She smiles at me.At least I think she’s smiling.But I can only see her eyes.“Still intact.I just happen to disagree on this issue.”
“That’s not how a chain of command works.Trust me.I was in the Navy.”
She isn’t listening.Instead, she’s racing around grabbing everything she can.She throws the first aid kit, the lighter, my headlamp, and a lantern onto the pile.For good measure, she adds the couch cushions.I watch her grab her distress whistle from the side table and zip it up inside a side pocket of her parka.
“Phoebe.”I stand in front of her.She stops.“I appreciate your enthusiasm, but—”
Just then, I hear a loudcrack!I look over as that secondary collapse I worried about happens in real-time.
“Go!Go!”
Shit.
The whole back section of the shack gives way.The chimney is collapsing.Heavy, black smoke comes pouring out.
Phoebe doesn’t go.She bends down and grabs the edge of the rug and starts tugging it out the front door.I add my muscle, and we work together to get it outside.I yank the tarps down on our way out.
“Now!”I yell at her so loud that she jerks back in surprise.“Go!”
Phoebe runs behind me and heads to the snow shelter.With her out of harm’s way, I take a few seconds to collect my thoughts.I need to save the firewood.I need to get everything at least twenty-five feet away from this structure before it disintegrates and throws debris on my head.
I start throwing split firewood onto the pile of supplies until I see Phoebe coming at me.
“What the fuck?”
She’s leaping through the drifts with the snow shovel in her grip and starts clearing a path behind me so that I can drag everything to the cave.I’m shaking my head, but honestly, it will help.A lot.
How did this woman get so stubborn?And what would I do if she got hurt because I suddenly decided to become a soft touch?
Just then, I hear the firstwhooshof fire.Instantly, the old backcountry cabin is engulfed in flames.“Back!Now!Go!”
Phoebe drops the snow shovel, having no time to make progress.She grabs the plastic tarps and drags them away from the heat.
The shack’s going down.Only then do I remember the container of kerosene.It will act as an accelerant.
This is a shitshow.
Phoebe’s suddenly back at my side helping to drag everything away from what could be an inferno of the first order.
“Dammit, Phoebe!You’re not listening to me!”
She isn’t even listening to me tell her she’s not listening!Instead, she puts her back into it, and together, we drag everything through at least another foot of fresh snow, all the way past the buried ATV.
But we need the rest of the firewood.
I look up, startled by how fast the place is burning.The old shack is nothing but hundred-year-old kindling, and with this wind, it has everything it needs to light the fuck up.
I race back for the wood.It’s dangerously close to the fire but if I don’t go back for the wood, it will burn.We’ll have nothing for heat.
That would be an extremely dangerous development.
“Evander!”
I look over my shoulder to see Phoebe standing in knee-deep snow, her arms out to her sides in disbelief at what I’m doing.
“Please, no!”she screams.“It’s not worth it!Please!”
I turn toward the wood pile and start heaving one armful after another in the direction of the shelter.Phoebe runs toward me, picking up what I throw and carrying it away.
