I adjusted my pack, tossed my chainsaw onto the other shoulder, and checked that my drip torch was secure. Chief frowned at the darkening sky and the steep ridge ahead. I knew exactly what he expected of us. Taylor, Runt, Puddin’ and I were quickest with the saws.

Everyone had been trained, they knew what to do, and most times we did it without being told or communicating at all. I was five trees in when I heard Chief yelling over the radio.

“No, damn it! I said quadrant four!”

Chief motioned for us to run, and we sprinted north, a helo dropping red sludge where we were just standing. Half of us dove out of the way. Getting hit with the fire retardant from that height and speed wasn’t fun and working soaked in that shit wasn’t either.

The chief was yelling a string of expletives into the radio, and we regrouped.

“We’ll have this one snuffed out by noon, and we can help the others,” Taylor said.

I ripped Ragnar’s pull cord and got back to work.

Another tree went down, and I took off my helmet and wiped my brow, looking up at the smoke lingering above us. The wind had changed a little

“Get that helmet on, Zeke!” Chief barked.

Just as I followed his order, a large branch cracked, the noise splitting the air around us, and my line of sight connected the impact point to where Chief was standing.

“Chief, move!” Taylor yelled.

I took off in a sprint, my strides twice as long to make it in time. I dove for the second time that morning, this time tackling Chief to the ground. He landed flat on his back, the huge branch hitting just inches from the soles of my boots. I rolled off, looking up at the haze above.

Chief groaned, the air knocked out of him.

“You all right?” I asked.

Taylor, Puddin’, and Runt ran up to us.

“Holy shit!”

“You okay?”

“That was a close one!”

Chief struggled to get to his feet, forbidding any of us to help. “Thanks,” he grumbled. “I’ve thought about going out lots of ways. Smashed by a tree branch the size of my mother-in-law wasn’t one of them.”

I breathed out a laugh, and Taylor, Runt, and Puddin’ laughed so hard they were grabbing their knees.

“All right, all right. Back to work,” Chief said, hobbling to a new spot.

“Hey,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. “Are you really okay?”

“Going to be sore as shit tomorrow,” he grumbled. He looked up at me, the hardness gone from his eyes. “You just saved my life.”

I watched his focus return to the job, and I smiled at him for just a few seconds longer before going back to mine. Saving lives was part of the description for a thankless job, but keeping each other safe was what kept us coming back season after season.