Page 124 of Burn

My dad, the battalion chief, is set up as the commanding officer. He starts in immediately with the details. “I spoke to a resident who indicated most floors are clear. There’re five missing, but we’re not positive.”

Cap nods and gives the details to us. “You four get in there and get as many as you can. And then get back out here.” He gives us a “no bullshit” look. “You got one shot at this, and then I want you out.” Then he nods to my brother behind us. “E, take point on this one. Get in fast and get out immediately.”

We’ve just started up the stairs when Evan gets on the radio. “Ladder to command . . . Do you know their location?”

“Stand by . . .”

“At a time like this”—Evan looks at me, confused—“he puts me on standby?”

I shrug, one hand on the railing, the other thrown up in the air. “No idea.”

The response comes through from Command. “They’re on the fourth, he thinks.”

Evan laughs. “He thinks? Awesome. So no one fuckin’ knows.”

Pulling our masks over our faces, we crank the air and head up the smoke-filled stairwell.

It’s easy to lose your head at times like this, but you literally have to be ready for anything.

Our radios crackle with broken words. “Emergency personnel, please be advised heavy fire is noted on seven. Proceed with caution.”

We make it to four and Owen and Jay peel off while Evan and I continue to go up. He stops, and I run into him. I don’t say anything, but he does.

He looks back at me, one hand on the rail. “What’s with you? Are you still drunk from last night?”

“No.” I don’t look at him. “What the fuck are you waiting for?” I motion up the stairs with a flick of my wrist. “Go!”

He does without another word.

“Five’s clear. Nobody home,” Owen says, meeting us in the stairwell, Finn closely behind him, and starts in on me about Mila again. “So, about this whole Mila thing . . . I’ve been thinking and you just need to show up there and apologize.”

Groaning, I shake my head and start up the stairs again. I can’t believe we’re having this conversation right now. This isn’t something to have a chit chat about when shit’s real. “What’s that going to solve? I told you, I don’t love her. I’ve known her a month.”

He points his halligan at me, raising an eyebrow. “See, that’s fucking bullshit and you know it.” Reaching across his body, he taps into his radio. “Hey, boys on Engine 5, can you get the ladder up to the fourth floor? I saw a dresser I like.”

The radio crackles, a rough voice filtering through with a laugh. “Yeah, give me a minute.”

Leave it to Owen to crack jokes now. And then he turns to me, waving the halligan in my face. “I’ve seen you around her. I know you have feelings for her and this crap where you deny it because you don’t want anyone to know is insulting because I’m your friend.”

He has a valid point, but I still don’t like it.

On seven now, the glow of the fire spreads across the floor, engulfing everything in its path. Another truck company arrives, their steps meeting ours as heavy sheets of curling smoke roll together, constricting our view and making it almost impossible to find anyone once on seven.

Just a few minutes on seven, and we’re nearly lost. Everywhere we look there’s another hallway and another door, but we continue down the one on the left as command said it leads to the apartments. I’m kinda thinking they might be full of shit or have the wrong building plans.

Slogging through the water, we search for anyone who’s still alive, the glint of angry orange flames surrounding us above. “Seattle Fire Department . . . call out if you can!”

There’s no more conversation between us, no talks of being in love or of fucked up situations, our focus entirely on the fading light in our path and thick smoke.

We drop to our knees when the heat and smoke become too intense, and the only way through is to go below it. The water on the floor is boiling with the heat. It’s hot inside my mask, slicking my face with sweat, and my palms and knees burn as I crawl along the hallway.

“This place is like a fucking maze,” I tell Evan, who’s in front of me. We’re searching every room, calling out for anyone who can hear us and getting nothing but the roar of the flames in response.

Evan says something, but I can’t hear him. I doubt he heard what I said, the roar of the flames above us making it almost impossible to hear anything.

We can hear the fire as it shifts, the heat more intense this time. It’s almost unbearable as the flames roll up the sides of the walls and to the ceiling, orange in the middle and purple at the edges.

We make the mistake of turning down another hallway and end up in a room filled with black smoke, but when we try to go back, it doesn’t seem like we’re going the right way.

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