Disclaimer: I don't own Chicago Fire and all the characters belong to Dick Wolf.
A/N: I have fallen completely head over heels in love with Chicago Fire! I hope everyone enjoys!
Severide let out a sigh of sadness as he took in the scene that they were pulling up on. Even after all of his years on the job, it still made him sad to see a building being completely destroyed. Bright yellow flames danced out of every window on the third and fourth floors. The first and second floors had black smoke billowing out of them but were not touched by the flames yet. It would only be a matter of time before the flames engulfed the entire building. The building would be beyond saving once the fire was put out. These were the worst kind of fires to respond to, knowing that nothing would be left unscorched. Fire trucks were scattered across the street. Dozens of people were gathered on the street, several clutching belongs that they were able to grab as they had fled from the building or been evacuated. One elderly lady was holding tightly to a picture while a young lady was holding onto a handful of clothes as she sobbed.
"Wow." Herrmann said quietly as he tightened his oxygen tank strap. A significant portion of their job involved wrecks or rescues not involving fire, so when they responded to a five alarm fire, it was always sobering to see the destruction. As Squad 3, Ambulance 61, and Truck 81 came to a stop, the fire fighters and paramedics came pouring out and gathered so that they could receive instructions on what they needed to do to help. Boden sought out Chief Hurley, who had been the first to respond, to see where his guys were needed.
"We still have several dozen tenants unaccounted for." Chief Hurley's voice was full of desperation as he looked at the desolate scene. He knew that the chances of everyone getting out alive were growing slimmer by the millisecond. An ominous creaking made every firefighter's head snap towards the building. Boden nodded and turned around to get his team moving.
"There are dozens of tenants still unaccounted for and that building won't last much longer." Those were the only words that Boden needed to speak. Within seconds, Casey and Severide had split everyone up and they were running into the building. Gabby and Brett hurried over to the paramedics in charge of the scene to see who needed treatment first.
"Fire department, call out!" Herrmann shouted as he squinted to try to see through the thick smoke. Visibility was zero as Herrmann tried to move quickly and efficiently as possible. Their job was to recover as many people as they could before it was too unsafe. There was no telling when the building might collapse and he never wanted to witness that from the inside.
"Fire department, call out!" Otis tried to raise his voice as loudly as possible to be heard over the roar of the fire. It was like someone had pulled a black cloth over his mask. It was impossible to see more than an inch in front of his face. He was always scared that he was going to kick or step on someone while trying to rescue them.
"Help!" A faint voice broke through the crackling of wood as it burned. Otis whipped his head around, trying to place where the voice came from. "Help!" They called out again for help, quieter this time. Otis knew that meant they didn't have much time if they were going to save them.
"Herrmann, I heard someone over here!" Otis called out so that Herrmann could help him track down this person. He strained his eyes as a shady figure broke through the thick smoke. He could tell they were doubled over and the sounds of hacking coughs followed a second later.
"Fire department, call out!" Herrmann appeared closer to Otis to see if he could hear or see the person that Otis said was over here. He didn't hear anything but that didn't mean that the person had not just lost consciousness. Smoke inhalation killed many people so the clock was ticking to get them out in time to save them.
"Help me!" The woman choked out as she reached her arms out for Otis. Otis grabbed them and held her up as Herrmann made her way towards them. Herrmann and Otis carefully picked her up and made their way for the door, lurching towards the right as a chunk of roof came crumbling down on their left. They put her on the nearest stretcher as she tried to thank them between coughs as the paramedics started to assess her. Mouch and Stella came out of the door carrying an unconscious man. They deposited the man on a stretcher. All four of them exchanged a quick glance before running back into the building, knowing that time was running out.
"Call out!" Severide yelled as he slammed his shoulder through the door of an apartment. He focused on the smoke patterns, trying to make sure he didn't leave anyone behind. He thought he might see the faint outline of a person towards the middle of the room and he moved towards them. He didn't even get a chance to throw his arms up when the roof caved in on top of him.
