* * *
Orion
“There’s a fire at the warehouse!” Moses bellowed as he rushed past me in the great room.
“What the fuck?” I growled, chasing him. “Raquel’s there with Chan.”
“Shit!” Moses snapped. “Let’s go.”
I made a run for my bike and then pulled ahead of Moses on the road, forcing down my panic as we drove to the warehouse.
The stench of pot smoke filled the air, getting stronger as we got closer. By the time we arrived, the east side of the building was engulfed in flames and the Monument Fire Department were about to turn on their hoses.
I parked my bike and was off it before I’d even killed the engine. I scanned the crowd of onlookers and emergency workers for Raquel and started to panic immediately when I couldn’t locate her.
I saw the fire station lieutenant and rushed him. “There was a young woman in the building. Where is she?”
“We were told this place is empty on Sundays,” he replied. “Plus, my guys checked the building when we arrived. They didn’t find anyone inside.”
“I’m telling you, she’s in there, along with another guy,” I argued.
“Look, I told you. We did a sweep, and no one called out. If they were in there when the fire started, they must have gotten out.”
“Raquel would be standing right here if she’d gotten out,” I said, turning my eyes toward the building’s west entrance.
“Don’t even think about it, cowboy,” the lieutenant said, clearly reading the look on my face. Not that it mattered. His words had barely left his lips before I took off running.
“Hey, stop that guy,” the lieutenant shouted, but I made it to the door before anyone could catch me.
My eyes and lungs burned as soon as I entered the warehouse. Thick black smoke filled the air, making it nearly impossible to breathe or see. I tried to call out but immediately started to choke. My fear rose to terror level as I scrambled to figure out how I was going to find Raquel and Chan, let alone get them out of here before we all choked to death. Then I remembered the supply of portable oxygen tanks we always kept with our first-aid supplies. High altitude can fuck with even the toughest biker, so we always made sure to have a healthy supply of O2on hand here and at the clubhouse.
I reached inside my front pocket for the mini mag lite I kept on my keyring, but realized I’d left my keys in the ignition of my still-running bike. I used the flashlight on my cellphone instead, held my breath, and stayed as low as possible as I made my way to the first aid station. I opened the cabinet door and grabbed three portable oxygen cannisters and immediately took a hit off one of them just before passing out. A steady series of bangs caused me to freeze in place. It was difficult to hear over the sound of flames and water kicking the shit out of each other on top of the roof, but after a few seconds, I heard it again.Whack, whack, whack.
It was Raquel and I knew exactly where she was. “Goddamn, I love that woman.”
I made my way toward the sound, careful to stay low and check the doors as I went. Although the flames seemed to be dying down, the temperature and smoke levels were rapidly rising. However, as I got closer to my destination, the banging stopped, causing my heart to stop as well. What if I was too late?
* * *
Raquel
The building filled with smoke so quickly I barely had time to formulate a plan. The lab’s only exit was blocked by flames, made evident by the nasty burns on my hands, courtesy of a hot metal door and an even hotter doorknob. I’d leaned against the door and tried to turn the knob, my hands instantly burning at the effort.
Chan had rushed back to me, the exit to the building also blocked, and an asthma attack took him down almost immediately. His inhaler was in his car and the only place I could think to take him was into the vault. I remembered Orion and Chan talking about its construction and ventilation system and thought we could buy some time before the firefighters found us. I pulled my shirt off and ran it under the lab sink, creating a makeshift mask for us to share and got us into the vault just before Chan collapsed.
The vault’s independent ventilation system had clearly been compromised and smoke began to fill up the small space. The temperature of the room was also getting noticeably hotter by the second. I figured at this rate we’d have two, maybe three minutes tops before we either suffocated or roasted to death. Chan was barely conscious as it was, the smoke triggering a massive asthma attack. He was currently lying on the floor, trying to figure out which shade of blue to turn next as he watched me repeatedly bang a metal folding chair, using my wrists to hold it because my hands hurt like motherfuckers, dressed in only my jeans and a bra.
“Don’t…worry...,” I huffed in between whacks at the door. “Someone will…hear the banging.”
Chan gave me a thumbs-up, mustered what I was now sure would be his last smile, and rasped, “Nice view to die to.”
Normally I’d be embarrassed, but given the fact that Chan was about to die right in front of me, I was kind of happy the girls could bring him a moment of joy before he died.
“No one is…dying here…today,” I said, trying to muster enough strength to bang the chair again, but the truth was, I had no idea if anyone would even be able to hear us from inside this place, and the smoke was now pouring in.
“Save…your…breath,” Chan wheezed.
I tried to raise the chair again but failed to lift it above my knees. In my attempt to keep me and Chan safe, all I’d done was find a nice quiet place for us to die. I slumped to the floor completely exhausted as thick black smoke filled the space.
