“Yeah. Be there in two minutes.” That would also give me enough time to check in on Ross before the mayhem ensued.
I ended the call and immediately called my boyfriend. He answered on the second ring. “You okay? Off to the station?”
I smiled at the sound of his voice, allowing the tenderness evident to soothe my nerves.
“Yeah, just about to arrive. You okay?”
“I’m good. I was thinking about heading into school, though. If I leave now—”
“Hell no. If you wanted to do that, you should have stayed at mine yesterday.” I threaded steel into my voice.
Ross huffed out a sigh. “Why the fuck did I come home again?”
I hmphed. “Because you can be a pain in the arse when you want to be, and that bloody goat of yours is one too.” I smiled as I spoke, hoping he could hear the affection in my tone.
“Urgh. I swear, she better have this kid of hers in the next twenty-four hours.”
“If not, are we going to have mutton when I come over?”
He laughed loudly. “You just might. She stole another T-shirt off the line yesterday. I expect I’ll find fabric in her shit for the next week.”
I snorted out a laugh, most of my tension evaporating at hearing the sound of his amusement.
“Call me if you need me, and I’ll come to you as soon as it’s safe.” Words we’d yet to share were at the tip of my tongue, but I wasn’t sure if my worry for him pushed them to the forefront, obscuring the complete certainty of my feelings of the words, or not. I swallowed them down, needing to be sure and needing to look him in the eyes when I did tell him how I felt.
“And you be safe. No heroics, and stay dry.”
“I’ll try,” I said as Ross ended the call. I switched off the engine and stepped out into the dry, bright morning. That was the most surreal thing. We’d had no rain since yesterday afternoon, and this morning at five thirty, the sun was already blinding, sky blue, and it threatened to be a hot one.
Yet within a few hours, it was likely the southside of town would be underwater—just knee-deep in water if we were lucky. The two images never seemed to gel quite right.
Picking up my pace, I hauled my gear out of the tray of my truck, then headed inside for the briefing. The first thing would be finding coffee and a bite to eat. It may be my only chance for fuel for the rest of the day.
* * *
With the SES in attendance,the evacuation was so much more straightforwards. I’d never been involved with flood management before, unlike many of the other guys on our crew. While I’d done the basic training and knew the theories, dealing with so many panicked civilians was manic.
Some had already cleared out to safety. Those residents were my favourites. Many congregated at the three different evacuation points supporting those in need. Some left it to the last minute, meaning they needed extra support and ended up travelling through water that was on the cusp of being too dangerous.
Then there were the stubborn arsehats who’d refused to evacuate.
Meaning they were flooded in, trapped in their homes with a new moat accessory.
While some of the old-timers had seen more floods than I’d put out fires—and I had no doubt they’d usually be able to weather three days without mains power and such—the problem was the water was still rising.
“Apparently ’76 was the last time it was this high.”
I cast a look at Craig. The two of us stood together at the edge of the new river on Mary Road. It was fast-flowing and scattered with debris.
On the other side of the street, the high-set houses were faring okay, but those just a metre off the ground would have at least that much water running through them within the next few hours if the water continued to rise, which was the prediction.
I shook my head. “Where we heading next?”
Craig pointed to the map, and I angled to look. “A big gum came down over on Avery. It’s been pushed out of the water, which is something.”
“A little less destruction.” I nodded.
“Yeah, but it’s blocking one of the access points to Degan.”
