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Wish looked up. Harsh white haze blotted out the stars. A brushing sound, then thuds-somewhere up there branches dropped in erratic drumbeats. The primitive sounds moved through him, pinging like poison darts, making his body shake and his mind fall to pieces.
“He’s coming,” Da
“Da
“You want to bail on me? Now, when I need you? I should have expected it. C’mon, don’t panic on me, man.”
“I’m going, Da
“Do what you want,” Da
Wish said nothing.
“The guy is going to come down. It’s a matter of seconds! I need this!” Da
A wavering glow advanced down the mountain toward them.
“Three minutes,” Wish said.
Two deer burst out of the bush, making Wish’s heart stop, and pounded past them along the trail. “It’s moving fast,” Wish said. There were people down below. “Da
“What?”
“We could climb down to the street and catch him at his car, if it’s really down there. Shoot him there.”
“One hundred thousand dollars,” Da
“Da
“Now, you listen, Wishywashy. You stay here until I say go. You owe me this-”
Old business at a time like this. Just like Da
“Keep down,” Da
His own eyes burning and straining, Wish straightened and peered up the trail. How could Da
By now the fire had moved close enough for them to feel the whomps as it jumped from tree to tree, setting each one off. Leaves flared red like blue match tops side by side in a box. Branches cracked. Trees tottered and collapsed. Hot wind roared.
Wish had never been so frightened. Shaking behind Da
A line of trees exploded. Against the light of their dying, Wish thought he saw a figure standing on the curve of the trail. Was that someone watching the fire?
“Hey!” Da
“You see somebody?” Wish asked.
“There he is! That’s him!”
“Where?” Wish asked, untangling his camera. “Point. I can’t see anything.”
“There!”
Wish flipped a button, turning his camera on. He raised it. Dust and flying cinders blew into his eyes. He wasted a second wiping the lens. Putting an eye to the lens he saw nothing but liquid fire coming his way. Blinded by the intensity of the blaze, he pressed the telephoto button, aimed, and shot toward the burning trees. He shot as many times in as many directions as he could.
Out of memory to shoot any more photos, he popped out the memory card and pushed it into his pocket and reloaded, circling the site again. “He’s gone, Da
But Da
Wish swung into a wide arc, snapping pictures, flashing ugly hard white futilely into the hellish glow of the woods on fire.
“See him? See him now? No, of course not! Because you missed him! All right, we’ll catch up with him.”
Wish grabbed for Da
“The end?” Da
“We’ll catch him some other time. We’ll die if we don’t get out of here!” Wish pulled at him. Da
“But it’s not done yet. It’s not over yet. We’ll catch up with him. He’s stupid, he saw us and he’s hiding somewhere.”
“I’m going, and you’re going with me!”
Orange flames flowed like lava above them, toward them, inexorable. They would both burn if they didn’t leave instantly, and finally even Da
Wish, ru
When he straightened up, Da
Now, the trail forgotten, he ran blindly downward. He scraped past branches, stumbling over fallen trees, screaming and chittering like the jackrabbits and deer and chipmunks, ru
He fell. Down in the dirt, still ahead of the roaring wind and fire, he tried to think. He called again, gasping for air. He stood up on the strong legs that had hiked so many Sierra trails with Da
When his head came up, he heard a shout. And there he was, Da
“You-where did you-!”
“Take it easy,” said Da
Wish held back.
“Calm down. Follow me.”
“There’s fire over there, actual flames, see that? And this smoke. I can barely see you. I can’t breathe!”
“Trust me, Willis. I’ve got a plan.” For a moment the smoke cleared and Wish saw Da
“Don’t stop,” Da
“Just one second-can’t breathe-”
“Run or it’ll catch us. We’re almost back to the road-”
“I don’t see-any-freaking-road-” Each word a seared, heaving breath-
Death flew low over their heads in a ragged blazing cloak, setting fires wherever it touched down. They ducked. “Another hundred feet,” Da
Wish took one stumbling step toward him.
And saw several things. Da
And then two blackened hands reaching out from behind the tree trunk right next to him, holding up a big sharp rock with white stipples and granite lines. He saw the fingers raise it up. He saw the rock crash down toward him.