sign. Head down, he tore towards the
ground, the wind roaring in his ears. Back
in the saddle, baby. He’d wondered if his head would play games with him on
this first jump since the malfunction, but he was good. Bad luck, Evan had
ruled after going through Rio’s chute pack. And now he’d gotten right back on
the horse. He eyeballed Gia, marking her progress, but she’d already snapped
her drag chute and gotten her feet down. She was right on target to put down
nice and easy in the center of the clearing, so he spared a glance for the
fire. Holy shit. There was nothing nice and easy about that.
Their LZ was on top of a ridge
above a densely wooded slope that ended in ponderosa-studded forest sporting twenty-foot
sheets of flame. They’d need to pay careful attention to conditions on the
ground. The terrain was steep and, if the wind shifted, they ran the risk of
getting overrun. He got his feet down, head up.
The drag chute popped, yanking him
back and up. Business as usual.
Jump
thousand.
Look
thousand.
Below him, Gia pulled her cord and
her chute deployed. He banked left slightly, not wanting to run the risk of
tangling his feet in her lines.
Reach
thousand.
He wrapped his hand around the rip
cord and prepared to pull.
Wait
thousand.
The ground closed in. He’d been in
office buildings that were further from the ground. Four hundred feet between
him and a terminal ending.
Pull
thousand .
The chute deployed perfectly and he
steered towards the LZ. The canopy bucked and everything was good. Gia hit the
ground textbook perfect, already running and rolling her chute.
Check
your canopy.
He eyeballed his chute—it was
open and not tangled, so he’d definitely improved on his last jump. Being
wrapped tight around Gia hadn’t been a hardship. He liked holding her and Gia
had steered them both in like Super Woman before depositing his sorry, falling
ass safely on the ground. So now he also owed her. Big time. That part, he
didn’t like. He preferred to operate on a cash-and-carry basis when it came to
his life. He didn’t owe anyone.
Except now he owed Gia.
His steel-toes hit the ground and
he ran hard, running out his momentum. The chute hit the ground, but Gia was
already there, chasing his ass and gathering up the surplus nylon. The DC-3
banked overhead and headed away from the drop site. Spotted Dick would make
another pass over the fire to do re-con while Rio and Gia assessed the site
from the ground. If everything checked out, the rest of the jump team would
join them on the ground.
“Ten minutes and they’ll be back,
ready to jump when we give the go-ahead,” he said and she nodded. That left
them just enough time to do a quick on-ground assessment. If conditions weren’t
right, they’d pull the plug on the impending jump and hike out themselves. They
turned as one and headed towards the fire.
Smoke poured up the sloping side.
The first order of business once the team landed would be building a fire
break. They needed to clear a strip of forest ASAP or that fire would burn
right up the hill.
Sheets of orange flames chewed up
the grass, but Gia didn’t hesitate. She waded right in.
“Hey.” He swung her to a halt with
a hand on her arm. “Where are you going?”
She looked at him like he’s crazy.
“For a beer.”
Lame question. He shut the hell up
and fell into step beside her. Settled for kicking down the small flames that
licked at their boots. She frowned, but she didn’t say anything. He could feel
it coming though.
When they reached the edge of the
ridge and peered over, he was ready to call it a day. That was definitely a new
flavor of hell down there. Embers and burning debris peppered the ground around
them, warning that the fire had no intention of staying put forever. That kind
of ground hid unseen gullies beneath all the tall brush that hadn’t burned in
years. Ten, maybe twelve, feet tall, he estimated, which
ground, the wind roaring in his ears. Back
in the saddle, baby. He’d wondered if his head would play games with him on
this first jump since the malfunction, but he was good. Bad luck, Evan had
ruled after going through Rio’s chute pack. And now he’d gotten right back on
the horse. He eyeballed Gia, marking her progress, but she’d already snapped
her drag chute and gotten her feet down. She was right on target to put down
nice and easy in the center of the clearing, so he spared a glance for the
fire. Holy shit. There was nothing nice and easy about that.
Their LZ was on top of a ridge
above a densely wooded slope that ended in ponderosa-studded forest sporting twenty-foot
sheets of flame. They’d need to pay careful attention to conditions on the
ground. The terrain was steep and, if the wind shifted, they ran the risk of
getting overrun. He got his feet down, head up.
The drag chute popped, yanking him
back and up. Business as usual.
Jump
thousand.
Look
thousand.
Below him, Gia pulled her cord and
her chute deployed. He banked left slightly, not wanting to run the risk of
tangling his feet in her lines.
Reach
thousand.
He wrapped his hand around the rip
cord and prepared to pull.
Wait
thousand.
The ground closed in. He’d been in
office buildings that were further from the ground. Four hundred feet between
him and a terminal ending.
Pull
thousand .
The chute deployed perfectly and he
steered towards the LZ. The canopy bucked and everything was good. Gia hit the
ground textbook perfect, already running and rolling her chute.
Check
your canopy.
He eyeballed his chute—it was
open and not tangled, so he’d definitely improved on his last jump. Being
wrapped tight around Gia hadn’t been a hardship. He liked holding her and Gia
had steered them both in like Super Woman before depositing his sorry, falling
ass safely on the ground. So now he also owed her. Big time. That part, he
didn’t like. He preferred to operate on a cash-and-carry basis when it came to
his life. He didn’t owe anyone.
Except now he owed Gia.
His steel-toes hit the ground and
he ran hard, running out his momentum. The chute hit the ground, but Gia was
already there, chasing his ass and gathering up the surplus nylon. The DC-3
banked overhead and headed away from the drop site. Spotted Dick would make
another pass over the fire to do re-con while Rio and Gia assessed the site
from the ground. If everything checked out, the rest of the jump team would
join them on the ground.
“Ten minutes and they’ll be back,
ready to jump when we give the go-ahead,” he said and she nodded. That left
them just enough time to do a quick on-ground assessment. If conditions weren’t
right, they’d pull the plug on the impending jump and hike out themselves. They
turned as one and headed towards the fire.
Smoke poured up the sloping side.
The first order of business once the team landed would be building a fire
break. They needed to clear a strip of forest ASAP or that fire would burn
right up the hill.
Sheets of orange flames chewed up
the grass, but Gia didn’t hesitate. She waded right in.
“Hey.” He swung her to a halt with
a hand on her arm. “Where are you going?”
She looked at him like he’s crazy.
“For a beer.”
Lame question. He shut the hell up
and fell into step beside her. Settled for kicking down the small flames that
licked at their boots. She frowned, but she didn’t say anything. He could feel
it coming though.
When they reached the edge of the
ridge and peered over, he was ready to call it a day. That was definitely a new
flavor of hell down there. Embers and burning debris peppered the ground around
them, warning that the fire had no intention of staying put forever. That kind
of ground hid unseen gullies beneath all the tall brush that hadn’t burned in
years. Ten, maybe twelve, feet tall, he estimated, which
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