Chapter 1

A/N Today I finished writing my 10,000 word dissertation, so as a reward I began to write this story. I forewarn you, that updates will not be regular as I still have one 2,500 word essay and two exams coming up in the next couple of months, and I am suffering from major writer's block. But I felt it was time to get back into writing for this series.

Title is from the Nickleback song If Today Was Your Last Day. Also some inspiration was taken from the firefighter film Ladder 49, if you have not seen that film I highly recommend it! (But you might need some tissues).

Also apologises in advance, this is a short chapter, just to get the story started, and as said I don't know when I will be able to update this, but I will try my hardest to get through writing the story and updating it as quick as I can! I hope you enjoy this!

Kelly stood staring at the abandoned seven-story apartment building. He watched as the grey, darkening to black, smoke twirled and twisted up into the night sky, hiding the calming stars behind it. Leaving only the bright, flickering flames to stand out across the dark sky.

Slowly, approaching figures began to become clearer against the smoke. Closer the two figures came, until they stood a foot away from him, blocking most of the view of the building. Kelly pulled his gaze from the climbing smoke to lock gazes with Andy, sharing a desperate, wide-eyed look. To most of the people around them they looked calm and collected, but to each other, the terror was clear in their eyes.

"We can't find a way up Chief," Herrmann commented softly from Andy's left.

Kelly turned to see Boden wipe a hand across his face, giving himself a moment's pause. Clearing his throat Boden sternly said, "We'll keep trying. While he's alive up there, we will not leave him there. That is not an option." Boden turned and swiftly marched over to his car, with Herrmann following at his heels. Andy spared Kelly a glance before hurrying after them, desperate to pour over the building plans, desperate to find a way out for their trapped colleague and friend.

His hands clenched into fists, Kelly turned back to the alight building, watching as Engine tried to battle back the roaring flames. His men had joined Truck, needing something to do, unable to stand there. As their Lieutenant, Kelly knew he should join them, but he couldn't. He couldn't force himself to move from his perfect position to watch the building. The crashing of the floor echoing in his memory, he had been stood outside, in this spot, putting his mask on when it happened, he had seen the collapsing floor make the building shake. He remembered standing there, wondering how anyone could survive. But he knew the man who was trapped, and he knew damn well that the man would survive. Despite the one story fall, leaving him trapped on the fourth floor with no way out, the stairs gone, the windows blocked by fire.

He briefly looked over at the men of Truck and Squad, who were all bustlingly for positions around the building plans resting on the Chief's car. All looking for ways to get to the fourth floor safely, without trapping anyone else, their eyes were wide, trying to take in as much detail as they could. In their desperation, their hands hovered over the plans, following paths only they could see. Even Boden's shaking hands traced back and forth over the plans, a perfectly blank mask on his face, beginning to crack, through the sad look in his eyes. The look of a man who had seen this situation too many times, and lost against the fire far more times than he had won.

His gaze flickered to the men of Engine, who fought against the fire with all the grit and determination they had, knowing if they could just fight the fire back from the windows then they might just get their friend out. Together, for every step they were pushed back, they pushed back two steps more, repeating this over and over again. Determined to win, every shift they fought with fire, battling to save the waiting victims, this shift, this fire, however, filled them with so much resolve, this was one fire that would not win.

From where he stood, Kelly listened as Police Officers behind him held the gawking onlookers back. He heard whispers, rumours spreading of a trapped firefighter. He gritted his teeth, they made it sound like harmless gossip, but they were wrong. A man's life was in the balance and all they could do was talk about what a shame it all was.

Slowly, the smoke turned blacker and blacker, fading away from the safe grey it once had been. He looked back at Boden, who also looked at the smoke, and saw how the man's expression tightened. He knew, as well as Boden and every other firefighter on scene. Time was not on their side. As the seconds and minutes ticked by, turning the smoke darker, and the building growing weaker. Hope was running out.

Suddenly needing something to do, Kelly reached up with one hand to his radio. "Hey you still with me?"

A pause, and then a voice crackled over the radio. "Yeah. I'm still here."

"Good. Because you ain't going anywhere. We'll get you out of there soon enough, and you'll owe me a beer for all this undue stress," said Kelly, forcing his voice to remain neutral.

The voice sighed, "Look I need you to do something for me…"

"No," spat Kelly, "We are not going there. Whatever it is, you can do it yourself!"

"It's just a phone call Kelly, that's all I need you to do," soothed the voice. Kelly took comfort from it, ignoring the crackling fire that sounded through the radio.

"I guess I could do that, but I still don't know why you can't," he ground out, trying to hold his emotions back.

"Are there news teams there?" asked the voice.

Kelly turned to look behind him for the first time since the floor collapsed. "Yeah, guess this is why you want me to make a phone call. Want me to make you're statement for you?"

"I want you to call Hallie, she'll see this on the news and will see everyone and will know I'm on the call."

Kelly's blank mask cracked, "Yeah, I'll do that for you buddy."

"Thanks Kelly."

"You got it," he said softly, as he began to dig his phone from his pocket; he looked back at the building. "Damnit Matt, you'd better get out of this one," he muttered to himself. Wondering how everything had gone so wrong, so fast. Today had started out as any normal, good day, and it fast became a bad one.

TBC