More Protective Colby

Irreplaceable

Sam left to go to his photoshoot. He was meeting a professional photographer all the way on the other side of LA. They ended up having to switch locations last minute because the California Wildfires were raging out of control in most locations that they normally went to.

"I should be back in a couple hours," said Sam.

"Have fun, Calvin Klein," shouted Colby from his position on the couch.

"Fuck off," laughed Sam as he stepped out the door.

Colby was watching TV with Jake and Corey in their living room. They had been following the fires since they started. It was terrible how many people, influencers and even celebrities had lost their homes or had to be evacuated. It was already blistering hot every minute of every day in LA, and the fires made it even worse. The air was smoky constantly.

Jake and Colby decided to go for a swim seeing as it was basically 1000 degrees in their house. They had been in the water about an hour when Corey came rushing out to them.

"Guys, come inside, you need to see this," shouted Corey.

"What?" asked Jake.

"Hurry up," said Corey.

Jake and Colby grabbed their towels and followed Corey into the living room. They watched the developing news story and the emergency evacuation notice for their part of LA. All residents within a fifty-mile radius must evacuate within the next 24 hours.

"What do we do?" asked Jake.

"Obviously start packing," said Colby.

They all quickly rushed to start packing as many essentials as they could. Luckily, they had been a little prepared, knowing there was a possibility this could happen. Colby pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Sam's number. It went to voicemail. He was most likely still at his photoshoot, hopefully he had found some way to hear about the mandatory evacuation. Colby quickly packed a bag for himself, then packed one for Sam, in case he wasn't allowed to come back to the house.

They all piled into their cars, waved each other goodbye and drove to the main roads. They met several cops and firefighters along the way who gave them instructions on where to go. There was an emergency shelter in another part of LA for people who had to evacuate. It wasn't a very dry part of the city, so if the fire did hit there, they'd likely be able to get that one under control pretty fast.

Colby was driving quickly but carefully. Once he got to the main road his eyes went wide when he saw black smoke across the sky, and fire along the mountain ridges. There were multiple helicopters circling the area. Damn, it really was bad.

Colby's phone began to ring; he saw Sam's number pop up. He quickly switched to Bluetooth and answered the call.

"Sam, you there?" asked Colby.

"Yeah, I'm here," replied Sam. He sounded panicked.

"Sam, did you evacuate?" asked Colby.

"Yeah, I'm trying to," said Sam, his voice shaky. "We saw it over the ridge, it wasn't close so we didn't worry. But turns out it was creeping up the mountain behind us and now, it's fucking close bro."

Colby's heart dropped. He needed to stay calm, for Sam. "You'll be fine Sam," he said.

"Colby, I'm surrounded by flames," said Sam. "I don't know if I'm gonna make it."

"You're gonna make it Sam," said Colby. "Just don't stop driving."

"I'm going as fast as I can," said Sam. "Fuck, Colby I can feel the heat from inside my car."