A siren started to sound and we immediately stood up from the table without hesitation. Each of us quickly grabbed our money before running towards the locker room. The night wasn’t going to be as boring as I thought, although I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with an actual fire. I prayed it was an abandoned warehouse or an empty office building as I put on my gear. When I got to the main part of the station and saw how many trucks were being prepped for response, I knew it wasn’t going to be a quick call. The chief sent us towards our assigned trucks and I climbed into the passenger seat next to Chase. The engines and sirens screamed into the night as we headed downtown.
“It’s an apartment building.” Chase tapped the steering wheel and sighed. “So much for a peaceful night of playing cards.”
“Maybe it won’t be too bad and I can take some more of your money after we’re done.” I tried to crack a joke, but my stomach was in knots.
Apartment fires were the worst. We would have to evacuate the whole building and that was never an easy task. The details were fed to us as we drove and when we got to the apartment building, I immediately started running towards the door. There were already a number of people gathered outside in their pajamas, which was a good sign at least. We were told that the fire appeared to have originated from the ninth floor, which was where my team was headed. We took the stairs two at a time until we made it to our destination. All of us split into different directions as we started knocking on doors. I reached the end of the hallway and saw smoke, so I hit the door with my axe and carefully stepped aside in case of backdraft. A thick cloud greeted me once the wood was splintered.
“Over here, I think I found it!” I motioned towards the firefighter that was closest to me.
“Hey guys, Trent found daylight!” he yelled down the hallway, using our slang for the source of the fire.
I was the first one inside, desperately searching for people that needed my help. Getting them out was top priority. I could hear one of the other guys on my team on the radio, calling for additional support. The smoke was thick, but it didn’t make it impossible to see. I quickly checked the kitchen and the dining area before walking into the living room. I was greeted by a wall of fire on the opposite side of the room that had spread towards the ceiling. I looked around quickly and spotted a figure on the floor. It was a young woman with amber-colored hair. The fire was too intense to check her for injuries, so I scooped her in my arms and started running for the door. I passed by the others as they ran in to check the rest of the apartment.
“She’s breathing.” I pulled off my mask once I was away from the smoke. “I’ll get her outside. Get someone up to the tenth floor so we can evacuate it before the fire spreads.”
The tenants were lucky, especially the young woman in my arms. The apartment building was in a good part of town and their alarms were in working order. That brought us to the fire before it got out of control. The building still had to be evacuated, but we were early enough to contain the blaze. I took the woman outside and put her on a stretcher so the emergency team could take care of her, but I quickly checked her for burns as they strapped an oxygen mask on her face. Her knee appeared to be twisted and she had inhaled a lot of smoke, but otherwise, she appeared unharmed. I wanted to go back inside, but the team was bringing people out in droves, so it looked like things were under control. I started working on securing the water lines and directing them towards the location of the fire on the ninth floor. After that was handled, I walked back over to the woman that was in the back of the ambulance.
“You always find the pretty ones, don’t you?” Chase walked up and chuckled slightly. “Too bad we never get a girl like this when we’re looking for a chick to spend the night between us.”
“Yeah, well, you seem to find plenty of girls that are willing, even if they don’t look like this. Any word from the top?” I turned my head towards him.
“We don’t have any casualties. The fire was still contained to her apartment and she was the only one inside.” He nodded absently. “The building superintendent said her name is Kayla Lewis.”
Kayla. That’s a pretty name.
I stayed by Kayla’s side until the paramedics were ready to take her to the hospital. She had inhaled enough smoke that an overnight stay was necessary to make sure the carbon dioxide got out of her system safely. We got the fire out fairly quickly, and had the building evacuated in less than ten minutes, which might have been a record for a building that size. A lot of residents wanted to return, but protocol required them to wait until it was officially cleared by one of our investigators. I could already tell it was safe, but there would be smoke in the building for several hours, not to mention all of the water we sprayed to protect the surrounding floors while we put out the fire. The process had to be followed. I was glad that I was on the tail end of my twenty-four hour shift and would have a couple of days off. Once I was back at the station, I removed my gear and chugged some water to wash away the dryness in my throat.
“Well, it looks like we had an exciting night after all.” Chase walked up with a can of soda in his hand.
“Yeah.” I nodded and sighed. “At least we got there fast enough to handle the fire before it got out of control.”
“Hey, Rachel sent me a text message.” Chase held up his phone.
Ah, so that was her name.
“Really? What does she want?” I looked over at Chase.
“She had a great time and would love to see us again once we’re finished up here.” He grinned and pushed the phone into his pocket.
“I don’t know, man. She was a lot of fun, but it hasn’t worked out very well in the past when a random hook-up turns into a regular thing.” I raised my eyebrows at him and shrugged.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Chase nodded and sighed, looking down at his phone. “We’ve had better.”
“And we deserve better. We need something real.” I reached over and tapped his phone. “The girls in there will never make us truly happy.”
“You and you’re fucking logic. Do you want to hit up one of the twenty-four hour bars once we’re done? I feel like I could use a drink.” Chase leaned against his locker and rubbed his eyes.
“You look like you need sleep more than a drink.” I chuckled and shook my head. “No, I might stop by the hospital and check on that girl.”
“Uh oh. Is it serious already? Should I go ahead and rent a tuxedo for the wedding?” Chase snickered as he teased me.
“No.” I narrowed my eyes and grumbled. “I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
Three
Kayla
Oh god, where am I?