"Kelly!" Cruz screamed. It was like the scene played out in front of him in slow motion. He watched in horror as Severide disappeared underneath a huge pile of rubble. His PASS alarm started beeping. The only thing Cruz could see was one of Severide's boots. "Severide's down!" Cruz frantically alerted into his radio as he started grabbing some of the debris down by Severide's leg to uncover him. "Severide?" Cruz shook Severide's leg but his leg remained limp and there was no response from the downed firefighter.
"We're coming!" Casey felt his heart rise into his throat. The absolute worst thing that they ever heard was that a firefighter was down. "Chief, can we get some backup to finish clearing this section?" As much as he wanted to sprint to Severide and help his friend, he had to remain rational and make sure that he did his job.
"On their way!" Boden responded almost instantly as he paced outside of the fire. Another chief overheard the distress call and signaled for two of his firefighters who headed to cover Casey and Stella. Boden gave him a nod of thanks. Once the two firefighters had arrived, Casey and Stella started making their way to where Severide and Cruz were. They were halfway towards Severide when Casey grunted. It felt like someone had taken a two by four to his ribcage and his knees buckled before he hit the ground.
"Casey?" Stella whipped around when she realized her lieutenant was no longer by her side. "Casey?" Her voice rose in panic as she realized Casey was prone on the ground underneath a huge beam as his PASS alarm activated. She knelt down next to him and tried to get a look at his face. His eyes were closed and he didn't respond to her patting him on the chest. "Shit! Casey's down!" Stella yelled into the radio. She was horrified as she realized that the beam had fallen only about two inches from where she had been standing. If she had been one step behind, she would have been taken down by the same beam.
"We'll get you help." Boden swore under his breath as he looked around. The other trucks that had responded were bringing out more and more people from the fire. This was quickly turning into a disaster scene with the paramedics that were first on scene directing the ever growing triage. "I'm coming." He decided on a split second as he sprinted into the building to get his people out safely.
"Stella?" Casey groaned as he jerked awake. His chest was on fire and there was a huge weight on top of his chest. He tried to push whatever was compressing his chest off but it didn't budge. It was making his breathing really difficult. His whole body was throbbing and aching. He remembered running towards Severide and then he was on the ground. The black smoke had concealed the hidden danger and Casey had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. His breaths came in painful gasps as he tried to get more air into his lungs. It felt like he was drowning without water.
"Don't move! There's a beam on your chest. Help is on the way." Stella tried to soothe Casey as she stayed by his side. She had tried desperately to yank the beam off of Casey but it was too heavy for her to move by herself. She looked around, hoping that someone was here to help but no one had arrived.
"My chest hurts." Casey forced out between pants as the pain continued to grow. He let out a cry of pain as he gave the beam one more shove and the pain exploded in his chest. He let his hands fall down by his side and he grasped at the ground to try to breathe through the pain. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his ribcage. He coughed and something wet splattered against his mask. He didn't even have to look to know that it was blood.
"Help's coming." Stella repeated. She felt helpless as she sat near Casey's head and listened to him fight for air. She had assessed him as best as she could in the thick, cloudy air and it looked like his lower body was okay. The beam covered from the top of his abdomen to his shoulders. She was worried about all of his internal organs and from the way he was breathing, she knew that something was seriously wrong. All of her paramedic training was screaming at her that he needed to get out of her as soon as possible. She saw that his eyes were starting to close and she patted his shoulder again, eliciting a pained yelp. "You gotta stay with me!" She barked. He coughed again and more blood exploded from his mouth. He just wanted to close his eyes for a few minutes. If he closed his eyes and rested, maybe he could get enough strength to get this beam off of him. "You're going to be okay." Stella didn't know what else to say but she needed Casey to keep his eyes open. His eyes fluttered shut. "Eyes open Casey!" Casey's eyes snapped open at Stella's command but his head lolled to the side as he fought against the pain. "Stay awake!" Stella kept trying to keep Casey's eyes open but he started to cough again as bloody drool ran the corners of his mouth. As the coughing fit faded, his head lolled to this side as his eyes rolled up and he passed out.