Soundtrack

Chapter Five - Up All Night

           The sun burned red on the horizon. Liam's fingers traced his sooty beard, his eyes betraying better judgement and staring hard into the light. The early morning air felt good to his tired lungs, clean and clear despite his own smoky scent, and the cool cement stairs beneath him were a welcome change from the boiling heat from hours before. His body was exhausted, but his mind wandered. It had been a long night-- his busiest in weeks-- and even though he'd been doing it for years, he never quite got used to the peak of adrenaline and the low of realizing you'd just stared death in the face. And you never really could be quite ready for what you'd see and hear, what you'd have to do and where you'd have to go, who's life you'd be saving and who's you couldn't. That was sort of the thing about firefighting-- you could prepare for years and still not be ready for what you'd have to deal with on any given night.

           The night before had been one of those hard nights. Midway through it had seemed the sun might never rise and the only light left in the world was that of a million blazing, hot fires.

           "Payne, the alarm." One of his buddies shook him awake. Though the clock told him it had been only fifteen minutes since he shut his eyes, he felt the grogginess of a deep sleep trying to convince him to stay in his bed.  He willed himself off the soft surface and stumbled into his pants as he half listened to the chatter coming in over the radio.

           "Third call tonight. We never get a break, do we?" he mumbled through a yawn. His partner Rodney poked his head through the door, his helmet already in place.

           "We got a big one, Payno." he gave Liam a sober look and tossed him an energy drink before disappearing back into the hallway. Liam's mind snapped into focus as he caught the chilled can in his hands. He could already hear the wail of distant sirens as he threw his gear together, an exercise he performed quickly and mindlessly as he had hundreds of times before. He bounded into the truck just as it began to jerk forward, Rodney squeezing in beside him and closing the door just as the truck cleared the station's walls.

           The lawn of the multi-story complex was crowded with people. The building's inhabitant's mixed with paramedics and firefighters, and the police were already attempting to make a safety zone away from the roaring flames of the building. As soon as the truck's doors opened, the roar of the fire and terrified shouts of the people enveloped his ears. The firefighters snapped into work, routine made practical as they quickly fitted and uncurled the long hoses, situated their oxygen masks, and grabbed their tools.

           The incident commander jogged up to Liam and his team and gave them a brief rundown of the situation.

           "I think we've got everyone out. There are some boys from station 15 still inside making sure. You guys start working on containing floor one and make sure they get out okay." He informed.

Liam started making his way for the building, hose in tow, when a pair of firefighters burst out of the front door. One was clearly injured, leaning heavily on the other while keeping the weight off of his left leg.

           "The building's not stable!" the uninjured fireman called out. "The ceiling caved on us and Jerry took a hit to the knee!" Paramedics reached the pair just as Liam got close to them. 

           "Is there anyone left inside?" he asked, raising his voice above the roar of the flames mere feet above their heads. The fireman quickly made sure his partner was safely on a stretcher before turning back to Liam. 

           "Yes." he said with regret in his voice. "A woman on the third floor. We couldn't reach her after the hallway collapsed." He must have seen the light of determination in Liam's eyes because he grabbed hold of Liam's arm and pleaded "It's not safe, mate! The whole place could come down any minute!" Liam shook his arm free and motioned for Rodney to follow.