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1
HUNTER
“It’s cooking in here,” I shout to be heard over the deafening roar of the fire. “This building isn’t going to stay upright much longer.”
We got a callout to a fire in a warehouse that housed a machine shop. The fire has been fast-moving and aggressive, engulfing the building and trapping all the employees inside. We managed to get everybody we found out, but the way some of the victims talked after we pulled them out, there might be more still inside.
Darnell Evans, my best friend, and number two, looks worried behind the plastic shield of his mask. The churning and roiling flames are reflected in that clear plastic, casting us both in a fiery red glow that looks fucking apocalyptic.
“This zone is clear of civilians,” Darnell says. “The other zones have already checked in and are clear, too. I think we need to get out of here, LT.”
I open my mouth to order Darnell out when a sound catches my ear. But visibility is shit and with the growl of the fire and the swirl of the wind being forced through the building, I can’t get a fix on where the sound is coming from. If there’s even a sound, to begin with.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure,” I say and strain my ears, listening hard. “Hang on a second.”
“This building’s about to come down, Hunter. We may not have a second.”
Overhead, the fire rolls along the roof, writhing like a serpent, and the beams groan ominously. Sweat slicks my body beneath the heavy turnout gear. Squinting, I try to see through the wall of flames, searching desperately for any other victims who might be trapped in this quadrant. It looks clear. But I know better than most that looking clear isn’t the same as being clear, and I’m not going to pull out before I’m absolutely certain my zone is actually clear. I’m not going to make that mistake and leave somebody behind. Not again.
“Hunter—”
“Shut the fuck up a minute,” I growl. “I thought I heard something.”
“Weston, Evans, that building is about to go. Get the hell out of there!” Captain Arnold Ray, our superior and the incident commander, shouts through our radios.
One of the exposed beams above cracks sharply, raining sparks and flaming splinters down over us. The roof isn’t going to hold much longer. It’s not often that I’m not decisive. That I don’t see a course of action and take it. It’s possible I’m hearing phantoms right now, and if I insist on chasing them, I’m putting Darnell at risk. If I do nothing, though, and it turns out we left somebody to die in this inferno, I know it’s going to fuck me up.
“LT—”
I turn to Darnell. “Get out of here.”
“What?” he asks, his eyes widening.
“Go, man. I want to make one more quick sweep?—”
“No way. I’m not leaving you?—”
“That’s an order, Darnell. Get the fuck out of here.”
“Weston, get out of there. That’s an order,” Captain Ray’s voice crackles through the radio.
Another beam overhead cracks and pops, sending a spray of sparks and flaming debris down all around us again. The heat is growing more intense, and the sweat is pouring off me in buckets. The fire roars louder. It sounds like a fucking dragon that’s ready to rear back and swallow us whole.
“You heard, Cap,” Darnell says. “It’s time to go.”
“Go. Go,” I shout. “I’m right behind you?—”
“I’m not leaving you!”
“You are. Get the fuck out. That’s an order, Darnell,” I shout. “Now, go! I’m right behind you, brother. Go!”
“Hunter!” Captain Ray shouts through the radio. “Get out. Do you copy?”
Darnell hesitates, but when I shoot him a withering glare, he turns and reluctantly trots away, heading for the exit. I know if I survive this, Captain Ray is going to tear my ass up. But I’m not about to leave anybody behind. Not again. I turn back and dart around a wall of flame, searching frantically for the source of the sound I heard. Or thought I heard.
“Fire department,” I shout. “Call out!”
