CHAPTER THREE
“Mac! On your left,” Garrett shouted through his helmet.
Alex turned the hose to where Garrett pointed just as a surge of fire lunged at them, slapping hard. Surrounded by flames and smoke, Alex could barely make out his friend, standing two feet away.
They’d been fighting this bitch for over an hour. Each time they thought they’d tamed her, she’d flare again, unwilling to succumb. But they’d found her heart. Stood in the middle of it. Time to put her down for good. Alex held the nozzle to the primary source of flames and after a minute, watched the fire die with a final anguished hiss. Only scattered pockets remained. They would douse those on their way out.
“Roof’s gonna go,” Oscar yelled. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.”
Alex spun his hand in the air and pointed to the exit, signaling to his team they were good to go. “Right behind you.”
As they retreated, extinguishing small fires in their path, Alex caught movement out of the corner of his eye—something unrelated to the fire.
“Take this,” he ordered Garrett, shoving the line at him. Once Garrett had control, Alex headed toward the movement. Between his helmet, his face mask, and the dark smoke, he could barely see, but he’d learned never to ignore a gut feeling while fighting a fire. Crawling over fallen debris and smoldering rubble, he arrived at what he thought he’d seen move. It was a pile of blankets. The corner of one, flapping in the draft.
He uncovered the mass of blankets, amazed they hadn’t caught fire, and found a small unconscious body curled around itself. “Holy shit!” he said, hoisting the bundle and running to the building entrance.
Once outside, he ripped off his helmet, called for aid, and laid the bundle of rags on the pavement, preparing to check vitals. The body had weighed so little he’d expected to find an emaciated druggie too high to save himself—who else would stay in a burning building?—but what he found instead shook him. It was a young boy. His face and hair were dirty, but Alex wasn’t sure that had anything to do with the fire.
No pro at estimating kids’ ages, Alex guessed early teens. The paramedics lifted him onto a gurney and pumped oxygen into him through a mask. After a minute, the kid began coughing and sucking in the fresh outside air.
Alex took one last look before catching up to his team and helping Company 4 with their section of the building.
Later that night, Alex’s crew filed into their favorite bar, aptly called Inferno. It was their Friday before four days off, and after the blaze they’d beat that day, everyone was ready to unwind. Inferno was a block away from the fire station, and they frequented it often.
“That bitch put up a fight today, eh, Probie?” Garrett said. The probie’s name was Jeff, but they would call him Probie until someone newer came along.
“Yeah, but we got her,” Probie said.
“Good work, y’all,” Wyatt said, raising his glass.
Alex clinked glasses with his teammates. It had been a long day, but any time you walked away from a fire carcass with no injuries was a good one. Once they’d vanquished the three-alarm foe, he and his crew returned to the firehouse, showered, and counted down the minutes until the next shift relieved them. Most had come directly to the bar. Some had gone home for a pitstop to kiss their wife and kids.
“Nice job today, Rookie,” Alex said to Dixie, one of the newer recruits assigned to his company.
She laughed. “Do you know how happy I am to have a new title?” Dixie had happily promoted to rookie when Jeff hired on and relieved her of the probie epithet.
Alex nodded. “Was this your first three-alarmer?”
“Yes. And holy shit,” she said. “Today was surreal. I mean, obviously, I signed up to fight fires, but the academy does not prepare you for the real deal. Standing in the belly of the beast, surrounded by fire? Effing crazy.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t get any easier either,” Alex said. “Each bitch is different.”
They talked and drank and rehashed the day. Some of them had to leave early to get back to their families. Alex was glad he didn’t have that burden—no one waiting for him at home.
“Hey, we still good for the Knicks Celtics game?” Alex asked Garrett and Oscar.
“Yeah, count me in,” Garrett said.
“Me too,” Oscar said. “Wife got her schedule, and she’ll have that night off, so I’m in.”
“Great,” Alex said. “I’ll get the tickets. You guys buy the beer.”
“Hey, did you hear Trent is transferring out?” Oscar said to the group. Trent had been their lieutenant for the last year. They all knew him and liked him. It would be a bummer to have to break in someone new.
Alex was studying to take the exam to promote to lieutenant, but even if he kicked ass on the test and interviews, the process took more than a few weeks. He wouldn’t be ready in time to take over.
“Any idea who his replacement will be?” Garrett asked.
