1
Damon
Thick black smoke andflames reach the sky, the compound crumbling to ash before my eyes as the fire truck screeches to a halt. Everything but the thumping of my heart goes silent. Even if we put it out, the destruction is inescapable, with the fire spreading across the entire complex. Individuals are standing off to the side by a couple of ambulances, coughing uncontrollably with soot smeared on their faces.
The chief instructs us to prepare the hose as a screaming child comes from behind me. When I twist around, a little girl of about seven is scrambling out of the building, black streaks down her face. My heart plummets as I scurry over to her, plucking her up, struggling to get away from the tumbling debris. “Are you okay?” I ask, examining her body for any signs of cuts or burns.
“My mom... She’s still inside...” She sobs. “Please. Help her.”
“What apartment?”
She stares at me. “I don’t know.”
“First floor?” I ask, requiring at least that, and she nods. “I’m gonna find her.”
Before wasting any more precious time, I pass her off to the paramedics and dash inside to find the young girl’s mother.
Upon entry, there are two floors, the top one is missing pieces of the roof already, but I don’t let that deter me in my search. This is my job, and no one is dying today.
The crashing of debris is deafening, making my ears ring, and my throat is on fire from the dense smoke taking over the corridor. This building might come down at any point and trap us both inside.
“Your daughter is safe,” I yell. “If you can hear me, make a noise.”
It’s hard to hear over all the clamoring from the fire, but my eyes shut, battling to take notice of anything that can point me to recovering the girl’s mother. Nothing. Proceeding to scan through apartments, I tremble. This structure is massive. She could be anywhere and I’m running out of time. I need something, anything to help me locate her or neither of us will be walking out of here alive today.
The once-sturdy frame, damaged by embers, is deteriorating before me, allowing mere minutes to locate her before it will all come plunging down. Sometimes, in situations like this, my life flashes before my eyes, as cliché as that sounds. Every life is worth saving, and I can’t leave someone behind, even if it means my death.
My body swiftly moves through two more residences damaged by excessive smoke soot, seeking to expose the woman, but no luck. She isn’t responding to me, and that isn’t a good sign. Is she unconscious? “Bang on something... anything.”
The attempt to drown everything out around me to concentrate fails until I pick up a clang coming from the next apartment. Finally. My biceps flex as I force the debris off her and take her in. Under the soot and wide eyes, she has a delicate bone structure that would be beautiful under other circumstances. Green eyes peer up at me, frenzied.
It’s Tessa.
She suffers no obvious injuries. The smoke is closing in on us, with no clear path to get out now. What the hell are we going to do? I’m not letting that little girl grow up without a mother. We are getting out of here.
I search around the apartment for anything that she can manipulate to protect her nose and mouth. “Use this.” I jab a ragged towel from the floor into her hands.
She presses it against her nostrils, gasping for clean air, her eyes searching mine for instructions.
“I’m gonna get you outta here,” I say, scooping her into my arms.
Ash coats her face. “My... my...”
“Your daughter’s outside. Safe. Come on.”
Debris is falling all around us, and for a minute, I don’t expect us to make it out until we reach the foyer and the paramedics charge us. Not even thirty seconds later, the structure where we were just at comes crumbling down. Any more hesitation from either of us, and we wouldn’t have made it out alive.
The little girl is whimpering, standing next to my brother Liam. Today, she almost lost her mother. That’s something that will remain with her. As it does for many people, even those beyond her years.
Once the paramedics have Tessa, I saunter over to her daughter to reassure her everything is going to be okay. I crouch down in front of her, bringing myself to her level.
“My name’s Damon. What’s yours?”
“Emily...” She sniffles.
“Your mom’s gonna be okay, Emily. I couldn’t have saved her without your help, so thank you.”
Her arms wrap around me and my heart breaks. She reminds me of the one thing I may never have, but have always wanted. Children.