within an outer radius of five miles, I want safety parameters all set and I want all the reserves called in!" he ordered, shouting above the sounds of fire, police and ambulance sirens.
"All the reserves are already out Chief. Everyone is here there is no one else," he told him.
"Derek!" Pacey said, turning to face him. "Find me some more,"
"There aren't any, all our guys are out,"
"Then call surrounding areas, it just on the border they will come!" he told him, continuing to walk, looking out at the mass of woodland, some of which was already blazing along with the cabin. "This is a big blaze and I will not have all of the Capeside woodland destroyed by this. This is my back garden I know it, I love it and I will not let it be destroyed!"
"Yes chief,"
"Where's the family of the guy?" he asked, looking around the small crowd that had appeared. It always baffled him why people would come and watch a fire. Fire was one of the most destructive natural powers; he never understood why it attracted an audience. All that was missing was a popcorn machine.
"Right over there," Derek said, pointing over to Jen and Joey who stood hugging each other tightly.
"Right I'm going to find out what happened, it'll give us a better change to grasp just what we're dealing with," he said, leaving him and walking over to the girls, hugging tightly. He stopped dead in his tracks as he approached them. "Jen?" he asked, looking at her with shock.
"Pacey?" Jen whispered. She hadn't seen him for five years, not since the wedding but he hadn't changed. She squeezed Joeys hand tightly, who stood as stiff as a board. She hadn't seen Pacey in four years, not since they broke up. She asked him to leave and he did, he disappeared from her life, never to be seen by her eyes again. Until now.
"Who is it in there?" he asked but he already knew the answer.
"Dawson," she managed to whisper.
"What happened?" he asked, swallowing the lump in his throat. Now was no a time to be emotional, he thought to himself, it was his job to stay calm and that was what he was going to do.
"I don't know. I wasn't there, I went to get firewood and when I came back it was all up in flames and thick smoke. I was only away five minutes. It spread so quickly," Jen cried, tears slurring her words as she burst into small sob's.
"It's a log cabin Jen, its wood," he replied softly, putting his hand on her shoulder. She nodded.
"So what now?" she asked him, gasping for breath between her panic and sorrow.
"Well…" Pacey folded his arms and got into his role. "right now we have to get the blaze out and limit damage control on surrounding areas, because the last thing we want is a woodland fir," he explained ad she nodded. "And in the morning we can start the operation, see if we can find him in there," he spoke softly.
"See if you can find him!" Joey spoke up, shouting at him.
"Jo, don't start with me okay this is not a good time," he said, narrowing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "We don't know exactly where he is in there; he might have gone down to the cellar and hid in there, or even got out into another part of the woodland. In situations like this we never know for sure, it's a guessing game. The first thing I think you should do is go somewhere, get warm and wait for my instructions,"
"I'm not leaving!" Jen shouted, pushing him backwards slightly. He didn't mind, he was used to it. When you only dealt with people in stress you learnt not to take things too literally. "That's my husband in there!" She screamed, pointing at the blazing cabin.
"Then get behind the line," he said, walking back towards herm putting his hand on her arm lightly.
"I want to stand here Joey," she said, turning to her friend.
"Then we will," Joey said, putting her arm around her
"You're too close here, it's not safe, so get behind the line," he ordered lightly, walking them to the line.
"No!" Joey protested, struggling away from him.
"Come on Joey, let him do his job!" Jen shouted from where she stood, behind the line.
"No!"
"Get behind the line Joey!" Pacey said between gritted teeth, he could tell where this was leading.
"You think that just because you're the big man you can tell me where to go! That's one of my best friends in there!"
"No!" he said, pulling out his Fire badge. "It's because of this! You see this badge? This means that for once in my life I get to tell you what to do. Now get behind the god damned line or I will have you escorted from the site!" he warned, trying to grip her arm, but she pulled it away.
"You're really enjoying this power aren't you?" she asked him, crossing her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes at him.
"Look!" Pacey spun her around to look at the blaze. Her eyes bugged out as she watched it, she had never seen a fire so angry so close up before and to know her best friend was in there was disturbing. "If a fireball just happens to shoot out those windows and you are standing here you will have more glass in your face than is ever recommended!" he told her in her ear through gritted teeth. "So get behind the line!" he ordered.
"If I see it coming then I will go behind the line,"
"You will not see it coming. If I don't know it's coming then you sure wont,"
"Then I will take the chance!" she said stubbornly, crossing her arms across her chest again. Pacey took a harsh breath and exhaled it, annoyed by her stubbornness.
"Fine!" he expelled, throwing his hands up in the air. "You asked for it!" he said, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her over towards the line.
"What the hell are you doing?" she shouted, trying to fight him, hitting his back with her fists.
"I'm getting you behind the line!" he said, putting her down behind the line beside Jen.
"Why?"
"Look!" he pulled her top one side, him on one side of the line and her on the other. "if this place explodes and I get killed that's fine!" he put both his hands on her shoulders and gripped them. "That's a part of my job but I will not have your death on my conscience on top of everything else I carry with me every single day! I will not allow you to be unsafe and be at risk. After everything we have been through I will not let you be hurt," his tone softened as he spoke and his eyes invaded hers, just like they always did. "Now that you're here, stay here or I swear I will have you out of here so fast you won't even know you were ever here. Do you understand me Miss Potter?" he asked her.
"Yes sir," she said sarcastically, saluting him, and walking back to her friend , hugging her lightly.
"That girl is so much of a handful I can't even!" Pacey mumbled to himself as he walked over towards the police car that pulled up.
"Hey!" Doug shouted getting out of the car. "Joey's going to be…" he paused after his warning. Pacey knew, he could tell he looked irritated and depressed.
"Yeah I found that out. That woman is such a demon!" he said and he laughed.
"Just thought you might want to know that the blocks are going to be up in five but that you're going to have press over here quite soon,"
"Thanks for the warning. I'll go make up some meat for the vultures. I'll go make up a statement," he said walking away from him. He stared at Joey and Jen behind the line and felt terrible. He had shouted at her and he had been vile but it was only because he couldn't bear her to be hurt. Although, by the look on her face she just didn't understand.