“No,” she cried out, looking at me through her tears. She was so young, yet she had to experience this extreme horror.
“Good. Look. We’re going to continue and we won’t stop. Okay? Just a little bit more.”
I picked her up, knowing I wouldn’t do any damage, it would be faster this way.
I spoke calmly to her all the way down the stairs, looking all around us in extreme caution. Trent and Brian were on the floor below, having successfully extinguished the fire. I carried the girl outside and dropped her off at the EMT.
“She needs oxygen!” I yelled to them before running back inside to check for more people.
An hour later we finally managed to put the fire out, and there were no residents who remained in the building. Trent and I got outside, both breathing heavily from exhaustion, and I took off my mask, the smells of burned wood, walls, and furniture immediately hitting my nostrils. I was completely covered with sweat, and my adrenaline began dissipating slowly.
“We did it, man,” I told Trent, more than grateful that no one got injured.
I glanced at the ruined building, and an overwhelming peace and satisfaction filled my body, because despite the seriousness of this situation, everyone managed to come outside in one piece. The worst had passed.
“It feels good, bro,” he told me, slapping my shoulder lightly.
“Damn, right.” I smiled back at him. “Good job, Trent.”
“You, too. Good job.”
3
Trent
I was completely covered with sweat, still breathing unevenly after we managed to put out the fire. The adrenaline rush left me pretty exhausted, but it was worth it. It was always worth it, because we managed to save people, and there was nothing else that mattered more than helping others in need.
These people depended on us, and the satisfaction of being able to help them was the greatest reward for me, which was the reason why I became a firefighter after high school. I’d always dreamed about reaching out to the people in need, and I had no doubt this job was what I’d been made for. I was strong, I worked well under pressure, and so firefighting made sense. This was my purpose in life.
Then again, the bad side of my job was the aftermath—when we had to acknowledge the fact that we couldn’t help everyone or that their homes had been destroyed. There were no victims tonight, luckily, but I felt bad seeing all these people displaced. I wished there was something I could do about it.
All the residents of the building had gathered on the street. Many of them were still in shock, their sorrowful eyes set hard on the completely destroyed building, and it was a heartbreaking sight. The windows were all gone, and an eerie blackness in their place sent chills down my spine. The originally brown bricks were now charred, and there was this awful smell that was spreading everywhere—a cruel reminder that everything turned into ashes in a matter of minutes. Nature could be the deadliest at times.
The Red Cross had already begun to find the residents housing for the night, and they were busy trying to achieve some order among the terrified people. They had just lost their homes, and it was shitty to see them so lost and grief-stricken.
“This sucks,” Caleb muttered next to me, and I had to agree with him. This always sucked.
“I just wish there is something more we can do about it. Hopefully, they have the insurance and will be able to find new homes soon.”
We were standing on the side as we waited for other guys to get the equipment back to the trucks so we could get going. I scanned the crowd, feeling thankful no one had been killed, and my eyes settled on a gorgeous young woman speaking with a Red Cross volunteer.
For a good ten seconds I was stunned, my stare glued to her curvy form, and I actually had to remind myself to breathe. My heart was pounding, and I felt my cock waking up. She was beautiful, and I wanted her. I didn’t remember when the last time was that some girl had such a strong physical effect on me.
Her body was to die for, covered only with pajamas, and they did nothing to hide her alluring features. Damn, she was hot. Her long brown hair fell around her heart-shaped face, almost concealing how pale it was. Her bright hazel eyes reflected distress, and the urge to save her kicked in—like I was her knight in shining armor or some shit like that.
“Hey, bro,” I said to Caleb. “Do you see that girl?” I pointed subtly at her. Caleb glanced over and found her a moment later. His sharp intake of breath told me she had the same influence on him as she had on me.
“She is beautiful,” he told me, his eyes set hard on her.
I smiled, nodding. “Totally. She’s gorgeous, and I want her.”
Caleb groaned. “Same, man. She is too sexy. We have to get our hands on this girl.”
This was exactly what I wanted to say. “You took the words out of my mouth. We should go and introduce ourselves to her.”
“Right.”
We headed in her direction, and I was fucking hard already. It wasn’t all the excitement from the fire, it was her. I hoped my uniform hid the rigidly hard erection I sported. Caleb and I threw our most charming smiles on our faces, focused on her only. She was still engaged in the conversation with the volunteer, not noticing us approaching her.
I heard the volunteer mentioning something about a rehab center when we reached them, and the woman raised her head to meet our stares, finally aware of us. Her lips parted when she took us in, her eyes flicking over our bodies in quick inspection, and my breath hitched. She was checking us out, and if the brief look of lust was anything to go by, she liked what she saw.
“Hi,” I greeted her first, taking a step closer to her.
Even with all that smoke and foul smells around us, I could still sense the sweet fragrance of her perfume. My insides stirred, and I shifted on my feet. My cock was twisted uncomfortably in my pants.
“I’m Trent Dane, and this is my brother, Caleb Lewis.”
Caleb nodded and offered her a smile. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said.
