Chapter 6 - Digging In
The town they had just been dropped into was woefully unprepared for the firestorm headed in their direction, which caused Blackout to want to throttle the whole community for failing to follow the evacuation order. But as a professional firefighter, he bit his tongue. There would be time to scold people for their poor decisions later. Right now, he and Avalanche had to do their best to make sure that the residents of this speck of a town survived the approaching flames.
The town at least had a proper fire apparatus, it was an older model, but after working all those years with Cabbie, Blackout knew that old didn't mean obsolete. As long as the engine had a good brain in his head, they could work with that. The rest of town, on the other tire, made him very nervous. They were pretty much all elderly models whose paint was a bit too glossy for his tastes. Looking over them all Blackout could do was hope that they would follow their orders without wasting any time.
"THEY AT LEAST HAVE A PLAN." Avalanche informed him with a bit of a nod after holding a powwow with the engine and a vehicle that looked to be the local law enforcement officer. "I DON'T LIKE ALL THE PARTS OF IT, BUT THEY AT LEAST HAVE A PLAN THAT THEY HAVE PRACTICED AND I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO TEACH OLD DOGS NEW TRICKS."
"Wilco." Blackout replied, not wanting to waste words.
"WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO IS SPLIT INTO THREE GROUPS." Avalanche said with a grimace. "I AM GOING TO BE HEADING TO THE SIDE OF TOWN WHERE THE FIRE IS GOING TO HIT AND DIG US A PROPER FIRELINE DOWN TO MINERAL SOIL. WHILE I AM BUSY DOING THAT I WANT YOU TO TAKE ANY ABLE-BODIED RESIDENTS AND START CARVING OUTFLANKING LINES. TAKEDOWN ANYTHING THAT MIGHT FUNNEL FIRE INTO TOWN…THIS INCLUDES ALL FENCES, SHEDS, AND TREES. IF IT ISN'T A PRIMARY RESIDENTS OR HAS PARTICULAR HISTORIC VALUE IT ISN'T WORTH RISKING LIVES AND RESOURCES TO SAVE." Avalanche glanced back towards the group of local vehicles that were watching them closely, and Blackout suspect they were also listening to every word the Dozer was saying. "THE FINAL GROUP IS GOING TO REMAIN IN TOWN WITH THEIR RIG."
"Comprendido." Blackout replied with a slight bob on his tires and with that, both vehicles got to work without another word.
"I don't like them." Ramone practically spat as he watched the two vehicles sent to help them amongst themselves. It was an action that was particularly insulting because they could hear every single word that the loud one was saying.
"Ramone…" Flo tried to calm his fiery spirit, but he was having none of that. These two had the gall to show up and within minutes say that they were in charge. He was about to open his mouth to growl something in return only to have Sarge give him a glare that stopped him in his tracks.
"We are going to follow them." The old soldier barked.
"But…"
"We called for help, and we were not just sent help we were sent smokejumpers." Sarge replied pointedly. "These men are the firefighting equivalent of Navy Seals. They are literally the best of the best, and if the higher-ups sent them, then I suspect those two may be the only chance of us getting out of this battle alive."
Ramone swallowed hard. Again, he wanted to argue with the old jeep, but this time he was interrupted by the devil himself.
"I would listen to him." The smaller vehicle sporting the number 25 had somehow snuck upon him. He motioned towards Sarge with a blade, but his eyes were locked on Ramone. "No tires tu vida."
"I…"
"I don't care what you think or what you have to say." The firefighter's voice was quiet, but he left absolutely no space for debate. "We have a job to do and a very limited amount of time to do it in. Every second we spend arguing here puts us all in danger." The little vehicle swept his eyes across the cars around him. "Based on the wind and the current sped of the burn we have less than two hours before Infierno is upon us. I need us to break into two groups. Sir…" The firefighter made eye contact with Sarge, "are you familiar with how to cut a trench?"
"Yes, sir." The soldier snapped in reply.
"Good, you are going to take half of those who are able to dig and start a trench where my captain has cut his line and make your own line going East. Remove everything in your path that could possibly burn…and I mean everything, and if you have time dig down to mineral soil." The little vehicle looked Sarge directly in the eyes. "Understood?"
"Understood!" Sarge straightened into a salute and that seemed to be enough for the firefighter.
"The rest of you." The smokejumper allowed his eyes to scan the crowd. "I need you to be part of one of the two trench teams, or I need you to head over to your rig and stay practically glued to his bumper until this whole situation is over. Understood?"
There was a half-hearted chorus of yes and then the group started to divide itself. Ramone was ready to join Sarge's group when he found the little firefighter blocking his way.
"You are with me."
"Why?" Ramone spat back.
"Because" the little vehicle called over his shoulder, "I don't trust you."
It was pretty clear to Avalanche that the people of this town didn't trust them, but that was alright. They didn't have time to find common ground. As the dozer bent his blade to the task at hand, he caught glimpses of the two teams at work and occasional snippets of conversation would reach his ears.
There was a brightly painted van that seemed to think that he and Blackout were some kind of firefighting ninjas…and technically he wasn't wrong. There was a low ride car that looked upon the two smokejumpers with suspicion and Avalanche approved that Blackout had assigned him to his team. Suspicious people had a bad habit of creating plans of their own and they didn't have time to detangle problems created by others right now.
Avalanche allowed Blackout to lead and manage the crews, which allowed him to pour his full energy into creating an ever-widening fire break behind the town's fire station. Once he was satisfied with the overall thickness, he started to shape in a wedge in the hope that he might be able to herd the fire around town. The action would sacrifice the farm fields on the community's edge, but it was a sacrifice that Avalanche was willing to make…in fact, he would have been willing to sacrifice any piece of the community if it meant saving the town's citizens.
"Lanch! Time is Up!" Avalanche heard his partner shout and for the first time in close to two hours, the Dozer allowed his eyes to raise from his work.
By now there was no deigning that flames were on their way. The sky had darkened to a menacing blackish gray and flecks of ash had started to float on the gathering breeze. Avalanche squinted towards the horizon and could just make out the flame front rushing towards them.
"ALL CIVILIANS INSIDE THE FIREHOUSE NOW!" Avalanche bellowed, and luckily the frightened vehicles listened to him leaving only Avalanche, Blackout, the town's fire rig, the town's law enforcement officer, and an old military jeep outside to greet the flames.
"TIME TO TURN ON THE PUMPS." Avalanche gave Red and nod, which caused the engine to spring into action.
"BLACKOUT YOU ARE OUR LOOKOUT." The dozer gave his fellow smokejumper a nod, then turned the rest of the vehicles who would be fighting this fire with him. "THE REST OF YOU ARE ON EMBER WATCH. WE CAN NEVER STOP A FIRE LIKE THIS IN ITS TRACKS BUT WE CAN TRY TO PREVENT IT FROM ENTERING THE SAFE ZONE WE HAVE CREATED. IT WILL BE OUR JOB TO SQUASH OUT ANY EMBER BEFORE IT HAS A CHANCE TO TAKE HOLD."
With that, Avalanche parked himself with his back to the fire line and waited for what felt like an eternity. As he stood still, he could feel as the air continued to heat and saw as the flecks of ash increased in frequency and size. The smoke thickened, turning from the grey of vegetation to the acrid black of vehicle-made materials. Then Avalanche heard the roar of the fire coming up behind him, and then the wildfire was upon them.