Page 34 of Courageous Devotions

The truck pulled up, and they went to work. Colton was out of the rig within seconds, and Lance was going for a plug while Alec was unloading the hoses. Moments later, Chad was hooking up the hoses and Justin was hollering – for them and to document on record.

“V.E.S. on alpha side, first-floor window…”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Alec muttered, and Colton chuckled.

The other firefighter had a close call a year ago, and Colton understood the fear. That had been a very bad day. They were checking a roof of a building that was on fire – only to have Alex go straight through. One moment, he was there, and the next, the roof had opened up, swallowing him whole. He thought for sure he was about to hear screaming or his friend burning to death, only to realize that the entire roof was soft because it was rotting. They’d had a good laugh together later, but it sure hadn’t been funny at the time.

Colton slapped Lance on the front of the jacket with the back of his hand and looked at him, catching Alec’s eye.

“Hey – if I go into that window, you better not hold back with that water.”

“I’m not squirting anything until you are in and safe. I don’t want to douse you or…”

“The heck you are, bro…!” Colton said bluntly, turning to get in Lance’s face. “I don’t care if there are rats, mice, or any sort of mammal. If I’m in there, I’m going to expect you to have my back – and if you see flames, you better open that nozzle quickly.

“What’s the problem?” Justin roared. “We’re losing time!”

“I want a line on me when I go through that window…” Colton said bluntly, not backing down looking at Lance, the youngest of them on the team. He understood the reasoning behind the other man’s hesitation because they both knew the dangers – but if something happened, he wanted to protect the men standing behind him, too.

“Furniture and mattresses are made of things that put off tons of heat and ignite fast. We don’t know what we are walking into – so we are gonna take it carefully. If you don’t pull that nozzle for fear of steaming me alive like a Chinese dumpling – yeah, nawww, brother. Absolutely do it! I’m gonna break that window creating a source of oxygen for the fire, feeding it. You better open that hose and take a chance, because if you don’t that fire is going to light behind us… right where you are standing,” Colton paused, letting his words sink in. “If you don’t wet me down, I’m gonna make Poltergeist look like a freakin’ Disney movie when I come back and haunt your scrawny butt… got me?”

“He’s right,” Justin said flatly. “Don’t question your team lead. You are a nozzle man – and I want a nozzle on him if he requests it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now, are we done bickering? I’m sure whoever is inside would like you to save their life sometime today.”

“Moving…” Colton said bluntly. “Lance, I want water on that roofline and falling on me before I break that window, got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

They all got into position. Lance and Alec were holding the hose, kneeling. Chad was at the truck, and Justin was surveying and relaying information while moving people back.

“Let’s do it! I’m taking the window,” Colton announced and moved quickly despite the massive amounts of water cascading over him from the roofline. He was using his ax to shatter the glass and clear the opening. Climbing inside, he immediately made his way across the room – slamming the door quickly, before beginning his search. That shut door could sometimes buy them a few minutes.

Thick black smoke filled the room and was funneling out the window that looked like a faint gray light in the distance… only to feel something on the floor beside his foot. No way could I am that lucky – or this person, he thought as he heard a hacking cough.

Kneeling, Colton grabbed at the limbs blindly, pulling them toward the window in the distance. Carefully, he handed the limp form through the window and heard Lance’s shocked gasp through the respirator. Looking up at the man, he was staring at the woman in shock.

“Blythe?”

“Do you know her, Lance?”

“That’s the woman who won the photo shoot for the calendar. That’s my girl, Fischer…” The look on the other firefighter’s face was startling, like someone had slapped him. He just stood there, holding her in his arms, looking almost unsure what to do with himself.

“Get her to the ambulance. I don’t know how much smoke she inhaled,” Colton ordered and moved back toward the window, waving Alec forward. Yep, they had a job to do and if Blythe wasn’t alone – it was his job to make sure there were no other’s trapped inside the building that was on fire.

Moments later, he re-entered the building via the window once more and hadn’t made it very far when the alert sounded. Three blasts told him to exit the building now because it was being considered a complete loss – which meant that whatever was on the other side of the door before him was probably much worse… and right now, he just wanted to hear from Eris and Zane.

Seeing that woman lying there helpless had bothered him deeply, which is why he wanted to get back inside. He was terrified that perhaps someone else’s little boy was also waiting for help. He knew it was personalizing the moment, but it was hitting him hard that Eris had this happen to her. She’d rescued their son from a fire less than a week ago.

Climbing back out of the window he’d used to enter the building, he looked at Justin.

“Was there anyone else?”

“No.”

“Oh, thank heavens…” he muttered, sagging and putting his hands on his knees in emotional exhaustion that was hitting him hard – only to feel a hand pat him on the back.

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