Page 10 of Ember

Chapter 4

Hopping out of the blaring rig, Tucker quickly assessed the scene in front of him. There was a small fire blazing in an apartment complex, but by his account, it was containable.

“Is everybody out of the building?” He heard his Chief question one of the bystanders on the sidewalk.

“Okay, listen up!” Tucker shouted to his team. “I’m counting at least six floors, four units each. Wade and Charlie, you’re with me! We’ll start at the top floor and work our way down. Cece, you and Allie are on standby”

“I’ll start a floor under you, Tuck,” Will, the truck lieutenant, announced, securing his mask. “Jeff and Raleek are on aerial.”

“Copy that, let’s do this.”

Securing his mask, Tucker closed his eyes. His heart was hammering so loudly that it almost seemed to drown out the hustle and bustle of everything going on around him. After sending up a quick prayer, his eyes flew open and he rushed into the building. Heat engulfed him the minute he was inside. Flames licked at the walls as Tucker and his team rushed up the steps, to the top floor, and immediately began kicking in doors.

“Fire department, call out!” He shouted, moving through an apartment while Wade and Charlie did the same with the other units. One by one they made sure each unit was clear before moving down a floor. They were on my last floor and Tucker was inspecting the final apartment, nearly ready to head out when he heard the smallest of voices whimpering.

“Is anybody in here!” He bellowed. Time was ticking down to the wire, and he knew that he needed to get himself and his team the hell out of there before they had an even bigger problem on their hands.

“Tuck!” The Chief’s voice came through the walkie talkie attached to my gear. “I’m calling it. Everybody out of the building now!”

“I need one minute!” He called back. “I think there’s somebody in the last unit.”

“I’m on my way, Tuck!” Charlie’s voice came through next.

“Fire Department!” Tucker shouted again. A sick feeling crept through his gut, twisting it into knots. “If you’re in here say something!”

“In here!” The small voice yelled out clear as day, and he instantly went into action. One by one he knocked down each closed door until he finally found the source of the voice. Huddled in the closet of the master bedroom was a young boy who couldn’t have been older than six years old.

“You okay?” Tucker’s voice softened as he held a gloved hand out to the little boy in front of him.

“Y-yeah.”

“Alright.” A loud grunt escaped as he pulled the little boy into his arms. “Are you by yourself? Where’s your mom and dad?”

“It’s just my dad, and he said he would be right back.”

“Tuck, Charlie, get out of there, NOW!”

Wrapping the child up in his arms to try and protect him against the angry flames, Tucker pushed out of the bedroom to the main living area of the house.

“Charlie, GO!” He hollered.

The two men rushed out of the complex, and not a minute too soon. A flash explosion went off on the top floor, resulting in the collapse of at least two floors in return.

“Eric!” One of the bystanders cried out in relief as Tucker sat the child in his arms down on the ground. The man attempted to push away the police personnel keeping him from getting to the scene. “That’s my son!”

“Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you checked out,” Cece smiled, taking the little boy by the hand and leading him to the back of the ambulance.

Ripping his mask off, Tucker grit his teeth as a red haze clouded his vision. Barreling over to the man, he pushed him roughly. “Were you thinking about him being your goddamn son when you left him in that fucking apartment alone?!” He hollered, face twisted with hatred. “He was scared, and huddled in a closet! WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?! HE ALMOST FUCKING DIED!”

“Tuck!” Will shouted, grabbing one of Tucker’s arms to restrain him. “Relax!”

“Hey, screw you, alright!” Eric’s dad shouted back. “You don’t get to tell me how to raise MY kid!”

“If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have a fucking kid to raise!”

“HEY!” The Chief’s voice boomed, as Wade and Charlie joined the cause to try and keep Tucker from ending his career as a firefighter. “Tuck, back up now. Our job is done. Let’s pack it up and move out.”

After a short, but intense, stare down, Tucker ripped away from the man restraining him and stormed towards the truck. He didn’t make it far before Will caught up to him.