Inferno

***~183~ Evacuation***

Ellie's POV

I get in the firehouse to pick up Luke and Josie, and I immediately can sense that something is wrong. The atmosphere is wrong.

I look at Liam, and he comes right over to me. "Go to his office" he says quickly as he walks ahead of me.

I get a pit in my stomach. What's wrong?

I get in and it's Taylor, Liam, Diego, and Wes. As soon as I see Taylor's face I want to cry. Something is really, really wrong.

"I'm coming home with you for a bit. We've got a big problem, Ellie" he says quickly.

My initial reaction is that Luke is in trouble. As soon as he starts talking, I realize it's even worse.

"A fire just started east of Aguilar" he says simply.

"Ok?" I don't see the problem. That's the town next to us. That's not in their jurisdiction.

"They're having trouble controlling it. Ellie, it's heading straight towards Trinidad" Taylor says, trying not to panic.

"Like a wildfire?" I ask, slowly starting to panic.

He simply nods.

"The Mayor and I have been talking all morning. We're going to do mandatory evacuations tonight. We thought we could hold off longer, but I don't want to get into a situation where the people can't get out." Taylor says, gauging my reaction.

"How bad is this?" I ask after a second.

"Bad. I've been coordinating with Jake, Alex, Wes, and Liam. I've been waiting for you and Mason to get out of school. I have 4 hotel rooms booked in Cimarron"

"Cimarron? That's an hour away" I say, shocked.

Taylor nods. "I'm not taking any chances. Plus, it's southwest of here...The complete opposite direction of this fire."

I take a deep breath. "So we're all cramming into 4 hotel rooms?" I ask. This is unrealistic.

Taylor nods. "Ellie, hotels all over are already booking up. We were lucky to get this many" he says sharply. He's insanely stressed right now.

I just nod, saying nothing. This can't be happening.

"Liam, Nora, and I are coming home with you. They're going to pack up Savannah and pack some important things. Then we will come back and Wes, Diego, and Drake will do it for their families. We will switch off until the rest of my men can get their families taken care of. You're taking Savannah and the kids and everybody and getting to safety" he says, hiding how devastated he is.

I look down at the ground for a second and take a minute to process. Then I look at him and nod. "Ok" I say simply.

"I've called Mason and Sasha. They're on their way home. Emma is too. We need to leave now" he says as he starts walking towards the door.

"Come on Luke...Josie" Taylor says over his shoulder as we walk outside. They both hurry and follow us. We get in my car and Taylor starts driving. He grabs my hand and holds it tight. He's scared.

We say nothing the entire way home. Lilah has Savannah right now, and they are already over at the house when we get there. Alex comes in a second later.

Dylan and Mason walk through the door a minute later, and Emma comes in almost at the same time. Sasha is already home. We're all here.

"Ok guys, listen up" Taylor says, getting everyone's attention. He tells the kids what's going on, and immediately the fear is strong on their faces.