Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Jackson
“ Y ou guys want to grill tonight?” Kate asks. “We can run over to the grocery store. It’s been surprisingly slow, and I’m going stir-crazy. I need to get out of here.”
A collective groan rises from me, Cal, and Leo. We’re sitting in the bay on a gorgeous afternoon, playing cards at the folding table Leo brought in.
“You just had to go there, didn’t you?” Leo drawls.
She shrugs. “Running our asses off is better than being bored.”
“It’s fucking four o’clock. Now we’re gonna be up all night,” Cal grumps. “Charlie has a birthday party to go to tomorrow. Jules has to work, so that means I’ve got Charlie duty. And I don’t really want to be up all night, then have to deal with being nice at a toddler birthday party.”
Kate sends him a sadistic smile.
“I’m good to run all night, but I’d rather not. I’m helping Maggie paint this weekend,” I say .
“Well, nothing is set in stone yet. You guys keep?—”
The ground shakes, followed by the unmistakable boom of an explosion.
“What the fuck was that?” Cal’s eyes dart to the bay door, scanning the landscape beyond. In seconds, tones drop, and we sprint to the engine.
“Way to fuck us, Kate. And you didn’t even give us a kiss,” I yell, making the quick transition into my bunker boots and pulling up the pants.
My coat and helmet are already in the cab.
Cal is in the driver’s seat with the engine running by the time I climb up.
He’s usually a step ahead of me in gearing up.
I flip the siren as the vehicle rolls forward.
We don’t even know where we are going, but given that blast, this has the potential to be a total shit show.
Kate shoots me the bird from the driver’s seat of the ambulance as we pass, and they fall in behind us.
“Engine Three,” the 911 operator calls out to our truck, and my heart rate kicks up even higher, “respond to the area of Bonisle Industries. Caller reports an explosion in the aluminum extrusion area of the facility.”
“Annnd our day just took a dump. A giant, massive one,” I mutter as Cal responds that we are en route.
The radio traffic explodes with multiple units responding because shit just got real. That factory is huge.
Cal lays on the horn, dodging traffic, and I embrace the rush that comes from knowing we are about to have our asses handed to us.
Debris covers the parking lot as we pull in. Large chunks of… “Holy shit. Is that the roof?” I ask, even though it’s obvious. It’s like my brain can’t comprehend the clusterfuck I’m seeing.
Deputy Chief Collins has beaten us in his quick-response unit and is talking to the factory liaison. He’s calm, cool, and collected, but then again, I haven’t seen the guy any other way but totally in charge.
“Thank god for pre-fire planning,” Cal says as we pull into the hot zone the factory liaison has established. Kate and Leo head to the cold zone farther away from the structure in a safer location.
“What the hell are we walking into?” I ask Chief Collins as he meets us at the engine.
“Spoke to the foreman. The extruder vat exploded. The blast went up, taking off the roof and an exterior wall.” Chief’s low, grumbling voice is steady as he delivers the situation report and I try to let his no-nonsense demeanor seep into my bones, even though every part of me demands that I move.
“We’ve got one confirmed dead,” he continues.
“One seriously injured. Two more injured but ambulatory. Workers are inside trying to mitigate and bring the temperature of the extruder down, but the real issue is that the vat cracked, and we’ve got a pool of molten aluminum spilling on the floor, headed toward standing water in an inaccessible area.
That aluminum hits that water, and the whole thing blows again. Us included.”
My stomach drops.
“How much time do we have?” Cal sounds way calmer than I feel. My heart is racing, my muscles tense and ready for action. Standing still for this situation report is excruciating.
“Unknown. They’ve cut the heat and are introducing billets to cool it down, but they’ve got to go slow so they don’t make an incidental wave.”
“Do we know the location of the critical patient?” I ask. We just did pre-fire planning last week, so the layout of the building is fresh in my mind. Maybe we have time to go in and rescue our injured worker.
Chief nods, pointing to a spot on the building plans. “He’s been located, they just couldn’t get to him. However, the foreman has indicated we’ve got approximately ten minutes until that molten aluminum reaches that water unless they can slow the rate of flow.”
“What’s the status of the worker?” Cal asks, studying the map and then looking at the building.
“Alive but unknown extent of injury,” Chief says, his voice grave with the severity of the situation. “We could wait and let them secure the scene to prevent a secondary explosion.”
I’m shaking my head before he finishes. “Sounds like if we don’t go now, this is going to be a recovery mission, not a rescue.” Every ounce of my being wants to rush in and get the guy.
There’s an open alley we could use to access the building. And if the guy is where they say he is, we could be on him in under a minute.
Chief nods like I’ve spoken aloud, but it could be he’s just thinking the same thing I am. “Right, but we decide as a unit, because this could go bad. Do we wait and see if they can get the extruder cooled down, or do we go in and try to get the guy now?”
“I’m in.” My response is immediate. I don’t need another soul on my conscience.
Cal nods right as another engine pulls in.
“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen,” Chief says as the crew gathers around us.
“Engine Three team is on rescue. I’ll be standing watch over the molten aluminum and will give you a distance barrier on a timed interval.
Engine Fourteen, you’re on standby. Back the rest of this equipment up to a warm zone and stand by in safety formation.
” Meaning use the truck as a barrier in the event of a secondary explosion.
Minutes later, we leave the stretcher at the outer door. I grab the backboard as Cal pushes open a door, exposing the chaos of the scene.
The roof is gone. Twisted steel hangs, threatening to break loose. We push aside a pile of debris, and I get my first look at the guy we’ve come to save.
