Primal Threat - Earl Emerson [127]
They continued to ride in tandem, Zak and Muldaur, and as the road grew less steep Zak spotted the Porsche up ahead in the ditch, two wheels in the shallow depression, two wheels in the air but just barely touching the road. Both the front and rear passenger’s doors were ajar. Not far up the road Zak saw three figures running.
The next runner they caught up to was Fred, who, as Zak watched, slowed from what had been a staggering lope to what was now a laborious walk. Behind them, Zak heard the fire roaring to life again. He heard shouting, too. There wasn’t anything he could do to help those he’d left behind, as a cloud of smoke and ash passed overhead and scores of hot cinders began speckling the branches of nearby firs, setting them alight. Once again he found himself overtaking Scooter, who appeared out of nowhere in the smoke. As weary as he looked, Scooter made a crude attempt to reach for Zak with his good arm. Zak pedaled out of reach before he could fasten on. Behind, Muldaur said, “Don’t even think about it.” Scooter had done exactly what Zak warned him not to, and was now for all intents and purposes finished. He was stumbling, his lungs making a noise that sounded like a loose air fitting.
With the fire getting louder, roiling gusts blowing in various directions at once, and the speed of the wind picking up so that he had to work to hold his front wheel steady, Zak realized the fire could go anywhere. It might jump ahead. Or it could sweep over them from behind, as it had been threatening to do. Muldaur came abreast and, after drinking it dry, unleashed his CamelBak and dropped it to the road. He chucked a half-full water bottle that had been in a holder on his down tube, too. Zak followed suit, draining his hydration pack and letting it drop to the road, along with the walkie-talkie and virtually everything else he was carrying. The less weight, the better. At this point a few ounces might cost them their lives.
Keeping a steady focus, Zak sighted Jennifer jogging with determination. She looked as if she had enough strength in her legs to carry her to the top at her current pace. He caught her at a point where a little-used secondary road led off to the right and seemed to flatten out. Zak knew both roads would have the same elevation gain if they ended on top of the mountain, so the flattening would be temporary, but he could see where it would be tempting. The temptation proved too much for Jennifer.
Zak spotted Stephens fifty yards up the side road, resting with his hands on his knees, cocking his head to watch Zak.
“Don’t do it!” Zak yelled. “You don’t know where it goes.”
“It has to go up,” Stephens shouted.
“Does it? The quarry road was a dead end.”
By way of reply, Stephens turned his back and began jogging away, trailed by Jennifer, as two deer galloped across the road between Jennifer and Zak.
“I don’t like it,” Muldaur gasped.
“Not much we can do.”
“God, it’s windy.”
After they passed the spur road, the mountain grew smokier, and soon they were riding in smoke so thick and dark it turned the day into night. Here the main road followed the natural contours of the mountainside. As they pedaled, they got a sense that the flames were paralleling them in the woods on their right, which meant the fire must have at some point crossed the road Stephens and Jennifer took.
“Holy shit, what is that?” Zak asked, glancing into the woods below them. The roaring fire sounded