Friday Flash Fiction - Fire!
The sultry evening air is filled with the aromatic scents of ginger, garlic, and pickled veggies as Nick works. He has just finished bottling a batch of peppers, carrots, and cabbage to add to the pantry stores. He sings along to music as he cleans up. This is his favourite time of day when he has the cluster kitchen to himself and can prep food for the next day or two without interruption.
The music cuts out, and his dev screen flashes.
'Fuck, not again!' A bushfire has started west of the city, probably started by the electric storm that whipped through earlier with plenty of lightning and no rain to quench any strike fires. 'Round up Team A.' Nick speaks into his dev as he rushes out the door and jumps on his bike.
At the Spark House on the city's western edge, he starts kitting up in his protective suit while briefing the rest of the team. There are six of them, all with a firefighting symbol as part of their destiny tattoo. His own is entwined with cook and musician. The wide range of destinies – a mix of engineer, teacher, medic, librarian, builder, sculptor, gardener, astronomer, historian, athlete – shown in just this small group of 6 is impressive, but not unusual. Few people stick to one destiny, most accumulating at least a few before reaching middle age. Firefighting attracts people for a variety of reasons. Most had spent seasons with elders in the bush, tapping into tens of thousands of years of knowledge. This is country shaped by fire. There always was and always will be fire here. People work with the land around the city to keep it nourished, but even land that is listened to sometimes burns out of control.
As they speed west, Nick keeps an eye on the drone feed, showing the advancing fire line. It's spreading quickly due to high winds and dry vegetation after weeks without rain. He sends a message through his dev to request backup from other firefighter crews and equipment from the Spark House. There is a decent firebreak between the bush and the city, but with a windstorm forecast, the chance of the fire jumping the barrier is too possible.
They stop well back from the firefront. Nick squints through the smoke at the blazing wall of fire.
'Demons dancing.' Biyu says out loud what many of them are thinking. This is not the friendly fire they use to keep the land healthy. The flames are vast, angry and out of control. The wind is too flighty for back burning, and they won't be able to put this monstrous fire out. That will take heavy rain. They're out here to keep it from crossing the firebreak around the city.
The team spread out, all keeping well back while they send the water drones in. Even with their suits, the intense heat prickles their skins. The next few hours pass in a heat-seared battle; drones carry a water and fire retardant gel mix, nudging the fire back when it gets too close to the break. More firies join them, and e-carts with food and water move between the city and the crew.
The wind shifts again. Gusting smoke roars towards Nick. He's relying entirely on his dev to know his and his team's position to each other and the fire. The crisis alarm breaks through the bellow from the fire.
'I'm cut off.' Biyu's voice cracks in fear.
Nick swings around desperately, trying to pierce the wall of smoke. 'Biyu, can you see the firebreak?' He can't even see the firebreak himself. Nothing from Biyu, and he's lost her position. That could just be the heat and wind interfering with the signal, he tells himself. He sends a 'divert all drones' order towards the last known spot she was in. The drones move back and forth, refilling and dousing, but they don't seem to impact the blaze.
The crisis alarm breaks through the hellish din of the inferno again. It's not Biyu, but a weather alarm. Nick hasn't been watching the weather closely while frantically trying to find his crew mate and has missed a second storm for the day building to the west. The wind is whipping it towards them. The first big raindrops fall as a massive thunderclap announces the storm's arrival. As the deluge hits, Nick runs closer to the now faltering fire. It will take more than five minutes of rain to put the beast out, but his suit will offer him some protection from the burning steam.
There is a crackle on his dev and a location pings. He sprints towards it, sending a medical e-cart ahead of him. Just inside the fire line, a body lies curled in a foetal position. Biyu is unconscious, but her protective suit, scorched and blackened, has kept her alive.
Later, Nick washes off the sweat and dirt from fighting the fire in his shower but knows the smell will follow him for days. The immediate threat is gone, and Biyu will be okay, but he knows this isn't the last time he'll face the fire demons.