“She couldn’t save Matt, so she’s going to risk her life to save Zeke—and ours in the process. It doesn’t make sense to let her make this decision, Harbinger! We’re on a mountain, two hours from base. Our radios are patchy. We’re simply not trained in fire behavior. It’s fucking dangerous. Listen to me, all of you. Naomi’s come a long way, but she doesn’t have her head on straight about this.”

“So my decisions can’t be trusted because I’m a widow. Fuck you, Martinez,” I said.

“Fuck you, Naomi. You joined up to protect us for Matt, and you’re going to kill us all to save the new man in your life. The general was right to put you on probation.”

“Lock it up, Martinez!” Kitsch yelled again. “Last warning!”

“Just because we pretend your family’s alive doesn’t mean we have to let everyone act crazy!” Martinez growled. He immediately regretted it, but Kitsch had already left his ATV. They both fell to the ground, and Kitsch grabbed for his knife.

“Stop!” I yelled, lunging for Kitsch’s hand. “Wait, wait, wait! Wait!” I screamed.

In the scuffle, between the cursing, there was a voice.

“Wait.” I struggled to keep Kitsch from killing Martinez while also trying to listen more closely.

I heard it again, this time able to hone in that it was coming from an area of residual boulders. We were surround by mountains taller than the one we were on, so it was difficult to discern.

I curved both my hands around their heads and cupped my fingers over their mouths, pulling their necks to almost breaking point. “I said shut the fuck up!”

In the distance, barely audible, was a chorus of voices.

“It’s them,” I said, breathing hard.

“It’s the wind,” Sloan said.

I shook my head, scrambling to my feet. “It’s Zeke. I know it.”

I mounted my ATV and put on my helmet, the fire burning in a line almost all around us, no more than a few miles away. The engine growled as I pulled back on the throttle, surging forward, and soon the headlamp highlighted two faces, the men jumping up and down and waving their arms.

The ATV slid sideways when I finally squeezed the brake, and as soon as I removed my helmet, Zeke yanked me into his arms. I hugged him back, letting him hold me while the other man, Maddox, poked his head into a crevice in the rocks and called for the others.

Three more climbed out, Jew and two Aussies I hadn’t yet met. They were smiling, seeming unfazed by their impending death.

“We gotta stop running into each other out here.”

I pushed Zeke back, then checked him over, touching his arms, chest, and face. “You okay?”

He smiled. “I’m good.”