Hi all,

As always thanks for reading and reviewing this story. The story is nearing the end and in a chapter or so will finally be complete. Sorry for being such a slow writer. –SIGH-

'Fear almost always arises – in horses as well as in people – from concern about what might happen, and much more rarely from what is happening.' – Mary Wanless

Chapter 18

Colby stopped his mad scramble up the incline and turned to check on the position of his former friends. In the distance, he watched as Starsky swung a torch around and lit the grass in front of him. The wind pushed the torch-lit fire rapidly up hill in his direction, the flames mesmerized him as they bloomed and danced before his eyes.

The intense heat washed over him and he shook himself out of his revere in time to see that the fire was now dangerously close to him. He blinked rapidly for a moment before he turned fled up the slope, cursing as he ran. Had Starsky seen him and deliberately lit the fire to burn him? If so, ol' curly top would pay dearly… if any of them survived the fire.

XXXX

Starsky hung on to the handles of the fire shelter, praying he could keep it down on the ground. If it came unhooked from his feet, the force of the wind would force it up and off of them, exposing the duo to the radiant heat of the fire. Though they were surrounded by 'good black' and there was nothing directly around them that was left to burn, the radiant heat from the fire was still hot enough to burn their skin or even kill them. Their only hope of survival was the shelter.

There was no bottom to the shelter and the only thing holding it down was the brunet's strength. His muscles ached with the past few days of exertion, lack of food and water. The wind yanked at the edges of the tent, trying to pull it off of them. He dug his toes as deep into the dirt as he could to keep the loops from slipping off his feet and kept his fingers tight around the upper loop handles, keeping the edges of the tent flush with the ground.

Partially beneath him, he could feel Hutch's whole body begin to shake. Their heads were close together so that even over the roar of the fire, Starsky could hear his friend's increasingly frantic grunts of fear. Or maybe those grunts were his own, or even a combination of both of them. Hard won nerves kept him hanging on. Whatever hell Nam had been, it taught him that regardless of what was happening, he could hold his position if he had to. And he had to. Both of their lives depended on his strength and his will to survive.

He thought back to the war. Hutch would make him talk about it. He didn't want to, but he had told his friend that he would. He always kept his word. He would try to weasel out of it on principal, but knew he would cave if pressed. He just couldn't say 'no' to Hutch.

He felt it when the blond shifted slightly. Starsky quivered with fear. How long would he have to hold the shelter down? And, could he last that long? How long could the thin material hold up to the punishing heat?

Another shiver of fear quivered through him. The silver of the tent reflected much of the heat from the fire, but still a great deal of the radiant heat made it through the material. He now completely understood why it was called a 'shake 'n bake' - you shook with fear while you baked inside the tent.

The heat was stifling and air was a rare commodity. Starsky was becoming light-headed from it. He pushed his face closer to the ground, knowing that that was where the oxygen would be. He grimly hung on. Hutch was depending on him.

XXXX

Hutch was slowly losing his grip on his self-control. His face was pressed into the ground, until his nose was buried in the soot from the recently burned grass. The soot and ashes were still hot. Soot was sucked into his nostrils with each breath he took. He sneezed. That kicked the ashes up and he inhaled some more sooty partials. Which made him cough. This kicked up more ashes that made him sneeze again. With air a rare commodity, the sneezes and coughs reduced his ability to breathe.

Starsky's weight compressed him further, making it even more difficult to breathe.

Hutch listened to the roar of the fire outside the silver fire shelter. Only a very thin piece of material and Starsky's strength was keeping them alive. But for how long? The fierce wind yanked at the flimsy protection; there was a flash of heat as a small portion of the tent lifted before Starsky snapped it back down. It was only seconds before he registered the pain. In that brief moment, his flesh had been exposed to the heat and now he could feel the burn. Literally. The patch of skin just above his wound and just below the bandage had been burned. The pain was incredible.

The human body and mind can only take so much be for something gives. Dehydration, stress, fever from his untended wound, trapped in a fire and with oxygen in limited supply that was getting even shorter, Hutch started to shake.

