Inferno

***~187~ Pain***

Liam's POV

The winds are picking up and blowing the wrong way. The fire, which we were only keeping from overtaking, is now intensifying. If a miracle doesn't happen now, the whole town is going to be gone.

Chief gets our attention for a moment. "I'm going to send Nora and Drake out soon. This is going to be a suicide mission here in a bit. Everybody have their fire shelters?" He asks, keeping the panic out of his voice.

"Yes sir" we all say dejectedly. We're basically dead if we have to use our fire shelter. It can't withstand this.

We're working on a section of the town where there's a ton of houses. We were hopeful for a while that these houses would be spared. We're not hopeful anymore.

Diego and I are over by a home, working on spraying retardant on the home and stomping out embers that are trying to ignite. Suddenly there's an explosion from the home. We both go down.

I'm starting to stand up, when suddenly Diego screams "NOOO" and pushes me down and covers me with his body. Something falls on top of him.

"Help them!" I hear Wes scream.

Suddenly I feel Diego being taken off of me and he's being lifted onto a gurney.

"LIAM!" Taylor yells, bending down and checking my pulse.

"Diego!" I say as I try to stand up.

Dad is over here in an instant and is helping me up.

I rush over and Drake and Nora are working on him.

He's got a gash on his head and he's got a gash in his stomach. Nora and Drake are packing the bleeding.

I go up to him and grab his hand. "Why the hell did you do that?!?" I yell, crying.

Diego flashes his dumb smile at me. "A guy can't lose his best friend, dude" he chuckles.

"Plus, I was hoping to get a ticket out of here soon" he smirks.

I'm suddenly relieved. Diego will get out of here. He will make it back to his family.

They can't take the ambulance. The hospital is already evacuated and it isn't safe. They're going to have to go in the helicopter and go to a neighboring town. Nora will go with him. I'm making sure of that.

"Taylor, dad and Nora are taking him" I say, pushing the gurney towards the helicopter.

"I'm not leaving you" Nora snaps.

"Like hell you aren't. You're getting your ass on this helicopter and you are going home to our daughter. Do you hear me?!?" I ask, ignoring the tears that are falling endlessly.

"Liam" she sobs, grabbing onto my coat.

"Taylor" I say, glaring at him. He WILL give the order to get Nora and dad out of here. He WILL.

Taylor looks at me hard and nods."Drake, Nora, and Alex are taking Diego to the hospital. That's an order" Taylor says sadly.

"No!!!! Please send Drake, Chief. I need to stay" Nora cries.

Taylor shakes his head. "I just gave you an order" he says, fighting tears.

Nora slumps her shoulders and throws herself into me.

"I cannot live my life without you. I can't do it, Liam" she sobs.

I grab her face and kiss her hard.

"You and I are epic. DO YOU HEAR ME?!? We're EPIC. You are the love of my life. If I don't make it back, don't you dare settle. You find someone who gives you more than me. You find someone who makes me look like a chump. Hear me?!?" I choke out.