Evan had tried a hard turn while stalling the chute to get clear of the thermal, but it hadn’t let him down in time. He was jerked back aloft and the drop zone was now gone behind him—no way to get it back.
Need alternate landing. You got about ten seconds, Ev.
Down here near the valley floor, the trees were massive. Snagging a tree two hundred feet up was incredibly dangerous. He’d be as likely to collapse the chute and plummet down as to get safely stuck and then lower himself to the ground.
The only places not thick with trees were…
Mostly on fire.
The tail of the fire didn’t have the towering flames like the ones he’d seen up at the head, but it was still burning outward in all directions despite the lack of driving wind.
He relaxed the steering toggles to get maximum flight dist
