Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Realizing that the love of your life was in that very same building did something to a man. Especially when he had no way to fix it. I didn’t have the knowledge of fires, nor the know how to do anything in this situation but sit back and pray for the best.
I pulled up next to a fire engine that had a large number three painted in bright gold on the side. Firefighters were running around pulling hoses off the truck, hooking them up, and unrolling them. Drew Dillon was standing at the back of the rig, so I ran up to him in a panic to get information on what they were doing, and whom they’d gotten out so far.
“Dillon!” I said urgently.
Drew’s black eyes swung to mine, and I saw the worry on his face before he even told me. “Hey man, I’m kind of busy right now, but I’ll get with you as soon as we have this under control.” He gestured with a nod of his head towards the fire.
Drew was an absolute mountain of a man, and with his bunker gear on, he looked all the bigger. “My fiancé, Payton, is in the second floor apartment.” I said pointing towards her window. “She just called me not even eight minutes ago saying she was inside, and I can’t get her to answer anymore.”
The panic in my voice couldn’t be hidden. He knew immediately that she was important to me, and knew that I would go in there myself if he didn’t get her out on his own. I didn’t give a flying fuck if I had no clue what I was doing, as long as I got her out of there alive, I didn’t care if I burned.
“Captain! There’s no sign of movement. The people on the first floor said the woman in 2B hasn’t been home in a few days, and they don’t think she’s there.” A young firefighter came up to the both of us and said.
“No! She’s in there! She just called me!” I pleaded.
“Bowe, this is Max. He says there’s a woman in there. Let’s go get her.” Drew ordered.
Bowe took off at a sprint to the truck, informed the man that was working the controls on the truck, and then pulled his mask from the truck. Drew did the same beside me, and started walking determinedly towards the front door as Bowe caught up to him with the rammer. The rammer was a tool used to get doors open more expediently. This one looked just like most I’ve seen, with the exception of ‘Open Up’ written in bright green letters on the side.
Just as the two of them in all their bunkered out glory made it to the front door and into position, a series of barks came from a different area of the apartment. “Stop!” I yelled.
Both men froze. It was evident they didn’t hear the barking, but I did, and I knew that Alpha would lead them straight towards her. I ran up the rickety steps, and was assaulted with the most intense heat I’d ever felt in my life. It was even more intense than the helicopter crash, and I was only three quarters of the way up the steps.
“Alpha is a trained protection dog. He’ll have taken her to the safest place he could, and he won’t leave her until she’s found, even if it kills him. His barking is coming from the west side of the building. That’s the master bedroom.” I explained quickly.
They nodded in understanding, and then Bowe ran back to the truck while Drew went around to the master bedroom window. I followed closely on his heels, and was able ot hear Alpha’s bark much more clearly now. The smoke was billowing out the open window, but security bars were in place securely over the window.
The next few minutes was a flurry of activity. Bowe brought a ladder from the truck and placed it underneath the open window. A halligan bar was used to remove the bars, and shortly after a limp Payton was pulled out the opening by Drew. Bowe went in for the dog, but I couldn’t spare the dog a glance. All of my attention was focused on Payton’s limp body. She was covered in soot, head to toe; there wasn’t a single clean spot on her.
Her hair was still in the ponytail she left with it in, yet it was sliding down and to the side, hair falling in disarray around her face. She wasn’t moving, and I wasn’t even sure she was breathing. The last thing I’d heard her say was a whispered I love you before the phone went dead a minute before I arrived.
Drew ran full force with her cradled in his arms like a baby. He laid her down gently on the gurney, and then I couldn’t see her anymore. There was yelling, shouting, and suddenly the sound of the apartment collapsing behind me. Not once did I divert my attention from the group of firefighters that worked on her.
They loaded her up into the ambulance, and then were gone seconds after that. A series of whimpers pulled me from my daze. I looked to my left to see Bowe laying an oxygen mask down over Alpha’s face. Alpha was staring longingly at the departing ambulance, and I knew we were both feeling the same thing.
Helplessness. Failure. Sadness.
I don’t know how many minutes passed while I watched the empty road where the ambulance hadn’t been in quite some time. Seconds? Minutes? I don’t know. What I do know is that I needed to stop moping around, call Payton’s parents, and get myself to that emergency room. Fast.
I looked around the scene, but didn’t register the woman in the corner of the lot with a smirk at the corner of her mouth. I didn’t notice the exhausted firemen putting out the last few flames. What I did notice was Alpha standing up, shaking off the oxygen mask, and padding over to me. He leaned against my leg, and I ran my hands down through his wiry fur.