Page 67 of Ashes of Us
The ceiling groaned above us. A crack appeared, spreading like lightning.
We didn't have time to argue.
Daniel put on the mask, took a few breaths, then grabbed the kid's legs while I got his shoulders. We lifted together. He was dead weight, completely unconscious.
"Go," I said. "I've got him. You lead."
We moved toward the door. The smoke was thicker now, flames visible through the walls. The heat was a living thing, clawing at any exposed skin.
Daniel stumbled, caught himself, and kept moving.
The hallway was worse. The ceiling was coming down in pieces, flames eating through from above. I could hear the structure failing, that deep, horrible sound of a building giving up. It was happening. We were almost out of time.
"Stairs," I shouted.
We reached them. Daniel went first, moving backward, supporting the kid's legs. I followed, step by step, feeling each board flex under our weight.
Three steps from the bottom, the landing above us gave way.
A crack, a rush of air… then instinct took over. I knew exactly where it was falling.
Daniel.
“Move!” I shouted, shoving into him, driving Daniel forward with the kid’s limp weight between us. He stumbled, hauling the boy’s legs, and they went down hard at the bottom of the stairs.
The beam slammed into my shoulder.
Pain detonated, white-hot and blinding. I hit the stairs hard, breath gone, vision swimming.
"Sullivan!" Daniel's voice, distant through the ringing in my ears.
Hands grabbed and dragged me. The heat was intense, flames everywhere now. I couldn't see, couldn't breathe, couldn't?—
Cool air hit my face.
Outside. We were outside.
Hands pulling at me, voices shouting. Someone was working on my shoulder. Someone else was on the kid, doing chest compressions.
I tried to sit up, but someone pushed me back down.
"Stay down, Captain. You're hurt."
Daniel. Where was Daniel?
I turned my head, saw him ten feet away. Paramedics had him on oxygen, checking him over. He was conscious. Coughing but conscious.
The kid was breathing too. I could see his chest moving.
They’d made it.
Relief hit me so hard I couldn't breathe.
"Captain Sullivan, can you hear me?"
I tried to respond but the words wouldn't come. The pain in my shoulder was spreading, turning into something else. Something darker. The sky above me was orange from theflames, and I could hear the house collapsing behind us. The hollow sound of timber crashing, flames roaring. We'd gotten out just in time.
Daniel was safe.
