The Chief nodded slowly, understanding. He tore up the paper. Some bonds, he realized, didn’t need official recognition. They were forged in heat, mirrored in blood, and proven in the ash.
“Took you long enough,” Finn croaked, managing a weak grin.
He looked at Diego. His own face stared back, smudged with soot and grim determination. Without a word, they both stood. The rest of the crew looked on, exhausted, terrified.
The trouble began on the second day. A sudden wind shift, a "firenado" in the making, turned the fire’s flank into its head. The Hotshots were cut off. Their primary escape route, a creek bed, had already been choked by smoke and falling embers.
The Chief nodded slowly, understanding. He tore up the paper. Some bonds, he realized, didn’t need official recognition. They were forged in heat, mirrored in blood, and proven in the ash.
“Took you long enough,” Finn croaked, managing a weak grin.
He looked at Diego. His own face stared back, smudged with soot and grim determination. Without a word, they both stood. The rest of the crew looked on, exhausted, terrified.
The trouble began on the second day. A sudden wind shift, a "firenado" in the making, turned the fire’s flank into its head. The Hotshots were cut off. Their primary escape route, a creek bed, had already been choked by smoke and falling embers.