Page 96 of From the Ashes
“We’re lucky we didn’t die doing that.”
“You’re right. We were lucky. And we’ll be lucky here too.” He pulled me toward the burning trees, his hand locked around mine. “I’ve got too much to live for to die here. There’s so many things I need to do with you. The life I’ve always dreamed of is on the other side of these trees. I’m not gonna let a little fire stop me.” He turned toward me, pulling me close. “May we rise from the ashes as one to walk through life hand in hand,” he said, reciting the dedication in my book.
I nodded, tears filling my eyes. “Yes,” I said at last. “Yeah, we can do this. Wewilldo this.”
“I love you, Phoenix. No matter what happens, I always will.”
“I love you too, Charlie.”
“Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
Getting as close to the fire as we dared, we looked at one another, took a deep breath, and dove under the water.
Slipping under the first giant log was easy. The second, however, was much closer to the water, forcing us both to press our bellies to the rocky bottom of the creek as we crawled through the water. I was feeling pretty good until we reached the third tree. It was one of those that was covered in branches. Above us, everything was bright orange-yellow, the flames touching the surface of the water as the tree burned. Charlie and I came up against a wall of broken branches and leaves.
Grabbing him by the hand, I pulled him to the right, heading toward the lower part of the tree where the branches were thinner. My lungs were already starting to burn, but I forced the feeling away. I could wait a bit longer.
After what felt like a century of searching, we found a gap through the branches. I let Charlie go first, helping him squeeze through before following behind. The next tree was much the same, and we had to search once more. By the time we found the second gap, I thought I was going to explode. I knew I only had a few seconds left until my body was going to inhale the water regardless of my determination to stay alive. I glanced upward, noticing the flames still licking the surface. There was no oxygen up there and no place to breathe without getting burned even if there was.
We had to keep going.
Immediately on the other side of the gap was another fallen log and then another. Both Charlie and I were racing along the bottom of the creek as fast as we could, bubbles escaping from our lips as we fought to keep our air inside. I pressed my lips shut and clenched my teeth,knowing the moment I opened my mouth water would come rushing in. My fingers scraped painfully against the rocks as I yanked myself along. I screwed my eyes shut, no longer able to keep them open as I concentrated onnotdrowning.
A lifetime seemed to pass under the water and there came a moment when I knew I could hold my breath no longer. I thought of all the wonderful things Charlie and I would never get to do, and the sadness nearly overwhelmed me.
Just then, I felt a hand on my back, and it yanked me to the surface. Coughing and sputtering, I inhaledmostlyair as I came out of the water. For a long moment I sat there on my hands and knees, hacking until I could get a good breath at last. It was only when I felt a hand on my shoulder that I looked up and saw Charlie sitting beside me. His dark hair was plastered to his face and rivulets of water ran down his soot smudged skin. Those brown eyes of his were fixed on mine, a smile slowly spreading over his face.
“W-We… We did it,” he sputtered.
I glanced over my shoulder, the wildfire raging some twenty feet behind us. We’d not only swam through the maze of fallen trees, but we’d overshot the end of it with room to spare. Somehow, against all odds, we’d made it out of Creekside and into the wilds beyond.
My ears perked up as a high-pitched wailing filled the air. My gaze lifted to the mountain road at least a half a mile in the distance. There I could see the flashing lights of the rescue vehicles and at least three other cars. One of them, if I wasn’t mistaken, was my parents’ minivan.
“Tony sent the rescue team. And my parents it looks like,” I said, pointing up at them. “They probably think we’re both dead.”
“Well,” Charlie sighed. “I guess we better go let them know we’re okay.”
We both stood up in the center of the creek, the cold water rushing around our legs. Charlie grabbed my hand to pull me along, but I didn’t move. Instead, he stopped and looked back at me.
“Are you okay?”
“Were you serious?” I asked, my own insecurities getting the better of me for a moment. “That you want to spend your life with me?”
Charlie stepped closer, slipping his hands around my waist. “Nix, I would marry you here on the spot if you asked me. I’d move to Boston if you wanted. Hell, I’ll even try to be friends withTonyif that’s what it’s gonna take.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I know things are hard for you sometimes,” I said, looping my arms around his neck and leaning my forehead against his. “I’ll do everything I can to make it easier, okay?”
“We can do that for each other,” he replied. “I’ve been avoiding life for a long time because it’s scary. But I’ve realized that it’s going to be scary either way, so I might as well try to live it, right? It won’t be easy, but I want to share this life with you.”
“Me too.”
He leaned close, kissing me softly. “So, I guess you really lived up to your name, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on,” Charlie laughed. “You have to see the irony in all this. A guy namedPhoenixjust ran headfirst into a wildfire and now he’s walking out of it, covered in ash and soot, and starting a new life?” He grinned. “It’s like your parents knew what was going to happen to you.”
“Don’t you ever tell my mother that her stupid name caused all this,” I growled. “She will be insufferable for therest of time.”