Page 110 of Rescued Duty

They crossed over a thicker beam into what was probably another room. The light grew, and Zack quickened his pace. “Just up ah?—”

Zack’s words were cut off by a rush of heat and flames.

“Watch out!” Zack shouted and ducked his head. This wasn’t an exit. They’d just walked straight into the landmine. “We need to go back. Go. Go.” Zack spun on his knees.

Naya was already turned around and a few paces away.

The heat nipped at Zack’s ankles, and he dug his hands into the beams, moving faster.

“We can’t just drop back into the room we were in or it’s over,” Naya yelled over her shoulder.

“Keep going the other way.” Zack coughed. “Let’s try to break the ceiling of another space.” His lungs burned.

Smoke filtered through the enclosed duct work. Each particle cut off more oxygen. Zack pulled his shirt up over his nose.

“I can’t see much,” Naya wheezed. “It’s so hazy.”

They crawled past the gaping hole above the room Roger and Hudson had trapped them in. The second the fire filled that space and collided with any traces of butane, they’d be burned to a crisp.

“I can’t go…much…more.” Naya lowered her head and expelled a cough.

Zack glanced behind him. They had minutes before the fire caught up to them. He scooted past Naya in the space and sat back on the beams.

He lifted his legs up, then shoved his feet against the ceiling. The heels of his shoes broke through. “Help me push through this plaster.”

Naya slid next to him and stomped her feet.

They made a hole big enough to maneuver through. Zack peered below. No obstacles stood in their way. “Let’s go.” Naya dropped to the floor and Zack followed.

“Where are we?” Naya spun around.

A shout slipped from Zack’s lips.Thank You, Lord.

He grabbed Naya’s hand and bolted around the conference table. “Follow me.” They’d landed in the room the forklift had driven through the other day when they’d been called to Ethos to get the employees out. The hole he and Eddie had created in the wall was boarded up. There was no time to plow through it.

They raced for the door and tugged it open.

Zack turned left in the hall, Naya on his heels. A boom resounded in the space behind them and shook the area.

Zack stumbled, and he lost Naya’s grip. He turned around, ready to pick her up, when she stood. “We’re almost there.”

A painting on the wall fell to the ground, and debris and dust flew through the air.

Flames ripped through the hall.

Sirens whined around them, but he’d welcome the loud cries any day. Help was on the way.

Zack and Naya ran past the receptionist’s desk and pushed through the doors out onto the front lawn.

Naya braced her hands on her legs, her breaths coming in pants. “We’re alive.” She turned back to the building, and he followed her gaze. Smoke poured from the windows and roof.

Fire trucks screeched to a stop, and the police sped in behind them.

More tires squealed on the pavement, and a figure ran down the sidewalk. “Hey! Don’t let them leave,” Zack shouted, then raced after Hudson. He was not about to let Hudson or Roger get away.

Hudson froze for a split second, checking both directions.

“You idiot. Get in the car,” Roger bellowed.

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