Page 82 of Incomplete
“Like hell, I can’t. I have to find her,” I pleaded.
“The scene isn’t stable. The captain told everyone to stand down and evacuate; I just overheard him over the radio. The roof’s about to cave in on the east side.”
“But she’s in there . . . I can feel it here.” I stabbed my finger in my chest before ripping my other arm free from his grip. “Where’s the captain? Mitchell said the unit is in the left back corner.”
“Martinez is over there.” Jaxon pointed to the opposite side of the building. “But Boden—”
Ignoring his warning, I went to the nearest rig. “Cruz, I need your gear.”
“You can’t go in there. Cap told us to evacuate.”
“I’m not asking here, Cruz; give me your jacket and mask.”
He shook his head in disapproval but relented.
I threw on the essential protective gear, grabbed an axe from the open tools compartment, and ran into the burning inferno with the force of a thunderous hurricane, ignoring all commands to back down.
I knew I’d get lambasted later, but consequence be damned, because if I lost Lakelyn without trying, I’d never forgive myself. I refused to stand back and let someone else be in charge of her fate, just like I refused to lose someone else I loved, especially not when I had the physical ability to help find her.
I’d die trying if that’s what it took.
My adrenaline and sheer determination carried me through the trenches as if it weren’t my first rodeo.
“Fire department, call out,” I bellowed.
Thick, heavy smoke made my visibility extremely limited as I navigated the hallways.
“Fire department, call out.”
Flames consumed my path, making it feel like I was inside a pressure cooker where the walls were rapidly closing in.
After what felt like an eternity, I found the unit I was looking for—1126.
I wasn’t about to repeat Mitchell’s mistake if Anthony was still inside. I yanked hard on the lever, lifting the metal door, and sure enough, a bulky figure lunged out, swinging his bat blindly through the dense plumes of smoke.
I rushed forward, barreling into his side with my headgear. Ignoring the surge of pain that jerked down my spine as I knocked him off-balance. He attempted a headlock, but I outmaneuvered him with a violent knee strike to the right side of his ribcage, causing him to drop to the ground like a sorry sack of potatoes.
“Lakelyn,” I called out from my hunched-over position as I lost all sense of direction. “Lakelyn, call out if you can hear me.”
I stood eerily still for a beat, struggling to hear anything over the roaring of my heart, bleeding me dry. Tomorrow wasn’t promised; hell, the next minute didn’t look promising. But all I had was the here and now, and with everything on the line, I refused to give up. My dad once told me that if I lived seeking comfort, it could make me weak. He said discomfort would build character and allow me to learn and grow, emotionally and physically.
“Lakelyn, where are you?”
“Boden.” I heard someone shouting my name off the distance, but it wasn’t hers, so I continued to plow forward despite the heaviness bearing down on my stature. Nothing would stand in my way if a breath remained in my body.
“Lakelyn,” I called out again just as her unconscious state filled my sightline, lying on a mattress.
I dropped to my knees and immediately checked for a pulse. “Lake, I’m here. Lakelyn, I’m here, beautiful; it’s Boden.” Her pulse was weak but there. “Lakelyn, I need you to wake up.”
The intensity of the heat was searing, much like each breath I inhaled and exhaled, leaving me with zero time to focus on the bruising and blood that covered her face and arms. Instead, I took the axe and swung, severing the ropes at her feet. However, the bindings on her wrists had no give and were threaded in a complex knot around one of the spindles of a metal headboard. I swung at the headboard twice until the spindles separated from the top anchoring piece and caught it before it fell on her.
I quickly lifted Lakelyn into the security of my arms, which freed the rope from the spindle, and laid her lifeless body on a flat dolly beside the mattress just as the fire breached the ceiling from its neighboring unit. With my body covering hers, I pushed our way toward the exit.
“Fire department, call out.”
“Here, we’re over here,” I hollered back and activated the PASS alarm to help signal our location.
Two firefighters descended upon us a second later, and I’d never been so thankful for the assist.
