“Any luck trying to find where she is?” I ask Blake. For the last week, Blake has been in talks with a buddy of his from the police department. Trying to get an exact location of where Rose is so that we can go and talk to her. Make sure she understands how much we love her.

“Nope. Everyone’s dodging my calls now. They don’t want to get involved in all of this.” He slams his locker shut and pulls his uniform over.

“At least we tried. We can’t do much until she reaches out to us.” I pat him on the back and push him out of the locker room.

“If she ever reaches out to us,” Blake mumbles under his breath.

I don’t say anything. He has a point. It’s been close to a month since either of us have seen or heard from Rose. Time has been passing by very slowly. And it’s driving me insane. I’ve been holding myself better than Blake, but only by a little bit.

I force myself to eat and sleep. I try not to think about her, but that doesn’t work. Trying to not think about her is still reminding me of her every day.

The intercom buzzes to life and brings me back to reality. Both Blake and I stand still and our bodies get rigid. Nothing like a little action to get our minds off her. At least for now.

“Red Alert! Red Alert! Fire at Madison High! Fire at Madison High!” The wail of the fire alarm starts to sound off, alerting everyone inside the fire station.

Blake and I look at each other. We don’t have to talk, we know what’s up. Madison High is where the Blaze Brigade practices. It’s where Rose spends most of her time with the them.

“This is not a drill. This is not a drill.” And the intercom cuts off as Blake and I rush to the fire engines. It takes us less than a minute to get geared up and on the back of the trucks. All three fire trucks pull out and I’m hitting at the side of the truck, willing it to move faster.

There’s a bad feeling in my stomach. Something that tells me that I won’t like what’s going to happen next, but I push it away. I need to be on my A game. I need to concentrate.

It doesn’t take us more than three minutes to get on scene. We’re the first ones here. There’s a group of students and teachers out in front. Black smoke billowing out from the doors and broken windows on the side. This isn’t looking good. I scan the crowd and try to look for her.

I hope that she wasn’t down there.

Blake and I are the first to jump off the trucks. We rush to the first adult that we see. A red haired plump woman that all the kids are gathering around.

“Is everyone accounted for?” I ask her.  

“No.” She shakes her head and points at the doors. “Rose Collins is still in there.”

“Blake, did you hear that?” I turn my head and see Blake rushing through the doors. “Fuck,” I yell. This isn’t part of the protocol, but I rush inside after him.

“She’s in the basement!” is the last thing I hear as I run into the building.

Smoke everywhere and almost no visibility. I see movement in front of me and grab at it. My fingers cling to something and I pull.

A yellow mask pops out of the darkness. It’s Blake. I signal for him to turn on his radio.

“We need to play this smart.” Blake tries to pull away from my fingers, but I hold him in place. “Blake! Stop and think.”

He moves from foot to foot, his head looking around before he relaxes. “Okay.” His voice is a little rugged and out of breath. “Rose is in here somewhere. I can feel her.” He almost breaks from my grip when I dig my hand into his shoulders.  

“I know. And it won’t do any of us any good if we get injured before we get to her.” I reach behind my face mask and turn the flashlight at the top of my helmet on.  

I look left. Then right. And see nothing.

The beam of light barely breaks through the thick, dark smoke in front of us, but it’s something. “One step at a time.”

Blake takes position to my left. This is something that both of us have done dozens of times. We need to take this slow and coordinated. Make sure that she hasn’t moved from the basement. Breach and clear every room along the way.

We make our way to the back of the school excruciatingly slowly, screaming her name along the way.  The further to the back of the school we move, the hotter it gets. Both Blake and I know that time is of the essence. It’s only a matter of time before the roofs cave in, but that isn’t the biggest problem. Rose might suffocate before she burns.  

Every step that we take is hotter than the last, but neither of us talk. We march on and hope for the best.

What if she’s not down here, I think. What if we missed her in one of the rooms behind us?

I shake my head and concentrate. She needs to be down here. She will be down here.

“Rose! Rose, are you here?” Blake breaks formation and takes a step forward. Both of us get low to the ground and look.

It’s a complete and utter mess down here. Broken, burning pieces of wood. Tables and chairs scattered around on the floor. It’s going to take a miracle to find her in all this. Blake and I hold onto each other’s shoulder, take a step, and then look around.

The further that we get into the basement, the more I can feel myself starting to lose hope. I want to retrace our steps and go back to check the other rooms. Maybe we missed her.

“There,” Blake shouts and points off to the far corner of the room. I squint my eyes and see something there. I can barely make out the object, but Blake rushes toward it. I run after him, barely able to see Blake through the black smoke. When I catch up to him, Blake is hunched over and trying to lift a piece of burning wood.

I nearly tear up when I see her. She’s in rough shape and I get down to her. There are several large pieces of wood laying on top of her. I have no idea how Blake saw her, but I’m thankful that he did.

“Rose, can you hear me?” I get low to the ground and check her vitals. She’s knocked out, but she’s alive. Just barely.

“Help me get this shit off her,” Blake yells. I jump next to Blake and we start throwing the hot wood across the room. Blake is the first to grab hold of her and hoist her against his chest. I do a final look over and nod.

“Put your hand on my shoulder. I’ll guide us out,” I say. Around us, pieces of burning wood are falling from the ceiling. The smoke is thicker and darker than before. I can’t even see six inches in front of me. The light above my helmet starts flickering, but I push forward.

One step a time. One step at a time. Every time I feel myself get down, I look over at Rose in his arms and it gives me the drive to take another step. I feel my way through the dark basement and retrace my steps. When I hit a wall, I hold out my hand and follow it. At some point, we’re going to reach the stairs.

“Here,” I shout and we start to climb the stairs. It takes us less than two minutes to get back outside. Blake rushes over to the EMT on site and places her down on their gurney. He rips off the helmet and grabs hold of Rose’s hands.

“Rose, can you hear me? Rose?” He’s on the verge of breaking down when I pull him away. The paramedics rush to her side and get to work. They check her pupils and pulse.

“Is she going to be fine?” I ask.  

Parts of her clothes are burnt. She has a couple burns on her face, but nothing too severe.

“Rose, can you hear me?” Blake pulls off his glove and touches the side of her face.

Rose coughs several times, her chest rising and falling. I rush to the other side of her and take her hand. She opens her eyes and looks at us. She smiles and touches my cheek and runs her tired hand along it.

“You’re going to be fine,” I say, more reassuring myself than anything.

Rose nods her head and closes her eyes. She falls back down on the stretcher. Blake and I take a step away, letting the paramedics take her to the hospital.