Chapter Twelve: Of Blade and Nick
Windlifter came much later than we would've liked. The Skycrane carried a rescue harness, lowering it down towards the ground.
"Girls can you jump down and hook him in?" Windlifter asked over the radio.
"Can do." Crow and I jumped off of Dusty's wings landing a little harder than we had expected.
It took a while, but we managed to loop the straps of the harness around Blade. We caught sight of Blade's right side and saw a good portion of the metal near his jaw crumpled and dented, no doubt from his harsh impact on the ground.
"We're good all good!" Crow called into the radio.
"What about you two?" Dusty asked worriedly.
"Cloudy is taking us back" I answered as the horse landed and we mounted up and took to the skies.
Windlifter took off and headed towards the base. Dusty flew alongside him, staring worriedly at Blade the entire way. When the base came into sight, Dusty pulled ahead and landed first before joining the rest of the Air Attack team waiting for Blade to come in.
"Okay, that's good!" Maru called over the wind as Windlifter gently lowered Blade to the ground. "Slow…..slow…..careful…..good….." He waited until Blade's full weight was on his landing gear. "We're good! Pinecone, get those straps off him! Avalanche! Push the ramp alongside the access panel and be careful!"
Dusty stared at the scene. He looked to Cabbie beside him. "He'll be okay, right?"
"It's bad." Cabbie admitted. "But, Maru, he's the best there is. He'll make him better than new."
Maru couldn't remember the last time he moved so quickly. He had to wrench open the access panel, the door almost melted completely shut. His eyes widened a bit at the damage. "He's hydraulics are completely fried. He's losing fluids. I gotta get him back to the garage, stat. Dynamite! Tow hook!"
"Coming right up!" Dynamite called, driving off.
Maru closed the access panel, turning to Drip. "I'm gonna need hydraulic fluid from the shed."
"Copy that!" Drip hurried off.
"Blackout, we'll need another generator. Try the main hanger." Maru ordered.
"I got it!" Blackout sped away.
"And grab another heat lamp!" Maru called after him.
"Yes, boss!" Blackout called.
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Later on Maru hauled the still-unconscious fire chief to his hanger. We followed along behind. Maru carefully back Blade into the hanger and shut the doors, sighing. Crow and I sat on Dusty's wings.
"How is he?" Dusty finally asked.
"He's resting now." Maru reported, beginning to drive off.
"Oh." Dusty sighed, looking dejected as he followed Maru.
"I've done everything I can." Maru said.
Dusty was silent for a moment. "Do…..do you think he's gonna be—"
"Look, Dusty, don't blame yourself." Maru said.
Dusty sighed. "He should have left me out there. He could've taken the girls and just left."
Maru smirked. "Nah. That ain't Blade's style." His face fell. "Especially since what happened to Nick."
"Nick?" Dusty blinked. "You mean Nick Loopin' Lopez from the TV show?"
Maru led us into the garage, driving towards the Wall. He began moving carts and boxes out of the way.
"It was just a routine day on the set." Maru explained. "Nick, he was doing his trademark loop for a stunt scene. But there was this freak crosswind." Maru moved the final box, revealing a picture of Nick Loopin' Lopez in the corner of the Wall. Nick was smiling broadly, and writing in the corners of the picture read "Good move, partner! –Loopin' Lopez".
Maru sighed. "Blade was the first on the scene but…..he didn't know what to do. His best friend was gone. And Blade thought his life was over too. 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 thought back to when we first came and realised that my curse mark was acting up again. But why?