Page 1 of Revived
Chapter one
Sullivan Byrne
Twenty-six years old
The sirens jolt me awake from the recurring nightmare I was having. Jumping out of bed, I follow my crew out to the bay, where the rescue truck waits for us. Taking my spot in front of the passenger door, I slide my sock covered feet into my boots, yank up my bunker pants, and throw my suspenders up on my shoulders. Sliding my arms into my bunker jacket and securing it, I snatch my helmet off of the shiny metal step and secure it onto my head before jumping into my seat. I’m securing my seatbelt along with everyone else as Steel, our driver, pulls the big machine out of the bay. The entire process takes less than a minute and a half. Grabbing the speaker attached to the truck, I bring it to my mouth and press the side button.
“Rescue eight responding. ETA three minutes.”
Samantha’s voice slides through the receiver just fifteen seconds later, “Copy, rescue eight. Please be advised that the caller was an eight year old female who could not confirm if firearms are in the home or not.”
“Copy, dispatch.”
I turn in my seat so I can see all four of my crew members. I lock eyes with all of them and give them just a single moment to let the gravity of the situation sink in.
“You guys heard that. We have a missing four year old male, a scared eight year old female, and parents who more than likely are fucked upon some sort of substance. Eight woke up about fifteen minutes ago to check on Four and found him missing and the door wide open. Heavily wooded area, and it’s suspected he’s wandered off. Let the cops handle the parents. That’s not our business. Our job is to find the kid.”
Before they can butt in with their array of questions, I continue.
“Hal, I want you on side Delta. Sadie, you and Steel will survey the Bravo side. Rook and I will take Charlie. Radio’s on and active, if a damn leaf blows in the wind, I want to know about it.”
A chorus of “Yes, Lieu” fills the cab. Satisfied that they understand what’s asked of them, I tilt my head back and close my eyes for the remaining minute and a half of the drive. Letting my mind wander to another time, with another four year old boy lost in the woods. I wasn’t a firefighter back then. Actually, I was just a senior in high school all those years ago, and the little boy wasn’t a faceless or nameless person. It was my brand new nephew who was hiding from his biological prick of a dad.
That was the day I decided that this was going to be my future. It was particularly tricky, because not only was I searching in a heavily wooded area for a family member, but my nephew was also born deaf and at the time hadn’t received his cochlear implants yet. Yelling his name did nothing. Shouting and making noise was moot. Thankfully, we haven’t been notified of any hearing impairment for this child. However, my experience has me double checking just to be certain.
“Rescue eight to dispatch, one minute out. Do we have any reports of the male being hard of hearing or hearing impaired in any way? Is he nonverbal or having any impairments that would involve difficulty in us finding him?”
My crew doesn’t say a single word. They’re looking at me like I’m insane, but they won’t dare comment. I’m at the top of the chain ofcommand in this vehicle, and they know better than to question me right now. That doesn’t mean that they don’t question me sometimes. I’ve almost come to blows with a couple of them a time or two, but most of the time that’s just the stress of the job going to our heads.
“Rescue eight, no reports of any physical or mental impairments.”
“Copy.”
I’m unable to say more than that due to us pulling down the long driveway. Gone are any other thoughts in my head except for the task at hand. Without a word my crew follows me over to the officers on scene, where they confirm what we already know. There’s no reason to believe that the boy was taken. More than likely he wandered off and has gotten himself lost. Dad is out of his mind blitzed, so much so that the cop tells me he can barely stand. Mom is a night nurse and on her way home now. The little girl sits in the back of the police car waiting silently for her mom, and the boy’s name is Blake. Nodding to my crew, we break off exactly how I suggested on the way here.
It’s two in the morning, and I can barely see my hand in front of my face. Thankfully on our way out of the truck, we all grabbed flashlights. As Rook and I breach the woods at the back of the house, we begin calling for Blake as we comb through the dense area. The house is just barely within Temple Valley limits, which means it’s in the outskirts of our small town. The houses here are heavily guarded by acres and acres of woods that house numerous predators, creeks, uneven ground, and just enough stuff to seriously hurt a kid, and that’s not taking into consideration the hour. We comb every inch of those woods for the next three hours. I’m just about to call it until we can get units from other towns to us when I hear it. The faint sound of crying.
My head whips over to Rook. “Shh. Did you hear that?” The widening of his young eyes tells me that I’m not imagining shit.
“Blake?” I yell before waiting just a moment to hear the cry again. We move as quietly as possible towards the sound of the little boy. On the way I grab my handheld and whisper my update into the mic. As we approach a drop off on the woods edge, his voice gets louder, but I still don’t see him until I peer down the valley and see him curled up on a ledge. The drop off is about fifteenish feet if I had to guess. We aren’t on a mountainside by any means, but it’s enough to kill this baby if he falls off the small ledge. Rook calls for backup and gives a roundabout of our coordinates while I lie flat on my stomach and give Blake an easy smile that I would give my niece and nephews.
“Hey, Buddy? Blake, right?” He looks up at me with scared eyes but nods. In a quiet voice I rattle off details to Rook.
“Approximately thirty-nine inches and thirty-nine pounds, blonde and blue. Definitely cold, scared, and dirty, but nothing broken or injured from my visual. Ledge about a foot and a half wide and about three feet long, if I had to guess. He’s roughly eight feet down. I’ll need to rappel down to get him. I need a harness but have my rope. They need to hurry. He's just a toddler and this could quickly go south.”
“Yes, Lieu.” Rook begins talking into the radio, but my focus never leaves the boy.
“Blake, I need you to stay still, okay? Can you do that for me?”
He nods but otherwise doesn’t respond. Most likely he’s in shock. It’s cold out here, and he’s only in a thin pair of pajamas with pictures of rescue dogs on them.
“I like your pajamas. I have a niece your age, and she loves that show.”
He smirks at me.
“My friends are here too. They’re going to bring me some things, and then I’m going to come get you off that uncomfortable ledge and to your Mommy. Is that okay?”
Like a Christmas tree at the mention of his mom, he lights up. “Livvy too?” His soft voice floats up to me. I can hear backup arriving. Police, my crew, and the other firefighters from my firehouse. My battalion chief and EMTs are also on scene.
