First

Our calls of ‘Fire department’ go unanswered. Ty moves past me, working towards the back corner. I glance up, looking out the windows of the office toward the main warehouse floor.

My gut pitches. The flames that hadn’t been visible when we’d first entered the building are licking their way toward us. Boxes filling the rows of shelving are alight, papers floating on the heated breezes kicked up by the fire. I take a step forward and my boot connects with something soft.

A quick glance down confirms it’s one of our three missing. The woman doesn’t move when I pull at her feet, dragging her out from under the desk she’d been curled up under. ‘I’ve got one,’ I yell.

At nearly the same moment, Ty echoes me. The man he found coughs, still clinging to consciousness. Ty staggers a little as he gets an arm around him, but recovers and begins his exit. Jeff’s found us. As I hoist the woman’s feet up, I catch sight of Jeff’s expression when he sees the blaze behind me. No one ever wants to see that look on a guy with Jeff’s experience.

‘Get her arms!’

He helps me and we drag her from the office into the hall. The heat from the fire creeps nearer, an ever-advancing force, even as we fight to pull her to safety. By the time we’re outside and have handed her over to the medics, the fire’s light has eclipsed the sunset’s orange streaks. Its glow reflects on the clouds and in the puddles covering the ground where the hoses are set.

‘It’s in the walls,’ Travis warns.

Ty’s back with us since the medics finally took his man. ‘No sprinklers?’

‘System was being overhauled.’

‘Shitty luck,’ Ty mutters.

‘We’ve got one more,’ Jeff says.

‘Think one made it out the window?’ I ask as we head back toward the door, grabbing an axe on my way.

‘Didn’t see anyone else in the office,’ Ty says.

Travis and Nelson give us the best entry they can manage and we slip back into the chaos. The building’s nearly engulfed now. Flames dance over the ceiling, a mesmerising ripple betraying how close the danger really is. The hallway remains moderately clear, but the open floor is a mess of burning files and smouldering debris dropping from the ceiling. We crouch as we find our way back to the office through the suffocating cloud. Jeff and Ty search the edges of the room, but there’s no sign of anyone. I focus on the window.

The glass smashes easily with the flat head of the axe, shattering out onto the floor on the other side. Hopefully our third victim isn’t directly below the window where the glass shards fall.

‘I’m going over,’ I tell them, handing over the axe.

Jeff kneels so I can get a leg up. My thick gear protects me from the tiny slivers leftover on the sill and I swing my way into the empty space beyond. It’s not dark here. The flames clawing their way up one of the last metal racks about twenty feet from me illuminate the area.

I land awkwardly, trying to avoid the limp form lying on the floor beneath the window.

‘Found her,’ I yell.

I roll her, trying to get her in position to hoist onto my shoulder. She’s young. Younger than I expected. Cat or Maya’s age.

‘Better hurry,’ Ty calls.

There’s no point looking behind me. The heat caresses my back through my bunker coat. She’s dead weight; her arms trail over to lay against my spine. I push up with my legs and position her so she falls into Ty’s waiting arms. He and Jeff struggle to drag her back through the open hole that was once a window. I press up her legs, helping as best I can, but the ominous creaking around me warns time’s running out.

Once she’s safely on the other side of the wall, I start to climb back through the hole. The pull-up I use to hoist myself onto the windowsill works until my boot slips. The mistake costs me, slamming my shin and knee onto the sill, sending me falling backward with jarring force. I hit the floor, helmet and head snapping against the concrete. For a moment, all I see is fire.

The ceiling above me. The cresting waves of motion to my side. The heat sears through my gear. I gulp air as I try to convince my limbs to obey. It takes too fucking long.

I force myself at the window again. My arms shake, the air trapped in my mask is hot, and the fire roars directly behind me. Wedging my boot in the corner of the sill gives me the purchase I lacked last time. Jeff tugs at me, helping me get my rear boot over the wall, and I collapse on the floor.

The radio’s still going off. More companies have arrived and are venting the building. They’re worried about the roof. Fighting to get to my feet hurts, but there’s no time to acknowledge that pain. Jeff updates on our position while Ty and I focus on the girl.

A new layer of smoke forces its way into the office, leaving us no option but to crouch the entire way to the main hall. Once we get there, it’s slow going, painfully slow. All our oxygen tanks are starting to run low, not a surprise considering how we’ve been working and sucking in air. Worse, if our victim’s breathing, she’s inhaling this shit and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it. Until we’re outside, we can’t stop to check for a pulse, for breathing. We have no idea if we’re manhandling a corpse.

The billows of steam we hear more than see are a relief. Nelson and Travis stop the flow of their line while we exit. The instant we’re clear, they’re back on the fire. Jeff hurries off to find update the medic while Ty and I finish carrying the girl a safe distance away. The cries of onlookers register only as background noise, much like the rush of water from hoses or the sound of beams collapsing inside the warehouse.

We lay her down and shed our helmets and masks. Ty lays his ear to her mouth while I rip off my gloves and feel for a pulse. Nothing.

‘No breathing,’ Ty mutters.