Jules was frozen with shock. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see, she couldn't hear.
They were too late.
She felt her heartbeat in her ears, the blood rushing to her head. Everything around her was moving in slow motion.
She felt rough arms yanking her to her feet. She swayed and fought the urge to pass out.
"What's that?" Ed called out. To Jules' ears, his voice sounded muffled, but she knew it was just her. She tried counting to ten.
Across the yard, the team turned to look as shadows sprinted from what apparently was a back door to the house. They noticed army fatigues and two of the men holding rifles. There were four of them in all, streaking across the yard, trying to escape to the woods.
"Ed, Wordy, Spike. Don't let them escape," Greg commanded in a harsh voice.
"Already on it, Boss," Ed confirmed, and the three team members took off running. They burst through the trees after the criminals.
"Alright Jules," Greg turned to her, trying to speak in a soothing voice. Jules recognized it as the tone he used to talk down victims when they were on call. For some reason, she couldn't stand the sound of it right now.
"We are going to wait for the fire department to get here before we do anything else. I already called them; they should be here in five minutes, tops…" Greg was saying, but Jules was barely listening.
Without her meaning to, her feet were already carrying her towards the fiery inferno. She quickly picked up speed.
It took Greg a moment to realize Jules' intentions. "Jules! Get back here! There's nothing you can do!" he exclaimed, taking off after her.
But she was younger and admittedly more fit than he was, plus she had a head start. There was no way he was going to be able to catch up to her. She was a woman on a mission. Still Greg kept running after her, while yelling for the fire department to hurry up and get there already.
Jules went to go in the front door, but saw that it would be impossible. The flames were already licking the path that led up to the front door.
She thought quickly, never slowing down. She could hear Greg blundering around behind her. She recalled the four men bursting out from somewhere in the back and she veered right, heading for the backyard.
The door back there was already open, smoke billowing out in large, thick clouds.
Jules didn't even hesitate before taking a deep breath and hurtled through the open door.
It was eerily quiet inside the house; no fire alarms or anything. Just the sound of the fire slowly breaking down the house. It creaked and groaned and debris fell down from the ceiling.
Jules couldn't see; the smoke was too thick. She dropped down to her knees to try and get her bearings. She could barely stop coughing and her lungs were on fire.
But she wasn't stopping until she brought Sam out safely.
Jules could no longer hear Greg, and she wasn't entirely sure if he had followed her into the house or not. Secretly, she hoped so because in her weakened condition, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to carry Sam out by herself.
She thought she heard the squealing of the sirens in the distance. But close. Were they outside?
On her hands and knees, Jules thought she saw another open doorway through the dark smoke.
She jumped up, remembering that they suspected that Sam was in a basement of some kind. She blindly made her way to where she thought the door was.
She found it, more by feeling than seeing. The flame and heat was stronger around the basement door than anywhere else. If she had to bet, the fire had originated down there. It confirmed her suspicions that Sam was down there.
"Sam!" she called out. She tripped and tried to regain her footing. She grabbed on to the railing leading down to the basement and her hand was seared. The metal railing was hot. Already, Jules could see the skin on her hand bubbling.
She gulped, ignoring the pain. She became refocused once again.
She was trying to make her way down the stairs, but they were loose and falling apart. There was also a wall of flames at the bottom.
She delicately danced around them and finally got her footing on the hard cement floor.
If she thought visibility was bad on the first floor, it was nothing compared to what was happening in the basement.
Fire surrounded her on all sides; the smoke intolerable.
Jules thought about this morning; Sam's caring face staring up at her as she held the pregnancy test behind her back. If they both made it out of here alive, she would tell him as soon as possible.
"Sam," Jules croaked. She could feel herself tiring in increments. Where was the freaking fire department?
Jules saw some windows up nearer to the ceiling. They overlooked the front yard and since they were in the basement, all she could see was grass. She made her way over, climbing on top of some table and used the butt of her gun to break as many windows as she could to let some smoke out.
She stuck her face out, gulping in some good air, but it only made her cough more.
She whipped around, jumping off the table as the flames started climbing up it. She was never so grateful for their heavy duty uniform boots.
She heard a clanking towards her left and she thought she heard someone faintly calling her name. Or was that just her imagination? What if Sam wasn't down here after all and she had stupidly rushed into this fire? She started silently cursing herself.
She dropped down to her hands and knees again and the smell of gasoline on the floor was incredible. She crawled towards the noises she had thought she heard.
There was too much smoke that she could have gone right past Sam had she not crawled straight into him. In fact, she had whacked her wrist on his boot.
She squealed with delight and relief, or as much as she could manage with her raw throat.
She peered through the gloom to try and focus on his face. It was soot stained and he didn't seem to be doing too well. His eyes weren't focusing too well and he was barely conscious. She wasn't sure if he even knew she was there with him at that moment.
"Hold on Sam. I'm going to get you out of here," she promised. She would have cried if she had any energy left in her.
She noticed that one of his hands was handcuffed to the pipe behind him; she realized that was the clanking she had heard.
She looked around for something she could use to cut the handcuffs off, but she found nothing. The fire was inching closer. Soon there would be no way out of the basement.
The fire had seemed to weaken Sam's bonds, but only slightly.
Jules tore at them, crying out with frustration. Eventually she had worn herself out too much and she collapsed in Sam's lap.
She passed out, accepting the fact that they were going to die. But at least they were going to die together.
So clearly guys, this story is drawing to a close rather soon. I'm glad you've enjoyed it thus far. And I might have another chapter or two in me, just as a heads up. Your support has been great.
xoxo
Janelle
