The flames are bursting up through the upper windows like they’re trying to scorch the night sky. We’ve been clearing the building floor by floor. The truck with the extension ladder is parked underneath the complex and it’s been busy with a stream of families making their way to safety. It’s by sheer luck that this old, run-down building is only eight stories high. If it was much taller, evacuating people would have been next to impossible.

Zach and I are on the sixth floor, trying to put a dent in the raging blaze that’s rippling over the walls. It’s crazy how when fires get out of control like this one, they ripple over the surfaces and make it almost look like a waterfall of flames.

“We’ve got to go,” Zach yells at me over his breathing apparatus. “It’s gonna collapse.” He points to the orange inferno creeping around us. It leaps across the ceiling and engulfs the room with searing heat.

He’s right. There’s nothing we can do when it gets this out of control. All we can do is save the residents, then save ourselves. Once we get outside, we’ll do what we can to contain the burn and keep it from hopping to other buildings in the area. But this apartment won’t be fit for anything except demolition.

“Let’s go,” I yell in agreement over my face mask and turn to leave.

Zach pulls back the hose. I reach forward to help him when I hear a loud crack. It almost sounds like a tree being struck by a lightning bolt, but I know that’s not what the noise is. A flaming beam lands over my shoulders and drops me flat on my stomach, pinning me to the floor.

“Fuck. Help! Oh shit,” I bellow, terrified of the flames flickering even closer to my face. Protective gear will only take you so far. Eventually, given enough heat, everything melts. Even us.

“Don’t panic, man. I got you.” Zach radios for backup and then opens the hose on the beam. He manages to get the fire out and soaks me down so my suit won’t melt to my skin, but with this room being consumed, it’s only a matter of time until he has to leave me here.

He drops the hose and tries to move the beam, but it doesn’t budge. A splitting pain is searing through my shoulder, but when I wiggle my toes, I can feel them move in my boots. “I don’t think there’s any damage to my spine,” I call out over the roar of the fire to my fire team partner. My best friend.

“Good, so we just need to get this off you and it’ll be no problem getting you out of here.” Zach lunges through the acrid smoke and tries again to move the wood.

“You can’t stay in here!” I try to look up at him. “The smoke is getting too heavy. If the fire doesn’t kill you, that will.” I know he’s burning through his oxygen tank quickly every time he tries to shove this smoldering beam off my back. It’s only a matter of time until he’s breathing in toxic fumes. “You gotta go. Leave me.” My eyes grow hazy and my vision doubles. I’m sick to my stomach and weak. As the light in this room seems to narrow down, I know I’m a goner.

“Fuck that! I’m not leaving you here. I refuse. Now stop talking like that and see if there’s any way we can put our brains together and figure out how to move this thing.” He points to the beam.

“I can’t do shit. I’m pinned down.” I can see the fire creeping closer and the smoke is filling the space. It’s burning my eyes now, the thick black cloud closing in on us.

“Help will be here soon,” he tries to reassure me.

“You need to get the fuck outta here, Zach. Don’t make Kelly lose us both. She’ll never get over it, you stubborn ass. Please, man, you gotta go. You gotta promise me you’ll take care of her.” I cough on the smoke and it burns a trail down my throat.

“Don’t talk like that!” Zach shakes his head. The flames are surrounding him, but he doesn’t look scared. He looks determined. “We’re both gonna be there for her. And for our kids,” he adds.

I can’t help but grin. “Does that mean…?”

“Yeah, Desi. You gotta get out of here alive, man. Hang on, okay? Because we’re all in this together. You and I are gonna make great fathers, got it?”

“Got it.” I grit my teeth and try to stay conscious.

The backup finally burst into the wild blaze and sprays down the fire enough to get across the room to us.

I hear them barking “One, two, three, heave!” And the pressure of the beam lifts from my shoulders. I try to keep it together, but the tunnel keeps closing down. The black at the corners of my vision just grows and takes over. The last thing I feel is the guys lifting me up and dragging me across the floor, but then my head falls forward and my entire world fades to black.