“Yes,” he said grimly. “We lost Sectors 24 and 25. We’re beginning a full building evac now.”
“I’d guess Stairwell A was burning, and they can’t retreat.”
“I know,” he said. “The teams from Sector 25 bailed out of Stairwell A and went through the flames from the first explosion. They evac’d right ahead of the second.” He waved his hand at the medical section which was trying to deal with burns of at least ten firefighters.
“I can change my bottle and lead a RIT upstairs. We came down Stairwell B so it’s clear. With the right equipment, we should be able to reach them.”
Chief Baker immediately shut her down. “Hudgens, no RIT.”
“No RIT? They called a Mayday. At least two of them were alive up there.”
Now he faced her; his face set in stone. “It’s too risky. Fifteen minutes ago, we had a wind-driven powerful ignition. We lost Sectors 24, 25, and 26 in the span of twenty seconds. Those floors are smoking death traps. As far as we know, 25 is still on fire, and 26 is in danger of collapsing the rest of the way into 25. We could lose the whole building which is why we are evacuating. The four remaining floors are on their way down through Stairwell B now.”
“You’re leaving them behind!” Erin bunched up her fists and lifted her chin.
“I have twelve firefighters and thirty civilians on their way to the hospital. We already have five people in body bags, and that’s not counting the jumpers. They’ll be scraped off of the sidewalk tomorrow. You told me I just lost four more firefighters on Sector 26. If I send up a four-person RIT, it’ll be eight more lost. I can’t and won’t sacrifice people for ones I can’t save!”
Erin stripped her SCBA off her shoulders. She pivoted and headed to the spare tanks. Before he could act, she had a new tank back on over her turnouts.
“What the hell are you doing, Hudgens?” The Chief trailed after her. His voice was almost hoarse.
She hefted one of the search and rescue bags intended for the RIT teams, heavier with its extra rope, pry bars, and flashlight. “What’s it look like I’m doing? Going back for them with or without your approval, Chief.”
“The hell you are. Stop now!” He grabbed her turnout jacket, twisting her toward him. They stood face to face, her brown eyes boring into his blue ones. He was furious, but so was she. How dare he refuse to save live firefighters, her own people who had called for help? It would be a cold day in hell before she left her team behind. “Stand down. You have an evacuation order, and you will follow it.”
“Go ahead and stop me . . . Chief. What’s one more person in this risk assessment?” Erin’s voice was angry and accusatory, condemning him for abandoning her team. If she could have struck him down with her righteous fury, he’d have been a dead man.
“If you move, I’ll tackle you myself.” His soft but strict words hung in the air between them.
“I’m not sure you have that in you, Chief.” She yanked her arm back and gave him a glare that she hoped could stop him in his tracks. “I will not leave my team to burn.” She had a choice here: defy him and face his wrath, or obey and live with the consequences of an unforgivable failure.
“Don’t test me,” he growled back, closing the gap between them to a few inches.
The moments stretched longer and longer as a two of them stood in a silent face-off.
* * *
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
The beeping of the PASS device roused Aiden from his stupor. He must not have moved for over thirty seconds for it to activate. The device’s purpose was to alert nearby firefighters of downed firefighters for rescue… or their bodies.
The girl was still breathing but barely. There hadn’t been any more explosions, and he couldn’t see any more fire down the hole from his vantage point.
Then there was a strange knocking sound behind him. A loud thump, and then another. He shifted slightly, and an ax blade burst through the drywall behind him. A gloved hand ripped at sections of drywall.
“Aiden!” Kevin yelled. “You there?!”
“Hey!” Aiden coughed, his voice thick from smoke. “I’m here. There’s a big hole right past me so don’t cut too fast.”
“Copy that.” A couple more strokes of the ax widened the hole.
“You think you can fit?” Kevin asked. “This firewall is blasted to hell.”
“Make it bigger. I’ve got a civilian with me. She’s in bad shape.”
“No problem,” Kevin did something that enlarged it. “Pass her here.”
Aiden lifted the girl and eased her through the wall. Then he handed over his SCBA and crawled his way over himself.
