Chapter 24 - Rhea
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Rhea
Within less than two minutes, all five men were dressed and ready to go. I heard radios crackle and voices mix, but I couldn’t make anything out. It made me wonder how on earth they could ever figure out what was going on in their calls.
“Follow me,” Ash said to me as the others all ran up to the fire engine.
I did so, still confused and in awe at what I was witnessing.
Everything was happening so fast that my mind couldn’t really keep up with all of it.
Guys were grabbing equipment and talking over the radios, each leaping up into either the front of the engine or a backseat that I never knew existed.
Ash bundled me into said backseat between Beck and another of the guys. Calder and the fifth were in the front, and as the door closed, I heard more sirens, this time from the engine.
“Where are we going?” I yelled over the noise to Beck, who answered in a normal voice that I just couldn’t make out. I pretended that I’d heard anyway, and nodded.
The engine tore out of the station, and the ride wasn’t exactly smooth.
It felt as if we were hitting bumps all the way, though that was probably because the backseat of a fire engine wasn’t particularly designed for comfort.
The men around me all sat like stones, but I felt as if I was flying all over the place.
Suddenly, Calder stopped the engine again, and I almost tumbled forward. Luckily, Ash’s arm shot out to catch me just in time. The drive had been surprisingly short, and when Beck threw the door open, I realized that we were only a block away from my own house and the station.
“Stay in the truck,” Ash said to me before he followed the others out the door. I shifted out of the way as they grabbed equipment around me and leapt down from the engine.
From here, I could actually feel the heat of the fire.
I stared out at it with wide eyes, finding it hard to believe that anyone would want to go toward something like that.
But none of the men had a single shred of hesitation.
They were moving like a well-oiled machine as the flames licked at the sky above the house.
From here, I could see that most of the building was on fire already. I had no idea whether there were people inside or not, but given the time of night, it was highly possible.
I couldn’t see much aside from the house on fire, but I imagined that neighbors were likely outside watching what was going on.
There were several trees and plants outside that quite clearly were in danger of being set alight. If the guys didn’t get this fire under control, it would certainly spread much further and a lot of people could get hurt.
I realized that my own adrenaline was pumping and my heart was racing, just from sitting where I was. My hands were even shaking from the force of it. I wondered how long it had taken for that feeling to fade for the guys, or if they still had it with every call they took.
From where I was, I couldn’t really hear much of what they were yelling to each other.
Their movements seemed chaotic and everything was overwhelming, but I had the sense that they knew exactly what they were doing.
They worked with a heroic confidence, like they could take on the entire world without breaking a sweat.
The two other team members were setting up a perimeter, while Ash, Calder, and Beck seemed to be setting up hoses and scoping out the fire itself.
I wondered what kind of technicalities went into setting everything up.
I’d seen the many dials and knobs and buttons on the side of the engine, and had no idea what each of them did.
Frankly, I always thought that they just put the hose on a hydrant and opened it up, but it looked now like there was a lot more to it.
“People inside?” I heard Ash yelling, though I was sure it was only part of what he actually said.
I stared at the house, trying to see if I could pick up on any movement.
But the fire made the air smoky and hazy, and difficult to see anything at all.
If there was someone inside, they were definitely in danger.
Would the guys storm inside to save them?
I knew it was part of their job, but how much of a risk would they be willing to take?
From what I knew, each one of the men would be willing to sacrifice their lives to save people, but that was terrifying to me. I couldn’t imagine losing any one of them, and right now, that possibility seemed scarily real.
Calder was moving closer to the fire, without any extra equipment aside from what looked like an oxygen tank on his back.
He paced from one end of the yard to the other, like he was analyzing what was going on.
Maybe he was trying to find a way to gain entry into the house, though that seemed completely insane to me.
I didn’t think that I could actually go into a burning building, even if I had the equipment for it.
A raw sensation of pure fear was filling my body as the heat touched my skin from this distance.
Both my attraction levels to Calder, Ash and Beck and my anxiety levels were increasing exponentially.
I found myself leaning forward from my seat, every muscle in my body tensing up with anticipation.
“Safest entry….” I heard part of what Calder was shouting, but then nothing else. He was making his way to the right side of the house, where the fire hadn’t quite reached yet.
I held my hand over my heart as I watched him, riveted by what he was doing. Ash had followed, and was standing behind him. Both had several pieces of equipment that I couldn’t name. Beck remained near the truck, unrolling a long, thick piece of the hose.
I could see smoke billowing out through the windows, and I could smell burning wood and fabric. Even from here, it felt as if my eyes were going to begin watering, and like I wanted to get fresh air.
How do they do this every day? I wondered, and realized that this level of call probably wasn’t necessarily that common most of the time.
I’m sure things have gotten steadily worse, given that the arsonist hadn’t been caught yet. It had to be one person. I couldn’t imagine the neighborhood suddenly being full of various arsonists deciding to start fires around the same time.
