Burn in Water, Drown in Fire

Burn in Water, Drown in Fire ~19~ A Whisper and a Clamor

~19~ A Whisper and a Clamor

(Zac’s POV)

 “Dude,” I stated to Joey. He shook his head. I started to climb out of his car. He grabbed onto my shirt and pulled me back.

“Where are you going?!” Joey hissed.

“You may be a wimp, but I’ve been training for this my whole life. A pretty boy isn’t about to ruin it,” I said to him.

“You’ve only had your powers for—”

“I’m not talking about that,” I raised my voice. I looked over to the scene of a burning building with people inside. He still gave me a weird look, so I decided to leave.

***

“Go, go, go,” I told a little boy and little girl inside the apartment. My hand was out, holding onto the ring of fire-less path. The little boy and girl fled through the path, coughing, but then I closed the portal.

“Hello?!” I asked, yelling through the apartment building as I walked through, dodging flames. It was so severe that firefighters weren’t even on this floor because they thought that the building would collapse with the squad and citizens in it. “Is anybody here?!”

After searching quickly, I started to leave down the stairwell, unsure of what awaited on the ground level, but then I started to hear someone.

“Hello?! Hello?!” a girl’s voice cried. I followed her voice and had to kick a door down in order to find her.

“Come on,” I ordered to her, slipping my arm around her waist to haul her out. We nearly made it down all the stairs, but then I didn’t think about the condition of the ground level’s fire. I should have, because when the stairwell door was opened, the entire ceiling around there started to fall. I bent down and picked up the girl in a cradle and bent over her body, letting me get hit by any fires or falling dry wall. I started to run through the place until the one way I was going, had too much fire. I focused in to control the fire, but I was so focused on caring for the girl that it was impossible…until I saw them being tamed by a wave of water. I looked over my shoulder to see Joey bending the water, coming from a broken pipeline.

“Are you gonna stand there, or go?!” he yelled at me. I turned around and then saw no path, other than a place with too many flames. I gave him a look and then he ran ahead of me, using the broken pipe to his advantage as it wove between the flames, so easily they were extinguished. Well at least long enough for Joey and the girl to get through, burning through the clothes on my back. At the first sign of fresh air, I ran to the ambulance, putting the girl on the Gurnee.

“Thank…thank…you so much,” she girl tried to say within coughs. I looked around for Joey, but saw that he fled. Of course…

“Hey, young man,” someone called. I looked over to see the fire marshal standing by the chief of police. “Well if it isn’t Zac Tyler.”

I produced a guilty smirk and followed him to the station.

***

“What are you hiding?” Chief Rivers asked me in a secluded room at the station.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said with a head shake. With all the drama with the fire, most of the police officers were out there with the firefighters and EMTs. They had checked me for injuries and found none.

Most people would be nervous to be sitting across from the Chief of police and fire chief, but of course, I’d been here multiple times before that we might as well be Facebook friends.

“You know what we mean, Tyler,” Fireman Sherman said with a sigh. I smirked more and Chief Rivers slammed his hand on the desk.

“If you don’t answer us right now, you’ll be locked up in—”

“For what?” I asked, looking at them both. “For saving a dozen people from a burning fire when firemen couldn’t?”

“Listen, you’re gonna tell us—”

“Todd,” Sherman stated, giving the chief a look. He grunted and then left. See, Sherman knew me. He also seemed to know that Rivers didn’t like me, or Luke. At all. Sherman gave me a look which was returned.

“Ever since you were little you wanted to be part of the squad,” he started.

“So?” I sighed, crossing my arms. We both knew that was true.

“Why do you get into so much trouble—”

“Because I know that as long as I’m here, I won’t get onto that squad in the first place!” I exclaimed. It’s because they thought of me as a pest and delinquent.

“And what if you do?” he asked, making me calm down.

“It’s not gonna happen.”

“Tell me; how’d you find those kids and get through that fire when we couldn’t?” he asked, shifting positions. “Or even breathe in that smoke? With no equipment.”

“It’s a blessing,” I humored. He gave me a look.

“You know, blessings like that deserve a spot on the squad,” he commented. I laughed to myself and rolled my eyes. “Tell me how you did it.”

I scoffed. He stood.

“Three firemen got hurt by that collapsed building and two dozen tenants were harmed in the process of getting out, how the h3ll did you get off scotch free!?” he yelled, knowing that I’d answer to match his frustration.

“‘Scotch free’?!” I quoted. “How the h3ll am I scotch free when if I get mad, I can blow something up, or get myself and others into sh!t just by giving a d4mn?! Sure, you think nothing’s wrong with me, but you’re wrong. About me, about my family, about my feelings, about my life. You’re all wrong.”

I was now standing and I started to leave from the tiny room. No one even bothered on stopping me.

(Joey’s POV)

I dipped myself into the water in my tub at home and saw all the burn marks fade away. The only thing left was soreness, but that faded as well.

“Might as well not have done it,” someone’s voice said to me when I entered my room, twenty minutes later.

“You said you wanted people to know,” I reminded.

“No. I said I wanted Angel to know,” he hissed back, furiously. “Not the entire city!”

“It’s not my fault you chose fame over façade,” I commented. He started to laugh.

“Is this a joke to you?” he asked. “The chief of police and the fire department have a warrant for me, as if I did something wrong and you did the same d4mn thing, but left.”

I looked him dead in the eyes, watching his turn to amber.

“I told you that no one needed to know,” I stated in reminder.

“And now everyone will,” he hissed. I shook my head.

“Not about me, they won’t,” I insisted. He laughed and looked as if he wanted to retort my statement, but then just casually walked off.