DAWN WILL RISE 

Part 2: HEROES

    Mark felt frozen, even though the cab of his truck was getting warmer and warmer. He had been brought up in town. You watched bushfires from the safety of an armchair. Naturally you felt sorry for the poor victims, but he never thought smoke would change to flames literally in moments.
    He tried to text for help. No signal - None! Maybe he could reverse or drive through. Suddenly he desperately wanted to be home. It seemed now the most desirable place in the entire universe.
    The angry-red flames flared high. Mark jolted back to reality and reversed as fast as he could. A flaming torch of a blazing tree fell on the road behind him, blocking the way, embers flew everywhere. He groaned and drove forward, grateful he was hauling heavy machinery, not petroleum or hay for desperate drought-stricken farmers.
    Why hadn't he cared more for other people, even the family. He vowed to change.
    A few terrible minutes of fire roaring like a low-flying passenger plane, then he broke through to a clear patch.
    A car was leaning twisted against a tree. As Mark came near, a woman struggled out of the wreck with a baby and a toddler, waving frantically. He did not want to stop, afraid.

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