This was genuinely going too far now, though. With the kiosk, the owner had been able to escape quickly. The ice cream parlor had been abandoned.
But this? This was someone’s home, and it was possible that they were still inside. Someone could get seriously hurt, or worse. Whoever had done this was clearly a huge danger for the community, and I had to hope that the police were getting closer to catching them.
I heard the hose opening and noticed Beck and one of the other team members storming forward to where the fire was at its biggest. At the same time, it looked like Ash and Calder had managed to break in through the side door of the house.
They headed inside, and I found myself unable to look away from the spot where they had disappeared.
Beck hadn’t even glanced their way, nor had his teammate. They were focused on their own mission. Water rushed from the hose through the broken front window and onto the fire inside. That was probably where it had started, or at least where the fire was the biggest.
I was on the edge of my seat. It felt like an eternity that Calder and Ash had been inside. What were they doing in there? Were they fighting through smoke, breaking down falling debris, dragging people out? I had no idea. From here, I couldn’t see anything inside the house at all.
“Come on, come on…” I eventually started muttering under my breath, my hands tightly curled into fists and every muscle in my body tensed as if I was getting ready to run in there myself.
I wanted to follow, despite my earlier fears. I wanted to make sure they were alright. But I remembered Ash’s instructions, and I stayed put. If I did try to rush in there, I’d only be a liability, and it might be enough to cost them their jobs, or something more.
Finally, Ash and Calder burst out of the side door, corralling a stunned family out onto the front lawn.
Beck rushed toward them as the fifth teammate took over from him on the hose.
There were two parents, a grandfather, and a young girl who Beck carried back to the engine.
The parents followed, though the grandfather stayed on the lawn, staring at the fire.
“I need you to move over,” Beck said to me, and I shifted out of his way. He began grabbing what looked like medical equipment from around me, and started checking the little girl for injuries.
Calder made his way over, too, to help Beck with the medical care, but Ash remained with the grandfather, who was saying something to him urgently, pulling at his arm in desperation.
“Calder, we have to go back in,” Ash called over his shoulder. “They have a cat.”
Calder finished setting up oxygen for the little girl before he turned to assess the house. From where I sat, it looked like the whole thing could collapse at any moment.
Calder’s answer indicated that he thought so, too. “It’s too dangerous. Focus on getting the fire under control. There’s nothing we can do.”
Ash glanced at me, but I didn’t know what to say. I was frozen to the spot, watching it all unfold like a surreal movie. It felt as if that moment stretched out for an eternity before Ash squared his shoulder like he’d made a momentous decision.
“We didn’t get the whole family out,” he announced certainly. “I’m not leaving her in there.”
He turned, and rushed back to the side of the house.
“Ash, I am ordering you to stand down!” Calder yelled after him, but Ash simply ignored it. He disappeared into the smoke, with everyone staring in his direction.
“Get those flames down!” Calder yelled at the other members of the team, working on unrolling another hose. “Beck, is the girl stable?”
“Yes,” Beck said, already on his feet. “EMTs are on their way for the more minor injuries.”
“Then get over here!” Calder said, and Beck stormed forward. They worked quickly, but their movements were slightly less calm and focused than they had been before. It was clear that Ash had made a particularly dangerous decision here, one that could go south very quickly.
The parents and daughter were still close to the rig, but they were focused on one another.
The grandfather, however, stood on the lawn, hands grasped together tightly as he stared at the house.
It was clear that the cat meant a great deal to him, and I did find Ash’s bravery inspiring.
At the same time, I couldn’t believe that he was willing to possibly sacrifice his life for this.
Calder and Beck had a second hose up and working, but I was hearing new sounds from within the fire. There were loud cracks, as if something was snapping in the house.
Calder was yelling at the others, but I could only hear the beating of my heart in my ears.
Then, it looked like part of the house began to cave in. Calder shouted, and he ran forward. I stood up, almost hitting my head against the roof of the engine. This time, I couldn’t hold myself back. I leapt out of the engine, past the family, and onto the lawn.
“Stay back!” Beck yelled over to me, and I froze where I stood, staring as Calder ran toward where Ash had disappeared. It felt as if I couldn’t think, as if my heart was going to climb out of my throat. Time had no meaning, and the world had completely stopped around me.
Calder had gone into the house while Beck and the other two members of the team still fought to douse the flames.
Please, please come back, I found myself thinking, wondering what would happen if Calder and Ash had been too injured to escape. Would the entire building collapse on them? Would they lose their lives? I couldn’t imagine that as a reality. I didn’t want to think that way.
“Medical!” Calder’s voice eventually broke through, and I saw him pulling Ash from the rubble toward the side of the house. Ash had a small bundle wrapped up in his arms, and was coughing violently, but he was alive.