Chapter 9- From Worse to Catastrophic

I had no idea how long it was before Blade bashed up against the wall to knock the debris down. After only a few tries, light flooded into the mine and we could see the full extent of the damage. Every last tree was blackened and Dusty and I could see that Blade's paint was badly scorched. It looked horrifically painful. I tried to remember what I'd learned about treating burns, but with no resources, there wasn't an awful lot we could do.

"Blade..." Dusty murmured.

The helicopter coughed. "You two okay?"

"We're fine", I assured him. "What're you asking about us for? Look at you."

"Airway Meadow should be clear", Blade reported hoarsely. "We'll take off from there. Let's go."

Dusty took off with me and Blade was supposed to follow suit. I didn't see exactly what happened, but I heard a terrible crash. When Dusty and I turned to look, the fire chief was on the ground. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened.

"BLADE!" Dusty screamed, circling him. "Patch come in this is Crophopper Seven!" he radioed frantically. "Patch come in!"

"I read you, Crophopper Seven", Patch's voice came through.

"Blade is down! I repeat Blade is down!"

"I'll send Windlifter to respond. Just stay at your location."

Given that I had a parachute, I jumped down and tried to make Blade comfortable, which was impossible, given the amount of pain he was in and, again, the lack of supplies.


It seemed to take forever before Windlifter showed up. Dusty and I helped him wrap harnesses around Blade and we took off after Windlifter back to the base where the whole team was waiting for us anxiously. Wildflower was crying quietly, but kept it together, determined to help Blade in any way she could.

"Okay, that's good!" Maru guided Windlifter through his depositing Blade on solid ground. "Slow… slow... careful... good… We're good! Pinecone, get those straps off him! Hazelwood, Dragon, help her! Avalanche! Push the ramp alongside the access panel and be careful!"

"He'll be okay, right?" Dusty asked worriedly.

"It's bad", Cabbie acknowledged, "but, Maru, he's the best there is. He'll make him better than new."

"His hydraulics are completely fried", Maru reported frantically. "He's losing fluids. I gotta get him back to the garage, stat. Dynamite! Tow hook!"

"Coming right up!" Dynamite shot off.

Maru addressed the Smokejumpers one by one. "I'm gonna need hydraulic fluid from the shed', he told Drip.

"Copy that!" Drip responded, also shooting off.

"Blackout, we'll need another generator. Try the main hangar."

"I got it!" Blackout disappeared too.

"And grab another heat lamp!" Maru yelled after him.

"Yes, boss!" Blackout replied.

"Hazelwood!" Maru addressed me. "I understand you have some mechanical knowledge!" I nodded. "Think you can give me a hand?"

I nodded again, this time, uncertainly. Of course, I wanted to help Blade, but I was a little daunted by such a serious task. "Okay..."

"The surface burns are bad", Maru murmured to himself as Dynamite towed Blade back to the garage, "but the interior damage is still repairable. As long as we move quick, we've got a good chance."


The next couple of hours were lost to orders from Maru. I was passing him anything he needed; examining parts of Blade's interior; adjusting lights and doing minor procedures on Blade. Despite my racing heart, I was working mechanically. Maru told me to do something and I didn't hesitate to do it, like a robot programmed to do everything Maru said. It was all a blur. I barely remember what I did.

When we had finally stabilised him, we exited the hangar to find Dusty waiting for us.

"How is he?" the orange and white plane demanded.

"He's resting now. I've done everything I can", Maru assured him as we all moved away from the hangar.

"Do… do you think he's gonna be-" Poor Dusty was unable to bring himself to answer the question.

"Look, Dusty, don't blame yourself", Maru told him softly.

"Look, Dust", I spoke up gently, "I don't want this to sound like an I told you so moment, but this is what happens when you don't follow orders. Firefighting is very dangerous. You put all three of us at risk today."

"Sounds like an I told you so moment to me!" Dusty scoffed.

Okay. So, our fight wasn't over yet. Good to know.

"Well, I guess it was all my fault!" Dusty realised. "He should have left me out there."

"Nah. That ain't Blade's style." Maru paused before adding, "Especially since what happened to Nick."

"Nick?" Dusty and I repeated.

"You mean Nick Loopin' Lopez from... from the TV show?" Dusty added.

Back in his garage, Maru started pulling boxes out of the way of the Wall.

"It was just a routine day on the set", he recounted. "Nick, he was doing his trademark loop for a stunt scene. But there was this freak crosswind."

My eyes widened in horror as I discovered a photo of Nick on the Wall hidden behind the boxes. Good move. Partner- Nick Loopin' Lopez, was scrawled across it.

"Blade was the first on the scene but…" Maru continued, "he didn't know what to do. His best friend was gone. And Blade thought his life was over too."

I felt a shiver run through my spine hearing that.

"But he didn't give up. He got trained, got certified and came here. Blade, he used to pretend to save lives. Now, he saves them for real."

I nodded in both understanding and admiration.


As was the way since we'd arrived at Piston Peak, it was just one problem after another.

"Listen up, y'all, we got big trouble", Patch informed us about a half hour later. "Wildfire jumped the main exit road and now it's blocked."

"There's only one way out of the park?" I raised an eyebrow. "Seems kind of dangerous for this exact reason."

"We know." Dragon shrugged. "Good luck telling Cad that, though."

"I know it's after sunset", Dipper pointed out to Windlifter, "but you're in command. It's your call."

"There's not much time!" Maru stated the obvious. "If you're gonna go, you better go now."

"And we'll need every plane we've got", Dusty put in.

We all looked to Windlifter, eager to hear what he had to say.

"Load up."

As usual, we all sprang into action. Dusty, Dipper and Windlifter were hooked up, ready to be loaded with retardant. I suited up and followed the Smokejumpers inside Cabbie. I know I decided that maybe the firefighting thing wasn't the best thing for me to be doing then, but I was here now; I couldn't really leave because of the fire and I had no intention of abandoning the team.

"Problem!" I heard Maru yell from outside. "There's no water pressure!"

"Main line musta burst again!" Cabbie shouted angrily.

"Hey Patch! What's the lake look like?" Dipper questioned.

"Negative", Patch declared, to everyone's dismay. "No visibility. Boxed in by fire and smoke."

"All we have left is what's in our tanks. Let's make it count!" Windlifter stated determinedly.

With Windlifter leading the way, we headed to the main road. My heart was pounding and I couldn't make it stop. I tried to take deep breaths, but I was practically hyperventilating

"We're headed straight into the fire!" Dusty observed. "Aren't we gonna fly around it?"

"The fastest way to the main road is through the fire!" Dipper countered.

"Brace yourselves!" Windlifter instructed as we went all in.