“And then what?” Darryl’s sunglasses reflected twin orange disks of the sun, low on the horizon. “There’s a town? A road?”
“Sky Bridge is just a wooden footbridge over a slot canyon,” Wyatt said. “The trail splits on the other side. There’s no roads or towns for a long ways. Just forest.”
Marco put his arm around Beatriz. “Maybe they’re going to have a ranger meet us there to lead us out.”
“Hey,” Darryl called out, looking up the trail. “Where are you going?”
Jason was already fifty feet away. He spoke over his shoulder. “I’m not going to keep sitting around here waiting for the fire to catch up with us.”
“Does he mean we’re going to get burned up?” Zion asked in a high voice.
“Of course not.” Natalia joined the chorus responding with varying degrees of conviction. Just last week, she had read about a family who died when a fast-moving California wildfire trapped them in their own home. After wrapping themselves in wet blankets they had sheltered in the bathtub, but the fire hadn’t cared. Natalia had had to use every trick Dr. Paris had taught her to stop obsessing about their last moments.
“Hang on, Jason,” Wyatt said. “It will be safer if we stay together as a group.”
“Listen to Mr. Boy Scout,” Jason scoffed. But he stopped walking.
“Actually, I’m an Eagle Scout.” Wyatt shrugged on his pack. He still held his map, now folded. “But Jason’s right. We do need to leave. We should try to cover as much distance as possible while we still have daylight. And since there’s a good chance we’re going to still be hiking after it gets dark, everyone should try to preserve cell phone battery power for the flashlights.”
Filled with nervous energy, the group fell into a long, straggling line, with Jason in the lead and Wyatt bringing up the rear. Despite what Wyatt had said, Natalia didn’t think they were really a group at all. They were just nine people with nothing in common except bad luck. Most of them weren’t even prepared for a longer hike.
Jason only had on tennis shoes and wasn’t carrying a pack. Behind Jason were Marco and Beatriz. Marco had unclipped Blue’s leash and draped it around his neck, but the dog stayed close, his nose occasionally bumping the back of Marco’s knees. Marco wore Tevas and a small day pack, while Beatriz carried only a water bottle and the striped beach towel. Her heels kept sliding out of her flip-flops. Marco had one hand under her elbow, trying to steady her. His other hand now held a blue inhaler, which he took a puff from.
Next was Susan. Judging by her old-fashioned pack, she had plenty of hiking experience, but she was also well past retirement age. Still, aided by trekking poles, she was moving steadily.
Behind Susan was Zion. He was towing Darryl by the hand, commenting on every rock and root. Neither one of them was wearing a pack.
AJ was right in front of Natalia, close enough she could hear his labored breathing. But he had a good-sized pack on his back.
They’d gone only a couple of hundred yards up the trail when a shout came from behind them. It was a woman’s voice. “Wait! Stop! Help us!”
A bolt of adrenaline ran up Natalia’s spine. Already knowing it had to be bad, she turned. It was the couple with the toddler, the ones who had insisted on seeing the fire for themselves. But now the child carrier holding Trask was on his mom’s slight back, bending her nearly double. The toddler’s face was wet with tears, sweat, and snot.
Stumbling in their wake was the husband. Half his light blue shirt was gone. The remaining edges looked like blackened lace. The exposed skin of his upper left arm and chest was shiny and red.
He had been burned.
CHAPTER 6
WHAT IF IT WAS YOU?
8:08 P.M.
AT THE SIGHT OF his burns, Natalia’s vision went blurry. Blood roared in her ears.
“Oh my God.” Susan put her hand to her chest. “What happened?”
“What do you think happened?” Jason snorted as Darryl tried to turn Zion’s face away. “Dude got burned.”
“You were right,” the dad said to Wyatt. “We couldn’t get through. I got too close, looking for a way out. A spark landed on my T-shirt. I tried to beat it out.” He raised his right hand. The palm was bright red, dotted with yellow.
Natalia didn’t have to imagine his agony. She knew. And she also knew she should be helping him, but she couldn’t seem to move. Her head filled with static.
“Okay.” Wyatt sucked in a breath. “Are you the only one who was hurt?” He looked at the wife and Trask.
“Just me, thank God.” The burned man sat down heavily on a boulder.
“I have some first aid training,” Wyatt said. “Can I help you?”
When the other man nodded, Wyatt said in an artificially calm voice, “My name’s Wyatt. What’s your name? I already know your little guy is named Trask.” As he spoke, he pulled a battered first aid kit from his backpack and pulled on a pair of blue gloves.
“Ryan. And my wife is Lisa.”
“First we have to cool the burns down,” Wyatt said. “I’m going to need a clean cloth, like a T-shirt or bandanna, and some clean water.”
“On it,” Marco said.
Lisa was standing with her hands braced on her knees, panting from the combined weight of her kid and her worry.
Natalia forced herself to move. Not away from the burned man, but toward him. The Red Cross training, practiced year after year, began to kick in.
She leaned down and murmured to Wyatt, “Do you need help? I’m Red Cross certified.” Could he hear the quaver in her voice?
He exhaled in relief. “Yeah, I’d love it. It’s ABC, right?”
She nodded. ABC was one of a half-dozen mnemonics to help remember what to do and in what order. A was airway. A mouth full of chew, gum, or vomit would mess things up if they had to start CPR.
As she got out her own first aid kit and found her gloves, Wyatt asked, “Okay, Ryan, can you open your mouth? Do you have anything in it?”
Ryan shook his head as he obediently parted his lips. The inside of his mouth looked pink and healthy. No signs of soot. His face wasn’t burned. His hair didn’t look singed, although it was hard to tell for sure because it was black to begin with. But this close, they would probably smell the horrible stench if it had been.
“Great.” Somehow, Wyatt managed to sound almost cheerful, but Natalia reminded herself that the calmer they were, or at least pretended to be, the calmer Ryan would be. She could not afford to pay attention to the memories crowding back.
Off to the side, AJ was helping Lisa remove the child carrier that held Trask. It had a kickstand, so when they put it on the ground he ended up suspended, his little legs dangling a few inches above the ground. His crying had been reduced to an occasional sob.
She couldn’t afford to think about the toddler, either.
Marco reappeared with a folded blue bandanna and an unopened bottle of drinking water.
“Thank you,” Natalia said. After wetting the bandanna, she put it on the worst part of Ryan’s shoulder. He sucked air through his teeth. Under the cool, wet cloth, his skin still radiated heat.
“Can you hold this in place for me with your burned hand?” she asked. He gingerly rested his hand on top.