Seeing it in flames now, everything hazy and orange, flames growing up the walls, made my chest ache. Growling, I checked every square inch. There was someone in here. Debris had fallen, and furniture had toppled over. I wrenched every chair, table, bookshelf, and book out of the way. Most people had fled, but the second floor would have been harder to get out, even more so for a child.
“Help!” The call was weak, but I heard it. I spun around, seeing nobody. But then I spotted the closet that held all the craft supplies inside for arts and crafts nights. “In here!”
There was a thud, and I dashed over, wrenching the doors open. A little girl with jet-black hair looked up at me, her face smeared with ash. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, and she’d wrapped her arms around herself.
“Hey there,” I said softly, seeing how she trembled. “I’m going to get you out, all right?”
“Mmhmm,” she cried, her face streaked with tears. “My momma—she… She was calling for me, but I’d already hidden in here. I was scared.
Behind me, furniture was crackling, the fire spreading. I only had a handful of moments.
“What’s your name?” I asked her, my voice tight with urgency.
“Kadie,” she said.
“All right, Kadie, I need you to tuck your nose into your collar for me, all right? I’m going to lift you up and get you out. Is that okay with you?”
She nodded silently, and I scooped her up, checking she had her airways as clear as possible.
“It’s important you don’t breathe in too much smoke, you understand me?”
“Yes, sir,” she mumbled.
“Anyone else with you today?”
She nodded. “My papa. He was over there when I last saw him.”
Her wide eyes pointed at the corner of the room where I’d already cleared and checked, finding nobody. I could only hope she’d already made it out.
“Let’s get you out of here, all right, Kadie?” I threw her over my shoulder and ran down the hallway, leaping over the split in the staircase. Everywhere crackled, and the fire roared. The little girl’s face stayed pressed to her dress. Around me, burning debris fell, and even though I’d been doing this job straight out of college, I still had some fear for parts of the job.
Finally, I broke through into the front lawn and dropped Kadie off.
“Jackson!” I yelled. “Come find her family! I’m going back in.”
I passed Theo, who had two adults slung over his back. “There are more in the far room. One of the women I already got out said it’s the storage room for old books that can’t be put out on shelves, but they’re not sure what to do with them. They’re blocked off with a bunch of broken walls and furniture.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “I’ll start clearing the path. That room’ll go up like wildfire if we’re not careful. Get Nate to assist you here and have all children locate their parents if they can. I don’t want any kid left alone. Get answers, names, as much as you can. I’ll grab Carl to help me out—”
“I can help you—”
“I need you here with Nate. He’s still new.”
“But I’m the strongest, Mase. I—”
“You want to stand around arguing, or do you want to do something helpful?” I growled at him. “We don’t have time for this, unless you want some deaths on your hands today.”
Theo breathed heavily, almost snarling me down. But soon, he stood down before backing away. “Nate, come help me!”
I left them to it before flagging down Jackson.
“I’m going to need a ladder for the far storage room. It’s at the back of the library on the right. Can you have that set up for me?”
He jerked a nod, and I nodded back before running back into the burning library. I’d trust Jackson Calloway with my whole damn life. I’d do another sweep of every room once I was done with the second floor. I ran up, quickly checking every other room, listening to any noises. Then I got to that storage room, finding five people, maybe three adults, one child, and a teenager, all huddled together, blocked off from me by the furniture and a wall of fire.
“I’m coming over!” I called out. “Clear a space.”
They parted, leaving enough room for me to leap through the flames. As I landed, I bit back a pained noise, the flames catching on a thinner part of my uniform.
