AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Redmond, to his satisfaction, felt at ease behind the wheel of the engine. He felt powerful and in control driving. It was when he got out and faced the danger that the panic rose in his throat, choking him.
The panic started at the sight of the car, flames growing from inside.
A frantic man ran toward the fire truck, and Redmond found himself falling out of the truck and stumbling to the ground as his team—the team he’d entrust his life to if the situation called for it—surrounded him and rushed forward.
“They’re in the car,” the man sobbed, attempting to pull Sully toward the burning vehicle. “My family. Please.”
The car had to be moments away from exploding, and all safety procedures prohibited them from approaching the car in such a state. But they were part of the Engine 10 Company, and they were the first on the scene.
The Engine 10 Company didn’t hesitate. They acted.
Sully and Shailene—the dream team of the Engine 10 company—rushed toward it, approaching the frantic man. Redmond scanned the scene, finding another car flipped on its hood. Gasoline leaked from the vehicle, slowly oozing toward the flaming car. One misplaced ember was all it would take to envelop the second car in flames, despite the rain, which had slowed its downpour.
“We need to check the other car.”
Nobody else stood on the scene, but a few cars stopped a few yards back, and curious passersby watched the scene unfold, not offering their help.
Aiden and Redmond ran toward the second car, and Redmond recognized the movement for what it was. “Driver’s side,” he shouted to Aiden.
They veered toward the driver’s side and dropped to their knees to look into the mangled interior. A young man—no older than twenty—sat in the driver’s seat, blood dripping from a few shallow scratches on his face. The boy scanned the faces of his rescuers, and a sob broke through his throat. He pointed to the passenger’s side of the car where another motionless body lay, trapped in her seat belt as she dangled upside down.
Girlfriend? Friend? It didn’t matter. Redmond knew that they needed to get the two out of the car.
Aiden didn’t hesitate. “Donovan, you hold his head while I unfasten the belt. I’ll help you get him out of here once the belt is undone.”
Redmond nodded, knowing the importance of working quickly. Aiden climbed over the man and into the vehicle, cursing the broken glass that scattered across the ground beneath him. “Put your hands on the ceiling,” Aiden told the man, and he obeyed without hesitation. Redmond placed his hands where they’d best brace the man’s short fall, and when the seat belt snapped open, the man dropped.
Redmond pulled the man so he lay with his shoulders on the ground and head flat. He kept a hand beneath his head, bracing for any potential neck injuries.
Distant sirens arose, and Redmond sighed in relief. With more first responders on scene, they could keep an eye on the boy while he and Aiden could rescue the girl.
Aiden managed to remove himself from the car, and he helped Redmond carry the young man away from either of the cars—far enough that he’d be spared from further injury no matter what. When Redmond stood again, he watched as Sully and Shailene rushed in the same direction, guiding a teenager, an elderly woman, and a middle-aged lady.
At their backs, the flames came dangerously close to the gas trail of the vehicle. A secondary explosion sent him to his knees, and Redmond closed his eyes, the explosions in Iraq plaguing his memory. Body parts flying. Lives lost. The same panic and feral fear that had encompassed him came back tenfold.
Aiden’s hands on his arms managed to lift him to his feet, but the explosion—the fire that grew taller and hotter than before—refused to release him from his trance. A phantom burn scalded the arm that held the recovered burns, and Redmond cringed.
“Shit, we’ve got to get her out, Donovan.”
Aiden shouted the words in Redmond’s face, tugging him and charging toward the further car—the one that the flames steadily approached. Getting the unconscious girl from the car was a two-man job, but Redmond’s feet wouldn’t obey his will. He watched as Aiden looked over his shoulder and continued running. Shailene and Sully still worked to get the family out of harm’s way, and Aiden—all alone beside the upturned car—crawled inside with the woman.
The sirens continued to approach, but the world felt like it rotated in slow motion. The flames taunted him, reminding him of the unimaginable pain he’d faced when rescuing Chelsea. His healed burns itched. He had to glance at his arm to ensure they were, indeed, as healed as he recalled.
A shifting spark caught his attention as it fell to the ground from the main explosion.
Directly on the leaking gas from the other vehicle—the vehicle that Aiden crawled into.
Redmond watched in horror as the flame traveled across the gasoline, the blue flames barely visible as they moved swiftly toward the car. Aiden stepped out of it, dragging the woman behind him.
Redmond’s feet moved on instinct—prepared to protect his friend. “Aiden, fire,” Redmond shouted.
Aiden’s attention lifted to the flame that steadily approached. Aiden didn’t hesitate. Rather than the gentle guiding he’d done with the woman previously, he lifted her with impressive strength, forcing her unconscious body over his shoulders as he sprinted toward them.
Aiden hadbarelyescaped the clutches of the car when it caught fire, the impact of the flames sending him a few stumbling steps forward. It had been too close. Had Redmond been there to help, the task would have been a simple in and out, but he hadn’t been.
Aiden passed him by, carrying the woman over his shoulders and gritting his teeth. The distrust in Aiden’s eyes wounded Redmond more than the fire three months ago had.
11
