Inferno

***~185~ Know When To Walk Away***

Taylor's POV

We all stand for a moment and watch our families drive away. We're devastated for one minute. Then we have to force ourselves to put them out of our minds and get to work.

"Let's move" I say simply.

"Extra help will be here in a few hours, but for now we're on our own" I say.

"Let's start on the West side. Wes, let's make sure we cover your damn house" I say, squeezing his shoulder.

Wes shakes his head. "We will do as much for mine as we do for everyone else's" he says sadly. The likelihood of Wes losing his house is high. It's real high.

We get to where we need to be and start working. I lose all track of time. Before I know it I'm being pulled away to do a damn Q&A with a reporter. We're in the middle of a crisis, and the media wants me to drop what I'm doing? This is insanity. Everything is political, though, so I know I have to.

I synced with all of my men and Alex so we're all on the same radio line constantly. As I'm waiting for the reporter to be ready, I speak into my radio.

"Clark, this is Preston. Copy?"

"Copy Preston. Go ahead"

"Eyes on the family?" I ask him simply.

"Affirmative. I pinged Lilah's phone twenty minutes ago. They're trapped on the middle of the mountain. They have hours left" Alex says. He's trying to remain calm, but I can hear the panic through the radio.

"Plenty of time. Thanks Clark" I say simply. I'm not feeling as confident as I'm sounding.

"Copy Preston"

"I'm ready for you, Chief Preston" the reporter says, grabbing my attention.

I do my interview with her and then go back to my men.

We've done as much as we can on the West side. We've got to do the center of town next. We're doing what we can to prepare. All of us knowing it isn't going to be enough. We can see the haze starting to form in the distance. We know it's coming.

We've been trying to convince people to leave, but some are just refusing. "The only way I'm leaving this house is if I'm dead" one man told me. He's going to die. Why do we have to risk our lives because he doesn't want to get out now? Who am I sending in to save his sorry butt? I'll probably send myself in...Im not letting anyone else die for that idiot.

It's starting to feel eerie. The haze is getting thicker, and it's playing off of the moon's light, bending and twisting the colors. We can tell it's coming. The wildlife is running away from the fire. I even see a few bears running away. They know there's danger and they are fleeing. Why are some humans so stupid? The animals know. Sometimes I think we don't give animals enough credit.

We've done all we can. We've hit as many neighborhoods as we can. We thankfully got to my neighborhood on our route. It wasn't planned, but I wasn't going to turn it down just because I'm the Fire Chief.

Spraying red retardant on my house broke my heart. Covering Ellie's archway and cobblestone in red retardant was one of the worst things I've ever had to do. This house is so special to us. This is all I can do to keep it safe. I don't think it will be enough. As we leave my neighborhood, I cry. I don't know if it will be here when I get back. All of our memories, potentially up in flames.

We get to the West side quickly. The fire is moving faster than we thought it was. We get there and wait. We don't wait long. We see the first bright lights of the flames in the distance within ten minutes.