She didn’t say anything, still eyeing us with surprise, and her eyebrows furrowed as if there was something that was bothering her.
Finally, she asked, “Brothers?”
I laughed, “Firehouse brothers, not blood related.”
“Oh.”
Caleb added, “We just wanted to introduce ourselves to you and check if you need any help or something.”
Without even saying a word, she waved us off and moved to the side with the volunteer, continuing her conversation with her. I looked at Caleb, completely confused with her reaction.
“She ignored us,” I muttered, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
“She’s probably still in shock. After all, she’s left without a home now and has a lot of things to deal with. This is a lot to take in, you know. We’ve become kind of immune to it all. Which is also sad.”
He was right. Maybe we rushed with this. She needed time to cope with tonight’s situation. I just hoped we would get to see her soon, because she was definitely worth seeing again.
4
Bree
I glanced over my shoulder and saw the two firefighters walk away. I sighed, regretting that I’d just dismissed them without even talking to them. They had come out of nowhere and before I knew it, they made my heart act crazy, which was something I hadn’t experienced a lot with men before.
One thing was certain—their muscular bodies were too good to look at, even under their uniforms I knew they were built. I couldn’t believe how hot they were, and I was still slightly flustered that they had spoken to me. Caleb and Trent, if I heard their names right. Even their names were sexy.
Caleb had beautiful blonde hair that was in a sweaty mess at the moment, but it only made him look more attractive. His piercing green eyes created flutters in my stomach, deeply affecting me just like Trent’s light blue ones. Trent had dark hair, but his build was similar to Caleb’s. Both of them looked irresistible and gorgeous, and I wished I’d met them under different circumstances.
I’d wanted to talk more with them, but I hadn’t been able to since the volunteer from the Red Cross had been explaining to me that due to smoke inhalation Granny had to go to a rehab center. This meant we would be separated! I didn’t want to be away from my grandmother, especially not now.
I glanced at her and felt a pang in my chest. She was laying on a stretcher nearby and looking at me with a slight, reassuring smile on her face. It was funny that she was trying to calm me down when she was the one who suffered the consequences of the fire. I didn’t even want to think what would have happened if we hadn’t rushed out of the place immediately, before the fire spread more.
“I understand how difficult this might be for you and your grandmother, Ms. Taft, but it’s for the best. We can’t take any chances with her.”
“I understand. Still, it’s difficult. We’ve never been separated before, you know?”
Her smile was sympathetic. “I get what you mean, since I feel the same about my grandmother. Your grandmother is a nice lady, and I’m sure she’ll be fine. Anyway, I hope you agree to this and to be put up in hotel with the other younger people and families. You’ll have your own room of course, and we’ll make sure you have access to your grandmother in the morning.”
A hotel. If I’d thought Granny and I had been struggling before, I’d been wrong. Tonight we hit rock bottom. We had lost everything. I fisted my hands and refused to let my emotions get the best of me. I couldn’t fall apart here—in front of everyone. There were enough tears. Little kids clutching their parents. An older man who lived downstairs was mumbling incoherently. Granny and I would survive this. We had to.
I should at least be thankful that I would be provided with a roof over my head, no matter how inconvenient it was.
“I agree,” I finally accepted and signed the form she’d handed to me.
“Thank you. Don’t worry, this is just a temporary solution.”
I nodded, but I wasn’t so sure. Our insurance wasn’t much, and I was still unemployed, so I couldn’t even imagine what the way out of this was.
“Thank you.”
She mentioned a few more details that I barely registered before she left me. I approached my grandmother and took her by hand. “How are you feeling?”
She looked too pale, but she was essentially okay. I wouldn’t know what I would have done without her.
“I’m fine, honey.”
“Are you sure? You don’t look good.”
“Stop worrying about me, Bree. I’m just a bit tired, but one night of good sleep will solve it. I’m more worried about you.”
“Me? Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” I smiled and smoothed her hair. I didn’t want her to feel more stressed than she already was.
Her face showed that she didn’t believe me at all. “Are you? I know you, Bree, and I know that you’re trying to make it all easy for me, but I wish you wouldn’t do that. Why don’t you let me take care of you for a change?”
“I’m a big girl now, and I can take care of myself,” I said, my voice laced with humor.
“Even big girls need help from time to time.”
“True, but this is not one of those times. Seriously, Granny, you shouldn’t be concerned about me at all. You just take some time to rest. I’m sure everything is going to be alright.”
She was about to reply something to that, but the EMT came and told us they were about to transfer her to the rehab facility and I would be able to visit her tomorrow.
“Thank you,” I told him and faced my grandmother. I hugged her, trying not to think about the feeling of loneliness that had crept inside of me. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Sleep tight, okay?”
“You too, honey. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
I watched them put her in the back of the ambulance and waved at her before they closed the door and drove away. I turned around, hoping to find those two firefighters again, but they were already gone.
That was too bad. Now that I thought about it more, I hadn’t even thanked them for what they had done, and I shook my head annoyed with myself. Granny would be so upset I hadn’t thanked them, she would say, “I raised you better than that.” And she’d be right, just like always.
