Page 2 of Forged By Fire

“Chris! Sarah! Can you hear us?”

Leslie felt like her voice was being swallowed between her mask and the dark vastness of the warehouse. She listened intently, hoping one of the people they were looking for might call out for help. Instead, they were met with an eerie quietness that seemed strange given the fire raging on the other end of the warehouse.

They systematically made their way through their side of the warehouse in the direction of the flames, going through it as quickly and as efficiently as they could.

The smoke grew thicker, and the engine crew reported that one end of the warehouse was already fully involved and that the room there was not structurally sound.

“Keyes and Granger, I need your teams to finish and get out of there as fast as possible.”

“Yes, sir.” Bryce’s response was clipped. “We may have something here. Stand by.”

Leslie and Danny exchanged a glance. She prayed Bryce’s team had found the missing individuals. She couldn’t explain why, but a sense of dread had settled into the pit of her stomach, like a ball that refused to budge.

An orange glow flickered in the distance.

Bryce’s voice came back over the radio. “We’ve located Chris. Working our way back to the exit now.”

Leslie released a sigh of relief. Now, if they could just find Sarah.

“Hey!” Danny nudged her arm and pointed. Ahead of them, a hallway led further on, choked by smoke.A firefighter approached, his arms crossing in the air above his head as he tried to get their attention.

Because of the distance, the smoke, and the headlamp shining light at them, it was impossible to tell who it was.

The firefighter motioned for them to follow him and turned around again.

“What’s going on?” Leslie spoke into the radio, hoping to get a heads-up on the situation. Did Bryce and Jin need help getting Chris out of the building?

“Granger? Can you repeat that?” Chet’s voice pierced the silence.

Danny led the way down the hallway, and Leslie followed close behind him. If there was one thing that’d been drilled into her since the beginning of her training, it was that you never took your eyes off your partner.

“It looks like Keyes and his team need some assistance. We’re working our way there now.”

They got to the end of the hallway and turned right.

Bryce’s voice came over the radio. “Granger. Cho, Whitman, and I already made it out with Chris. You and Bracken are clear to leave.”

If they weren’t in the building anymore, then who were they following? Had one of the other teams come in from the other side of the warehouse?

They rounded the corner, and Danny stopped so quickly that Leslie nearly ran right into his back. “What is it?”

The firefighter they were following stood in the center of the room, a gun in his now-bare hand. Thanks to the smoke and the headlamps, it was impossible to see through the mask to make out the face on the other side. Her gaze flicked to where the name tag should’ve been, but it was missing completely.

“Hey, let’s just calm down here.” Danny slid to his left, effectively putting himself between Leslie and the gun. “What’s your name?”

“Report!” Chet’s voice held an equal measure of command and concern.

Leslie lowered her voice. “We’ve got a situation here. We’re being held at gunpoint.”

“Acknowledged. I’m contacting DPD right now.”

That was little comfort when the building was literally burning down around them, and her partner was facing a gunman they knew nothing about.

“Come on, man.” Danny took a step forward. “Let’s get out of here and have a conversation.”

The firefighter’s helmet slowly moved back and forth. The headlamp illuminated walls, water bottles stacked on the floor nearby, and finally focused on Danny. “No. It’s too late for that.” He fired the gun, the sound piercing the air and making Leslie jump. Immediately, he turned and strode out of the room.

“Danny?” Leslie sidestepped around her partner just as he slumped to the ground. “No!” A furtive glance at the doorway assured her the shooter wasn’t there. She fell to her knees beside her partner. “Shots fired. Danny’s been hit.” She leaned over him to peer into his mask. His eyes were closed. She shook him gently, alarmed by the pool of blood that was beginning to form beneath his body. He didn’t respond.

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