Too hot meant that fire had burned through the third floor, and made it impossible or too dangerous for us to make our way through.
“Fuck!” I yelled. “Yeah, too hot. Second floor!” I ordered, and we turned in the direction of the second floor. Stopping again to feel the knob, I found it felt warm, but not too hot. I pushed through the door and saw flames at the far end of the hallway.
“Fire department!” Corey, Don, and I began calling out, banging on doors with the handles of the hatchets we held. I pushed my way through one door that was opened, calling out to see if anyone was still in here.
“Rescue Four copy!” I heard come through my walkie-talkie.
“Rescue Four. Harvard copy!” I yelled back still searching the apartment.
“Woman says her baby is still inside. I repeat, woman is frantic saying her baby was left inside.”
“Shit! What apartment number?”
“Apartment 211.”
I recalled that the apartment I’d just entered was 209. Knowing Corey and Don had gone in the opposite direction, I figured I was closest, so I made the call.
“Harvard going to check it out. Don and Corey, copy?”
“Copy. All clear down here,” Don returned.
“Copy. I got a man down here!” Corey returned. “Bringing him out now.”
Don returned that he was on his way to Corey to assist him in getting the man out. I headed out of the apartment I was in and moved down the hall to 211. I noticed how much closer the flames were.
“Corey and Don, you two get outta here!” I yelled into my walkie.
“Harvard, you bring your ass out here, too!”
“Copy, just as soon as I check 211!” I assured Don on the other end.
I shouldered my way through the locked door of the apartment and went straight to the first window I saw. I sighed in relief when I saw the fire truck ladder balanced against the apartment’s side. I’d need that for my escape. I could feel the fire growing closer to the apartment. I left the window open and went to search the rest of the apartment for the baby. I pushed open doors, searching what I surmised was the master bedroom, but paused when I heard loud banging. I looked toward the roof and saw the white paint of the ceiling begin bubbling. The fire was melting through the beams and the second floor would soon be consumed.
“Shit!” I yelled. I searched the bed, under the bed, and when I was satisfied there was no baby in the bedroom, I moved farther down the hall. The next door I pushed open was to a nursery.
“Fire department!” I called out, knowing a baby wouldn’t answer me, but maybe someone like a babysitter was inside, hiding with the infant. I ran over to the crib and pulled the blanket back to see an empty mattress. “Fuck!”I searched around the nursery, double checking the crib and under it. I even searched the closet, but nothing and no one was there. I wondered where else the baby could’ve been. I retraced my steps, this time searching the bathroom and the bathtub, knowing sometimes people get in or put their young children in the tub thinking that’ll insulate them from the fire. Still nothing.
“Harvard, get the hell out of there. The second floor is about totally consumed!” Captain Waverly yelled through the walkie. At the same time, I heard the telltale signs of wood cracking from the front door. The flames were eating away at the door. Out the front entrance was no longer an option. Although my heartbeat quickened, I didn’t panic, knowing I still had another out. I moved toward the window I went to when I first entered the apartment. I was going to take the ladder, except when I stuck my head out this time the ladder was gone.
“Shit!” I grumbled.
“Harvard to Rescue Four come in!” I yelled into the walkie.
I waited for a heartbeat before calling again. All I got in return was a bunch of static. I heard a loud BOOM sound and turned toward the front door. It was only a matter of seconds before the fire completely penetrated the door and would consume the entire apartment. Looking back to the ground and still not seeing a ladder, I had a decision to make. I could remain there and get burned alive, or I could take my chances and jump from this second story window. It wasn’t extremely high, but with the extra hundred pounds of my gear weighing me down, the chances of serious injury or even death grew immensely. At that moment an image of Angela’s smiling face as she danced behind the bar, staring at me, came to mind.Fuck it,I thought. If that was the last image I ever saw, I could go out peacefully.
I opened my eyes, said a Hail Mary, and stepped on the window sill, squeezing my body and gear through the window, and took a leap of faith. I held onto the image of a smiling Angela as I fell, right before everything went black.
****
“Wake the fuck up!”
I heard the anger in Don’s voice, but behind it was a twinge of fear. I could feel him hovering over me. I peeled my eyelids open to see Don, Corey, Carter, and the captain’s faces looking down at me in worry.
“Move back!” I heard an unfamiliar voice demand. “We can’t help him if we can’t get to him!”
I squinted. “Who’s that?” I asked, staring at Don.
“Goddamn medic. How many fingers am I holding up?”