Trapped

He was trapped.

Trapped

Nowhere to go.

Trapped

Burning heat.

Trapped

Certain death.

Trapped

Burn to death… Hutch was going to burn to death. He knew it. The fear of fire is one of mans most basic fears that harkens back to a time before humans harnessed fire for their own benefit. But he wasn't thinking about any of that. He was far more worried about dying, of being burned to death. Fear gripped him. The same panicky fear that makes people jump to their death rather then be burned alive.

His thoughts raced in dizzying circles. It was stifling under the thin material and the air was running out. He felt he was being squished under a weight, which made fully expanding his lungs difficult. Above him, the roar of wind and fire was growing louder with each passing heartbeat.

His shakes increased as fear took a firmer hold of him. Until all he could think of was escape. Fight or flight. There wasn't anything to fight. That left one option. Just one. Flight.

Fear pushed all cognitive thoughts away. Hutch was reduced by blindness, illness and panic. He was no longer able to think clearly as he began to shove at the weight that pressed him down. He bucked and pitched; adrenalin flooded his system, giving him strength. It made him forget that his right arm hurt, it made all pain and fatigue disappear.

"Get off of me!" he pushed at the crushing weight, clawed at the ground before him and struggled to get away. Panic overrode everything else. He crawled forward and started to tug at the edge of the shelter.

"NO! Don't! Stop!" The words were shouted into his ear even as he clawed his way out from under the body that partially covered his.

Trapped. Still trapped.

Gonna burn.

Gonna die.

Hutch was beyond any other thoughts as he continued to try to move, to escape the sweltering heat and the decreasing air supply. "Let me go!"

"NO! Stay here! Don't move, please don't go" a voice begged. It sounded distant, as if it were being shouted from afar; perhaps it was just the echoes of a memory, the din of the wind and fire nearly drowning the words out.

A small part of him heard. A big part of him wanted to run…to get away from here, to get away from the fire, away from the pain, away from the fear.

Run! His body screamed at him Run now! Run or burn!

He tore at the shelter material above them, determined to escape. "Let me out! I just want out!"

"NO! No dammit! Stay under cover… don't move!"

"I'm gonna die" Hutch didn't know if he yelled them or if he just thought those words. He was alone and trapped in inky blindness, shaking with fear and fever.

"NO! You're not gonna die!... I won't let you, I won't"

Starsky's strident voice could not make a tear in the thick cocoon of panic Hutch was wrapped in. Reason had fled. In his mind, he was alone. Starsky wasn't there, no one was. He was going to burn to death. He clawed forward, clawing at the shelter.

There was a flash of pain before the fight went out of him and he slipped peacefully into the arms of unconsciousness.

XXXX

When he felt Hutch stop struggling, Starsky relaxed, as much as one can relax with a fire raging all around. He had just hit Hutch with his Beretta. He dropped the gun as he once more reached for the edge of the shelter and held it down. Thankfully the shelter had stayed down in the few seconds it had taken him to pull his gun and knock his best friend out.

Tears streamed down his dirty face. He reminded himself that he hadn't had any choice. To leave the safety of the shelter would have been fatal. He just hoped he hadn't hit Hutch too hard. "M'sorry Hutch" he whispered in to the blond's ear.

After what seemed an eternity of fighting to hold down the shelter, the noise died down and Starsky cautiously lifted one edge of the shelter and peeked out, ready to slam it back into position if needed. A hint of a cool breeze greeted him. He cautiously drew back the shelter and looked around at the moonscape that had once been a tree lined slope. There were blackened corpses of trees not too far from his position; their blackened limbs reminded him of burned and twisted human arms. He looked away from them and closed his eyes.

For just a moment, the smell of napalm seemed to hang in the air. Starsky tensed, waiting for a long moment before realizing that he was waiting for gunfire and shelling to begin. He opened his eyes, shivering at the thought and then looked down at his friend. It was Hutch at his side, not Jake. He was back in the U.S., not on some nameless mountain in Viet Nam.

