𝗣 𝗬 𝗥 𝗢 𝗠 𝗔 𝗡 𝗜 𝗔 | BOOK THREE

T W E N T Y

[atticus eaton]

I raise an eyebrow and look back at the building. Her sobs are loud and painful as the paramedics try to splint the broken bones sticking out of her legs.

"Where?" I ask. "We can go in and get your baby but you have to tell us where."

She points to the building.

"Up there, second floor, left wing. His name is Lucas. He's turning one in a month and his Dad is coming home from Iraq in a week. Please, don't let my baby die." She says.

I nod and squeeze her hand.

"We won't." I say.

Graham and I run towards the building, allow the burst of heat to shoot through the door, then run inside. The heat is hotter than it was a few minutes ago. Chief Williams was right. The bursts are hitting harder, hotter, faster. I run up the stairs, running through the hall.

"Careful, this is where she fell," I say, pointing to the large hole. "Watch your step."

We leap over the hole, making it to the other half of the hall. The wailing of a baby fills my ears, muffled behind the large wooden door before me. I slam my shoulder into it twice, groaning.

"Come on, Dammit! Open!" I shout.

I hit the door again, pleading with it to budge. The wood splinters and weakens the lock. It kick it, slamming the door in against the wall. We run inside, following the screams of the baby. We run into a flaming nursery where a baby lay, wailing out in fear. I remove my oxygen tank and mask, then remove my jacket, wrapping the baby in it.

"Atticus, keep that jacket on!" Graham exclaims.

I shake my head and wrap the baby up completely.

"This kid is already in a lot of danger. We best make it easiest for him." I say.

He tales the baby and we run. He gets to the hole and inches his way around it, holding Lucas to his body very closely.

"Less than one minute," I state, shouting the time of the next estimated burst.

He reaches the other side and nods to me. I back up to give myself a running space. I leap, sprawling for the other edge frantically. I reach it, barely, desperately trying to pull myself up. A loud groan beneath me send a chilling sense of fear through every nerve in my body. I look up, my eyes meeting Graham's, knowing my fate.

"Graham," I whisper, my heart pounding in my chest. "Step away."

The edge I hold onto crumbles beneath me, swallowing me whole into the building. I gasp, reaching for Graham as I plummet. The world slows and I watch him. His deep blue eyes watch in horror as I'm swallowed by the flames.

"Atticus!" He screams, his voice loud and crystal clear above the groaning of the building and the flames.

I watch as floor three suddenly becomes a tunnel of flames, graham guarding Lucas with his life. My left ribs hit hard against something on the way down, heat filling my chest, like I've swallowed a mouth full of embers. I collide with the concrete floor of the basement level, a two story fall. I gasp, choking on pain as I try to take in air. Smoke fills my eyes and something warm, like hot, sticky honey, covers my body and I exhale slowly, closing my eyes to stop the burning.

[graham eaton]

I hand Lucas off to a paramedic, retrieving Atticus's jacket. I run back to the flaming building, my heart throbbing as I pray that my brother is still alive when I find him. I run down the staircase, into the basement towards where we found Lucas's mother. Atticus lay on his side, his arms and legs streak he'd out in awkward positions—not natural positions. I crouch down and roll him onto his back, examining him. His face is covered in soot and scratched and bloody. His hair is wet and sticks to his forehead. His lips are dry and chapped. I remove my gloves and reach down, taking his face in my hands.

"Atti!" I exclaim, shouting to my brother. "Atti, wake up. Please, Atticus, wake up."

He inhales with a sharp strangled sound, his throat dry. I examine him, my heart plummeting into my stomach. On his left side, his shirt is torn open, burnt at the edges. Upon further examination, I can see the white of his ribs peeking out, and his lungs struggling to fill with air—he ripped open his chest wall when he fell. I shouldn't have made him come with me. I shouldn't have let him come with me.

"Atticus," I say. "Stay with me. I'm right here."

He inhales weakly, a strangled noise escaping his lungs as he tries to breathe in. I remove my mask and pull it over his face, sealing it.

"Breathe, Atti," I say. "We're gonna get you out of here."

I reach down to my waist and retrieve my Radio.

"Chief Williams, come in!" I exclaim. "Chief Williams, please."

"Graham," He says. "What's going on?"

"We came in to find a baby and the floor collapsed. Atticus is hurt, bad. I need help." I say.

"When is the next burst?" He asks.

I look at my watch.

"Thirty seconds." I say. "I can't lift him on my own."

"Cover him, we'll be in soon. Stay calm." He says.

I tuck my radio away and look down at my dying little brother. The mask fills with a thin condensation before he takes another breath in. I pull him into my chest, my arms wrapped around him tightly in a hug to protect him from the burst about to hit us, being mindful of the hole in his chest.

"Come on, Atti, don't give up on me now." I say, coughing from the thickening smoke. "Stay with me."