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Kyle was breathing hard, despite the smoke starting to seep into his helmet and respirator. Panic was clutching at him as he held tight to Austin’s hand, feeling the floor bow again under his feet.
“Austin, back up slowly…”
“I’m not leaving you!”
“We’re both getting out of here,” Kyle said firmly, trying not to cough and remain calm despite the bubbling fear inside of him.
“Talk to me Austin – where are you?” Andy said from nearby, sounding increasingly alarmed.
“What’s going on in there, boys…” Chase crackled in the mic. “I should be seeing three yellow jackets exiting the house by now! Where are you?”
“I’m in the bedroom doorway upstairs and I’ve got Kyle by the hand – now Kyle, take a step in my direction…”
“The floor…”
“The floor is going to go whether you are standing there completely still or making your way towards me,” Austin bit out tightly. “I need you to get your scrawny buns moving in my direction…”
“I don’t want you to die,” Kyle choked, coughing wildly.
“Yeah, neither of us are doing that today…” Austin replied, also coughing.
Kyle felt tears sting his eyes as he pictured Reyna’s smile as she held Yam up to her face, looking at him like he was everything to her… as it suddenly hit him that he might not see her again.
His level of fear and panic was engulfing him in that moment.
“Andy and Austin, y’all get out of here…” Kyle said quietly, taking a slight step and feeling the floor bow again under his boot. He could feel the heat in the distance, even though he couldn’t see any flames.
“DON’T YOU LET GO OF MY HAND…” Austin yelled angrily – and Kyle felt something hard stab him pointedly in the back, yanking him forward as the floor suddenly gave.
“You got him?” Andy asked and Kyle felt this unreal sensation of floating for only a second before every nerve fired in his arm where Austin was clinging to him… and he felt a snap.
He was dangling almost sideways in the air over a blaze, hooked by Andy’s pike exceedingly close to a kidney on his coat, and clenching despite the pain in his broken arm, to Austin’s gloved hand.
“I’ve got him…”
“My arm’s broken…”
“Better than being barbecued…”
“True,” Kyle chuckled nervously, feeling the heat beneath him and from above. “I feel like a spit roast, right now.”
“We all do – now can we get out of here?” Andy clamored, sounding nervous and upset as he began coughing as well.
Kyle could barely breathe, and Austin was still hacking in his helmet as he felt hands on him, pulling him up to the point that Kyle was able to hook a foot over an edge, crawling forward the remainder of the way onto the floor.
“Exit the housenow, team…” Chase said bluntly. “The roof is going up fast…”
“Coming, ‘daddy’…” Austin called out, coughing and sounding much happier than he had only a few moments ago.
Kyle clung to consciousness as he worked through the pain of trying to push himself up to his feet using his broken arm, despite the shocks lancing through him in protest.
Gotta move… can’t stop…he thought wildly.Not gonna die today… Reyna…
The trio was making their way down the stairs, and he could feel hands clenching at him as he moved blindly in the dense smoke. He could hear his breathing, broken and struggling inside the helmet, feeling himself falter as the pain of his arm threatened to overwhelm him, but he wasn’t going to complain.
Andy or Austin was clenching that arm, helping him get out of there, and nagging about an ‘owie’wasn’t going to happen anytime soon… not when he needed oxygen desperately.
The smoke was choking him, and he was struggling to breathe – and knew the other two men beside him were also having a hard time. He could hear them coughing around him despite their respirator units on their mouths, just like him.