I wished I could see them again, but I didn’t know anything besides their names.
This night had been a complete disaster.
5
Bree
The next morning, I woke up with a terrible headache, which reminded me of a hangover, but even that would be better than this. I’d barely slept a few hours, tossing around all the time as the nightmares of being left with nothing and lost in the middle of nowhere kept haunting me. The hotel room had been too quiet, and I felt weird being here all by myself.
A gasp of shock left my lips when I looked myself in the mirror. I was a horrible mess. I showered and luckily the hotel shampoo did wonders to my hair and took out some of the smell. Maybe I could grab some make-up today at a drug store. Since I had nothing left.
God. Nothing left. That stung.
The Red Cross had left a bag of clothes for me, donated stuff I assumed, at my door. I chose a flowery dress that smelled nice and put some effort into making my hair look more presentable. I braided it and made it fall over my shoulder. Granny had always braided my hair during my middle school years, so braids always reminded me of her. I was so lucky to have her on my side all this time.
I sighed, feeling anxious. Being separated like this from her made everything worse. I couldn’t help but worry about her, hoping she slept well. I took two painkillers and left the hotel to visit her, buying her a basket of fruit on my way.
“My sweet Bree!” Granny greeted me when I opened the door to her small room.
“Hey.” I smiled widely and rushed to her bed, pulling her into my embrace. “I’m here.”
“I missed you,” she murmured into my hair and left a kiss on top of my head.
“I missed you too. Here is something for you.” I placed the basket on the bedside table.
Her lips curled into a big smile. “Oh, you shouldn’t have.”
“This is nothing. I know how much you love fruit. Do you feel okay?”
I inspected her face subtly and noticed the tired lines around her eyes. I hated that she had to go through all of this and be forced to be put in a rehab center. Stupid smoke. I shook my head, just focus on Granny.
“Yes. I’m okay now. The doctors and nurses here are very kind, and they are always around, so I have all I need. How about you?”
“That’s a relief. I’m completely okay.”
“Did you have a good sleep?”
I didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily, so I nodded, hoping she wouldn’t notice just how much this was far from the truth. “And you?” I glanced around the white and sterile room, which was furnished simply. There was a dresser with a TV on it, next to the chair and desk. Her bed was across from a window that overlooked the back garden. “This is kind of cozy, isn’t it?”
“It’s fine, I guess. I can’t get used to this bed. The pillow is not soft at all.” She sighed. “I guess I can’t complain when there is no other way. What is your hotel like?”
“Just like any other three star hotel. It’s not bad, but it’s nothing special. It’s clean, and that’s the most important, right?”
“Exactly. We’re alive and okay, so we shouldn’t complain at all. If it hadn’t been for the kind firefighters that had cleared the path for us and enabled us to get out of the building safely, we wouldn’t even be here.”
“You’re right.”
Last night had been crazy. All of the sudden, the whole building was on fire, and it was terrifying. I’d never experienced something like this in my whole life. I could still feel the hotness on my skin—the danger of the fiery flames crawling so close to me that I thought they were going to swallow me. We could barely breathe from all that smoke, and then Granny began coughing so hard I thought she would choke. I’d been a few seconds away fr
om panicking.
Luckily, we managed to escape and rush out of the building before it became worse. The shock had started wearing off, so now I could think better about the whole situation and all the possibilities. The horrible possibilities.
“You should bake a pie to take to those nice young fellas that saved you,” my grandmother suddenly suggested, taking me by surprise.
“Bake them a pie?”
“Yes. I noticed them talking to you last night, and I must say they are good looking.”
It amused me that she noticed their attractiveness too. On the other hand, it would be difficult not to notice that, since they were strikingly handsome—the kind that makes all eyes in the room fall on them. And if that wasn’t enough, they did an admirable job of saving people in need. I actually looked up to them, because it took a lot of courage and strength to do what they had done. I wondered if they had girlfriends or something. Probably. Guys like that aren’t just single.
“Yes, they are.” Something tightened in my chest when I remembered how sexy their smiles had been. They were every woman’s dream come true. “They introduced themselves to me, but I was so rude. I dismissed them without even thanking them.”
She frowned. “Bree! Why would you do that?”
I shrugged my shoulders, feeling slightly ashamed. In that moment everything was happening fast, so I couldn’t even think properly.
“I know. It’s just that the Red Cross volunteer had told me that you and I were going to be separated, and I started worrying... I was stressed, so I didn’t even realize what I’d done until it was too late. Anyway, I wish I could fix that.”
“Well, this is all the more reason why you should bake a pie and give it to them. That is the least they deserve. And not only that. You should apologize to them too.”
“I know, but I’m in a hotel, Granny. How can I bake a pie in a hotel? I would like to do that, but I obviously can’t.”
She shook her head with disapproval. “Then go to a store and buy it. You have to take a pie to them. We have to repay them somehow, and this would be a right thing to do. Besides, men love food, and I’m sure they would appreciate it.” She winked at me.
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