I gotta keep my head on straight. Starsky told himself. Hutch needed him. He looked down at his friend. The blond was laying in much the same way he had been since Starsky had knocked him out during his panic episode. Starsky reached out and gently ruffled the sooty blond hair. The fire had burned away from them. They were safe, for now.

He looked grimly at the scorched earth all around him. Small pockets of smoke rose from the burning remains of wood. The immediate area was quieter. The roar of the fire was still there, but not so close now, smoke was still billowing high in the sky. The main body of the fire still raged nearby. Starsky started to get to his feet, but his legs shook so badly from delayed reaction from their close call that he had to sit back down. Ashes billowed up in a small cloud.

Starsky then carefully turned and pulled his friend into his lap. Once he was settled, the brunet brushed the dirty blond locks off of Hutch's brow. He swallowed hard and hugged Hutch to him. All around him was devastation. His world was reduced to two colors, black and gray. He closed his eyes, tilted his head back and inhaled, than slowly released his breath.

He opened his eyes and looked up at the most blue of skies above him. Heavy smoke could still be seen, quickly reminding him of the danger they were still in. They still had a long way to go before he would consider them safe. He threaded his fingers though the blond's hair, feeling for a lump or cut from when he had hit his friend. He found a small knot in the back and his fingers could feel the stickiness of drying blood.

A sound caught his attention and he looked for the source.

XXXX

Paco was too tired to trot, but survival instinct kept pushing him along. His coat was matted with dried sweat and his fur had been singed in a few places. His nimble little feet kept him on the narrow rock path he was on. The burning monster was still behind him, at a distance, but still there. And closing in. On tired legs, Paco continued, unwilling to give up.

After a while he finally made it to an area where the ground was hot beneath his hooves. The burning monster had already been here. Somehow, instinct or perhaps luck had enabled him to get to this spot, already burned-out by the fire. He stopped and sniffed the air; his large sensitive ears tilted this way and that as he searched for something familiar. Large brown eyes did their part as well.

All around him were things he had never seen before. The trees had changed, smelled strange and were now shades of black and gray. Smoke wafted up from the debris. His heart beat hard in his chest and he stopped. A scent tickled his nose. He inhaled deeply and took in a somewhat familiar scent, humans, not the ones he knew, but they were alive and he wouldn't be alone anymore. He broke into a trot, his fatigue forgotten in his eagerness to with the humans and not alone.

XXXX

Starsky shook his head. He must have imagined the sound. He looked back down at Hutch and started to try and rouse him. There was no way he'd be able to carry the blond very far. "Hutch?" he patted his friend's face. "C'mon Hutch, wake up… just a little"

Hutch's lips were cracked and bleeding a bit. His right arm just above and below the now dirty bandage was red and blisters were forming. Geez, that was gonna hurt when Hutch awoke. Starsky wished he had some water. He licked his own dry lips at the thought.

After several minutes, the blond shifted in his lap and began to rouse. "Easy… easy" Starsky murmured as the slight movements became more agitated. "Easy… s'okay Hut-"

A solid elbow jab to his groin sent pain ricocheting though out his whole body. His breath was robbed and spots danced before his eyes. It took him several long seconds before he could hiss out his pain.

"Hey Starsk… you okay?" The blond's voice was whispery, but concern could be heard in it. His head moved in the crook of Starsky's arm and tilted towards him.

"I will be" Starsky replied through clenched teeth as he let out another hiss as yet another wave of pain washed over him, each wave was thankfully less intense then the last one.

"What happened?" Blue eyes blinked rapidly as the blond became more aware.

"We were in a fire… um, how's your arm?" Starsky waved his hand before Hutch's face, trying to determine if Hutch could see yet. He didn't want Hutch to ask him about his 'private' pain, which he felt he deserved for whacking his friend in the head in the first place.

