The Firefighter

Chapter 4 - The Flames Burn Out

After standing in the shallow dam water for what felt like half an hour, the fire had burnt through and moved to the next property. Oliver determined that it was safe to wade out of the water but before he did, he lent down and kissed her on the lips. Charlotte was surprised as she had felt attracted to him but didn't know if he felt the same way. Disasters had a way of bringing people together.

"Sorry, I probably shouldn't have done that," Oliver said in a husky voice.

"Its fine, Oliver. You brought me comfort and to be honest, I find you really attractive."

"Thanks, Charlotte. Now that the flames have gone and I see your gorgeous red hair and blue eyes sparkling at me, I feel that I need to express how I have felt about you since the moment I saw you standing there in danger. I felt a need to protect you and take you somewhere safe. Naturally, I didn't think then that it would be in your local dam." Oliver laughed at his joke and Charlotte joined in. She had always been able to see the lighter side of life. She believed that you needed humour and laughter to get you through the day.

Oliver took her to what remained of the fire truck, which had been burned out. Even though he had parked it in a sandy area that had looked safe, an ember had blown in through the open window and landed on the seat. A small flame had grown into a larger one and the petrol tank had blown up. They couldn't use the fire truck to escape the charred remains of the fiery apocalypse that had just moved past them.

"At least your photo album survived," he said as he looked down. As they waited, they paged through the photo album and she told him all about her family and friends. An hour later, they heard more sirens and another fire truck arrived. The other firefighters were very happy to see that Charlotte and Oliver had survived the fire. Apparently, planes and helicopters were dropping water using waterproof containers over the leading edge of the fire and having some success.

Charlotte and Oliver climbed aboard the fire truck and were taken to a local hotel to get cleaned up. Once they had showered and cleaned up, they met up again in the hotel bar.