He’s a big guy, lying crumpled and half crushed under a shelving unit. At least he’s groaning. “Obvious forehead laceration, multiple extremity fractures.” Cal pins me with a look, likely thinking the same thing I am. Probable broken back .
It’s not the first time in our relatively new partnership that Cal and I have seemed to share a brain wave. Or maybe it’s just that we know how each other operates now. If I move one way, he’s waiting, anticipating my next move. I hope I’m as lucky with my new teammates.
“We’ll cross here.” I point to a section of rubble that looks stable enough for us to carry a backboard over. “Should be a straight shot after that.”
“Establishing perimeter. Approximately five feet to water contact.” Chief’s grumble comes over the radio.
Five fucking feet between us living and being blown sky-high in a secondary explosion.
My heart rate triples, and sweat beads on my forehead as Cal and I remove the sections of shelving pinning our victim.
“Four feet.”
On shaky legs, I kneel next to our guy. “Hey, man, we’re doing our best to get you out of here, but this might suck for a minute. What’s your name?”
“Phil,” he grunts through gritted teeth .
We work quickly to get a C-collar in place to stabilize him as much as possible prior to moving him.
“Three feet.”
My stomach drops.
“Fuck, that thing’s moving fast,” Cal says. We are nowhere near ready to haul our man out. We’ve barely gotten him freed.
Fear lances through me. For the first time in my career, I may not make it out alive.
“Don’t even think it,” Cal snaps. “We’re gonna get out, and we’re gonna get him out. I’ve got too much to live for.”
“Two and a half. Get him loaded and get out,” Chief barks. My heart stutters at the tension in his voice.
Too much to live for.
Of the two of us, Cal has a whole life outside of the department. A woman. A kid.
I’m just the fly-by-night guy with no strings anywhere.
“Go.” I snap out of my freeze response and push Cal away. “Get out of here. I’ll keep trying to get him out.” I will pick this man up and run if I have to, backboard be damned.
“I’m. Not. Leaving you,” Cal fires back.
My stomach pitches, and I want to vomit. This can’t happen on my watch. I can’t watch another friend die. And that’s what’s going to happen in mere moments if we don’t move.
Everything speeds up and goes into slow motion at the same time. Images of Maggie fill my head as we double-time pulling him onto the backboard, trying to be careful of his broken legs, but at the same time working faster than we’ve ever had to before.
Mags.
Why are we playing this game? Why are we pretending to be something we aren’t? Why does it matter if Alice gets mad? What about what I want? What Maggie wants?
Cal laces the security straps over the victim’s torso and claps the guy on the shoulder. “Hang tight, Phil. Almost ready.”
“Two feet.”
I’m not as efficient as Cal with the lower body straps. It takes two tries for me to get them into place, straight and secured. I should’ve kissed Maggie at least once when we were both sober. Why didn’t I fucking kiss her the last time we were together?
“Patient secure,” Cal calls into the radio as I shift my weight to lift. “Let’s go. Phil, stick with us, bud. We’re gonna get you out.”
“One and a half. Get out. Now.” Chief’s voice is as commanding as I’ve ever heard, and the drive behind it forces me into action.
We lift the patient over the debris and breach the hallway that allows us clear access to the rear of the building, sliding the backboard onto the stretcher and racing to safety.
We sprint to the ambulance at the secure area as Chief runs out of the building. Any second now, that secondary explosion is going to happen.
Seconds shift to minutes to what feels like an hour, while Kate, Leo, and Cal get the stretcher loaded and the medics begin working.
No explosion happens.
“I’ll drive them to the LZ,” Cal says.
“Life flight’s been called?” Reality feels fuzzy, like everywhere I look, the edges of the world are slightly out of focus.
Still no explosion from the facility behind us. Over the radio, Chief relays that the team cooling the extruders was able to get the thing cooled down, and the flow stopped its progress. Mere inches from destruction.
“Yeah, on standby at the soccer fields.”
Numbness blankets me as my friends pull away, taking our patient to meet the helicopter at the landing zone. I head back to my truck, standing by, waiting for the next shoe to drop.
I didn’t die today.
“Jackson.” Chief’s growly voice pulls me back to reality. “You okay?”
I didn’t die today .
“Yeah, sure thing, Chief,” I lie through a thick throat.
“That was pretty intense back there.” It’s a statement, but his direct gaze makes me think he’s saying something more that I’m not catching on to. “Foreman just called that they’ve cleared the building, and the vat is finally neutralized. You can head on back to the station when you’re ready.”
“And Cal?” I croak.
“He’s riding back with the medic crew.”
Forming words is beyond my capacity. Relief is so heady that all I can do is nod. I can’t think of what to do next. The fact we didn’t die today is the only thing on my mind.
No, not the only thing. There’s a certain someone on my mind. A certain something I want to do. Fuck the consequences.
I drive back to the station on autopilot, barely registering the other cars on the road around me, until a familiar unit turns ahead of me at the red light.
Kate, Leo, and Cal turn into the station parking lot, and the vise grip on my chest eases. And when I round the station to pull the engine into the bay, I spot the most welcome sight of my life.
Relief becomes an inferno. A driving force I can’t control. I stop the engine outside the bay door, and I’m climbing down as Maggie’s car door opens.
I’m stalking past the back of the engine as her door slams shut.
The blood in my veins is on fire, and she’s the only thing that can keep me from losing my shit.
I didn’t die today, and Maggie’s here.