“We shouldn’t evenbe in here,” I rumble again, though my coworker can’t fucking hear me. At least, I don’t think he can. Maybe through the crack of splintering wood and melting drywall, the roar of a beast consuming it’s latest feast, he’ll get the gist of how badly he fucked up and “Wake up!”
He’s still limp as I drag him across what used to be a kitchen but is now Hell’s inferno, his gear missing, his stupid head cracked open.
Off duty.
The idiot showed up off duty and ran inside without backup. Without protection. Without waiting thesixminutesit takes us to respond to something this close to the house.
And now I get to be the idiot that might die from smoke inhalation right along with him because everyone else that responded was already inside another part of the house. Dispatch told us Noah should be here. That he might be inside and incapacitated.
And I’m the dumbass that ran in after him, sans turnouts, like I was on fire duty and not the responding EMS.
“You better not—” A violent cough takes over my curse, and I lose my grip from the wave of pain that takes over. My footing goes unsteady. I slip in the muck pooling at my feet and fall hard enough to rattle already bruised bones. “Fuck.”
Keeping myself low, I pull my undershirt back up over my nose knowing it won’t stay and snag his wrist with a hiss that brings tears to my eyes.
I shout as I roll, bringing his body along with me, his chest plastering to my shoulders. Hooking an arm around Noah’s thigh, I pull tight and get to my knee.
I’m shaking as I get him situated, my breath stuttering from my lips.
The smoke is too thick to stand, the fire too hot to get any closer.
I left Emmett for this.
Flashes of his tiny body curled up on the bathroom floor, the sobs wracking his frame, have my already pumping chest tensing up.
I fight the cough and knee another foot closer to the exit.
Flames outline the doorway like something out of a horror flick, reminiscent of what hell will look like when I get there.
Maybe I already am.
Another flash of Em on the floor crosses my mind and my eyes burn.
Or maybe it’s just the smoke.
Fuck, I can’t tell anymore.
He’s cold and his lips are blue.
They shouldn’t be blue.
I shake my head and squeeze my eyes closed.
He’s not here. He’s safe.
When I open my eyes again, it’s cloudy. Foggy. Coated in an amber glow.
I knee walk another step closer to the exit, the weight on my shoulders getting heavier by the second.
Just a little more.
Breathinghurts. It burns. Aches so deep in my chest that I hold it as much as I can.
Something above me cracks so violently that I jolt forward and canfeelthe agony radiate from ribs to spine. The move throws Noah off balance and my grip on him slips on his slick skin.
Another crack sends something behind me crashing to the floor and a wave of heat scolds up my back.
I hear the scream more than I feel it ripping from my raw throat when I throw him forward as far as I can. He doesn’t make it to the engulfed doorway; the exit looks less and less like the safest way to get the hell out of here.
