I shrugged. “Sometimes it’s just easier. You did that a lot when you were a probie. Barely made it out of the shower before you were knocked out in your own drool.”
Alden made a grumbling noise in response, choosing instead to finish scarfing down his food. Before I could make another remark though, the alarm sounded for a job. Our dispatcher chimed in over the intercom system.
“Harrison County, Station Eight, Engines 35 and 30 respond. Structural fire located at 451 Creek Circle. Aid car requested for possible injury. Harrison County repeat…”The engines required and the address was once again sounded off.
“That’s us boys,” I told them, quickly standing and heading toward the equipment room where our gear was all stored.
“Nothing like a fire to wake you up,” Alden remarked a bit bitterly as he followed behind.
Porter rushed by, smacking my brother hard on the ass as he did. “Get your ass moving, Duvall!”
Alden let out a low growl. “Why are we friends with him again?”
I bellowed out a laugh. “I mean he wasn’t wrong. Move your ass, little bro.”
“I hate you both,” Alden responded grudgingly.
Swiftly, we all crowded into the room, throwing on our turnouts and grabbing our tanks and various apparatuses that were needed.
Once dressed, we all piled into the truck—me driving, Alden on the passenger side, and Porter sat behind us in the back. Engine ready, I waited until the rest of the crew were on the truck and situated. The big garage doors slid up and I slammed my foot on the gas pedal, throwing the sirens on after exiting onto the street.
Adrenaline spiked through me as we raced down the street towards our destination. But something started to nag at me about where we were going.
“Hey Porter?” I called to my friend through our headset. The engine and the sirens of the truck made it next to impossible to hear each other without them.
“What’s up?”
“What’s that house number again on Creek Circle?” I asked, feeling that sense of familiarity creep up on me.
“Uhh, 451. Why?” he asked, confusion lacing his tone.
I thought long and hard about why I felt like I knew that address. It scratched away at the back of my mind like an insect digging its way to my brain. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. “Shit,” I gasped, the reality of whose house that was sinking into me.
“What? What’s wrong?” Alden questioned, concerned.
“That was Fire Chief Harding’s house. Doesn’t his daughter own it now?” The memory of the little blonde girl chasing us around filtered through my mind. Her brother had been our friend and his little sister would do everything in her power to get us to play with her. Her name however was escaping me.
“Holy shit! Sophia, right?” Porter suddenly shouted through the mic.
Sophia. That was it. We hadn’t seen her in years; since Chief Harding passed. I had forgotten all about his kids until that address was rattled off to me. How could I have forgotten when we’d spent so many summer days there?
A new sense of urgency pushed me to drive faster, mentally shouting at drivers to get the hell out of the way. I may not have remembered her until now, but once part of the fire family, always part of the fire family. Not only would our dads not forgive us if we fucked up this rescue, but I knew Chief Harding would crawl out of his grave and kill us if anything happened to his daughter.
“Step on it, Darren,” Alden urged beside me, clearly just as worried as I was.
I ground my teeth together, fear growing stronger. “I’m going as fast as I can.”
“How the hell did we forget about her?” Porter inquired, poking his head between our seats. His face in the rearview mirror had paled at the news the house we were responding to was someone we knew. “I used to think she was cute as hell. Drove me nuts, but she made me laugh. Especially when she would bug the shit out of Kaden.”
Kaden. That was his name. I swore I had charcoal for brains when it came to remembering things. But for some reason I could picture Sophia better in my mind than I could Kaden.
“Didn’t she put a shit ton of salt on your burger once because you pulled her pigtails?” Alden asked, a slight smile playing across his lips.
Porter let out a loud laugh. “Sure as shit did! I got her back with one of Kaden’s water guns though.” He got quiet for a bit, then his face fell. “Damn. I’m going to feel like even more shit for forgetting everything if we don’t make it there in time.”
“We’re going to make it.” I left no room in my tone for doubt to claw its way in. There was no way she was going to die in a fire. Not if I could help it.
As fast as I could drive without breaking any speeding laws, I tore through the streets and arrived at the house within five minutes. The drive from the station normally would’ve taken ten, but I couldn’t leave it to chance that she made it out. Neighbors crowded the streets, parting as we pulled in with our sirens blaring. I’d barely stopped the truck before I was barreling out of my seat. When my eyes fell on the house, my gut twisted. Almost the entirety of it was completely consumed by flames. Anxiety beyond anything I’d felt in a long time boiled through my veins. Our time was running out.
