Fall Where They May

The roaring flames made hearing the voices shouting between firefighters difficult to catch. Not that the shouting would have helped much. The wall of fire kept reaching skyward. Hungrily consuming the vegetation and debris caught in its path. Instead of pushing the wildfire back, the team had been pushed back, yard by yard. "Where is our backup?!" Trixie yells, taking advantage of a lull in her section of the firewall.

"Radio Reports say they got held up about 30 minutes down the road. They're working to get the roadblock cleared." The firefighter beside her yelled back. "We don't have that kind of time!" Trix used the back of her forearm to clear the sweat off her brow before it could obscure her sight. Just as the trainer turned back to shout something else, a branch snapped off from a tree above. The flaming torch hurtled toward her oblivious partner. "No!" Fear gripped her chest. Her legs were moving far before her brain could catch up. The hose she had been gripping slapped the ground and withered like a snake from the pressure of water spilling from it. I'm not going to make it, the thought gripped her. She was moving as fast as her legs would carry her, but it wouldn't be enough. Even fueled by adrenaline.

Something blue and furry bound past her, opening its maw for a bark, but instead of sound a fountain of water spewed forth. "Rookie?" Trixie tackled her fellow fighter, the now sopping wet branch falling to the ground behind them. The companion groaned and muttered a question of confusion, but it fell on deaf ears. Trix was sitting up and staring back at the panlithe. "I didn't know you could do that?" The confused blink of grey eyes told her that neither did he. After the initial shock, his tufted tail started to wag behind him. "Good job, Kid" Trix smiled. She looked down to check over her teammate, who other than confused was no worse for wear. It took him a moment to see the branch. The realization made his eyes widen and he looked up at Trix with a nod of quiet appreciation. "C'mon. Back to work." She hopped up and held down an oddly shiny hand to assist him to his feet. "I'm going to take Johnny and see if we can't help at the blockage. Keep it up here as long as you can." the older woman explained. She scruffed up Johnny's mane. "Let's put that new skill of yours to good use. Heel."

At an easy lope, she ran back towards one of the UTVs waiting by the rapidly draining firetrucks. Without a fresh supply of water, they were going to lose this battle, and this front was not one to lose. The wildfire would sweep through the fields past this point and it would be neigh impossible to stop them after that. "Load up, Kid." Johnny leaped into the small vehicle with her, his tongue lolling out. It was rare that he got the chance to ride with Viatrix. Try as he might, she just never warmed up to him. Maybe now that he had proven his worth she'd come to like him. That thought made his tail wag a happy tempo against the seat back.