Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Nathaniel

"No way, Cameron. Nobody else goes in until we get the structural integrity figured out."

"That's bullshit," I say. "We have three men in there with six kids and a teacher with six kids holed up in the back. They need us now."

"Firefighter Cameron," Captain Holt snarls, "You've been given your instructions. Stand down!"

"I will not," I say.

Holt looks absolutely shocked that anyone would ever challenge him. He almost screeches, "Stand down! That's an order!"

This is why I hate it when Company 417 has to work with anyone else. This asshole is a pencil pusher more than a firefighter. He's also jealous of anyone from Company 417. We're the darlings not only of the department but of the entire state. He also outranks me. Guys like him take perverse joy in getting to have authority over us. I turn and start walking to the fire. "I said to stand down!" Holt shouts. He sounds almost panicked. I imagine everyone is looking at him. That makes me a bit of an asshole when I respond.

"Fuck you, pencil dick," I reply, "Some of us here fight fires."

"Oh, Damn," Colin says. He's with my company. "Think twice, Nathanial." He's not really trying to convince me. He knows I'm not going to be convinced. He's trying to mitigate the harm as well as he can. He's actually enabling me to do what I think is right, just in a roundabout way.

I hurry toward the door and hear Holt cry, "You stop right now, asshole!" and then, "Let go of me! What the hell! Let go of me." I almost laugh at the thought of Colin keeping him from trying to physically stop me. Colin will be able to tell everyone he was concerned for Captain Holt's safety. He won't even get a sideways look.

As for me, who knows?

I hurry toward the convention center, Axe in hand. I do exactly what Holt commanded me not to do and use the Axe to break the glass double doors in the front instead of entering through the fire doors on the sides. Smoke flows out of the broken glass, and I just jump through the doors, shattering them the rest of the way. I kick them open and then hurry forward. I reach the overturned counter blocking the three firemen and the six kids. They're not with company 417. If they were, the kids would be out.

I grab the counter and pull it. This is going to make the news tonight but I can't think about that now. I shout a primal shout as I pull backward, bringing the whole burning thing with me out into the parking lot. I let go and I'm on fire but my comrades take care of that with fire extinguishers while some attend to the burning counter. Holt says, "Alright, you did what you had to do and I respect that but… fuck!"

The last part comes because I ignore him and walk back in. A moment later, I'm out again. I have a child in each arm. The three following me bring the other four children. I hurry and hand my two off to Garrett, making a point to give them to Company 417 firefighter. It's unfair of me to feel disdain for others but I still do.

"All right," Holt says grudgingly, "It's good the kids are okay but that went completely against all procedures. We need… oh, holy shit!" Once again, he lets out an exclamation as I ignore him and walk back in. The problem now is that I'm running blind. "Cameron! Get back here!" he shouts. I ought to ignore him but that feels sort of satisfying, actually.

"Can anyone tell me where the others are?" I ask.

I hear Crane's voice. "I'll get with the guys who just came out. Then I'll be in there with you."

"No. Too confusing with more of us." I'm really telling them to let me be the only one who gets in trouble.

"You tell us when you find them if you need help getting out," Garrett says, "Okay?"

"Roger," I reply.

Holt is still yelling at me as I enter the burning building and I'm still making it a point to ignore him obviously.

There is flame everywhere, and I figure my body is pretty scorched. I can't hear anything either. Then, Crane's voice comes over the wire. "Hallway next to a picture window. Two rooms, no doors. They're all in the back room."

I look around and instantly realize why things ended up like this. The firemen got there and found them but the fire kept retaking the hallway and the hallway area. Damn it all, it's because Holt doesn't know what the hell he's doing. Leadership would have prevented this. If a leader were here, he would have focused on the path to egress. Damn it all.

I hurry in that direction. The heat is intense even with the protective gear. There's no way I can bring the kids in this direction. I'll need to find another way out. Damn it, I might need to shift. That thought almost never occurs to me. Need to shift . It might be the only way to break out of here, though. It's very possible, in fact, that this is why Lloyd called me into the fire in the first place. Lloyd is a shifter, too, but he's a horse. He has a great deal of speed but no strength. I'm the largest shifter on the scene. The situation might call for an enormous black bear that can break through the walls as though they were made of popsicle sticks. I drive the thought from my mind because if I don't, it will become an option and before long, a plan.

But there's no choice.

When I find my way to the room in the back with the teacher and the kids, I'm able to come to three conclusions almost instantly. The first conclusion is entirely inappropriate. That conclusion is simply that the woman involved must be the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. The second conclusion is that the woman is directly responsible for the children still being safe. She's keeping them calm and the calmness is the critical issue for their safety.

The third conclusion has complex consequences even though it comes to me instantly and there's no complexity in the conclusion. The bottom line is that I cannot save these children. I can't save the teacher, either.

But my bear can.

I lift my mask up so she can see my face and we can make eye contact. "What's your name?" I call.

"Addison!" she calls back. "Addy!"

"Kids," I shout, "I'm going to talk to Addy for a moment, okay? Give me a quick minute." I gesture for her to come to me, and I'm gratified to see her first settle the kids and only after that hurry to where I stand outside the door. I close it most of the way after she's through.

"We're going to get everybody out of here safely," I say. She looks at me with hopeful eyes.