"I know that" Came the somewhat annoyed reply "My arm? It hurts" The second-degree burn sizzled with pain. Hutch gritted his teeth, which made him very aware that his head hurt. A lot. He eased his left hand up to his head and felt a knot in the back. "How'd that happen?" he waggled his blood-tipped finger at his partner.

Starsky didn't answer, but he knew Hutch could feel the tension increase in his body. The look on the blond's face slowly changed and he seemed to shrink in on himself as he remembered his panicked episode. Starsky gently ruffled his friend's hair. "How do ya feel otherwise? 'Cause we need ta get movin'" He nudged Hutch to draw him out of himself. "C'mon"

Hutch shifted and with Starsky's help, sat up. He wobbled a bit as he sat there.

Starsky held him up, letting Hutch rest his back against his chest as he tried to think of another way to get him off of the mountain. He looked up and let out a surprised yelp.

"What is it?" The blond turned his head this way and that, trying to hone in on what had startled his friend.

Starsky eyeballed the gray thing. It had stopped moving towards them at his inadvertent yelp. The cloud of ash the thing had raised as it moved settled as it stopped, fully revealing what it was. "It's an ass, I think."

"A what?" The blond brows furrowed and formed the familiar line between them as he pondered Starsky's words, as though wondering if his friend had lost his mind.

"Donkey, burro, jackass, ass… it's one of them things." At his quieter tone, the animal approached them, taking such tentative steps towards them that Starsky lost some of his initial fear.

A weak grin formed on Hutch's face and he stretched out his left arm and turned his hand so his palm was up "Here boy" his voice was soft.

"How d'ya know it's a boy?" Starsky watched as the animal's large ears waggled and twitched. "Maybe it's a girl… Here girl" the large ears dropped off to the sides as the burro slowly made it's way to them. "Oh, you're right Hutch, it's a boy"

"How do you know that?" The furrow between the blond brows reappeared.

"I just know these things. Hey, I even know its name" Starsky said with pride.

"Oh? And what is it?" The blond scoffed.

"Paco"

"Paco? How'd you know that, oh seer of seers?" A single blond brow rose sarcastically.

"Well, it says so right on his head collar thing" Starsky peered at the band of leather over the burro's nose were the name was stitched.

Hutch snorted, "Some great seer you are. It's called a halter, not a head collar." He changed his voice, softened it. "Here Paco, c'mere."

Paco the burro stepped up to them, dropped his head down and allowed them to pet and scratch. It seemed to sigh contentedly and its large ears flopped to the sides. Its large brown eyes went half closed, in seeming pleasure at the contact.

Starsky allowed himself to enjoy the moment. The animal was a nice distraction for Hutch. Then he remembered that even though they were rather small, burros were quite strong and could carry heavy weights. The animal was obviously someone's pet so it most likely had been ridden and so would probably carry Hutch without a fuss.

He eased away from his partner and gathered up the fire shelter and folded it. It fit into his pocket nicely. They might need it again, and he wanted to return it to Wag, if possible. He then took off his belt and stuck it through the metal ring that was under Paco's chin. Now he had a leash to lead it with. They needed to get going.

A short time later, after much protesting from his partner, Starsky boosted Hutch onto Paco's back and they started up the slope to get to the top of the ridge. Starsky figured he could get a better idea of where to go from there.

He had looked around for any signs of Wag and called for him. But he hadn't found any signs and got no response to his hollers. Too many of the burned branches looked like charred human limbs and Starsky had spent as much time as he dared looking for, but not finding Wag, or his remains. They could only hope he made it out of that mess.

Despite Hutch's liveliness upon the burro's arrival, Starsky could plainly see the pain and illness that had etched it's self in his friend's face. There were blisters from the burn on his right arm. He needed to get Hutch to a hospital. He took a hold of his belt, which was now doubling as a leash, correction, according to Hutch; his belt was now a 'lead rope'.

Starsky started back up the slope with the burro and Hutch in tow. He needed to get a good look around so he could find the safest route out of the wilderness. Smoke still billowed ominously, reminding him that a major fire still burned not too far away from their current position.

TBC