Chapter XXXXII
It was pitch black, and Casey tried to find his way by feeling with his hand along the sidewall. Luckily, it was made of brick so that the fire couldn't burn it down. On the other hand, the beams and frames were wood, which the heat engulfed by now and left them gleaming and smoldering. As a result, Casey was only able to use his lifeline intermittently.
Nevertheless, he finally reached the place where he suspected the noise had the point of his origin. With his flashlight, he tried at least to see a glimpse through the thick smoke. The beam of light fell on a heap of material that lay crumpled on the floor. Something caught Matt's eyes. It seemed to move subtly. As Casey approached the area, he recognized laundry bags in front of him. He quickly walked up to them and automatically shouted, "Fire Department. Call out!"
There was a slight movement again. The fireman hoped he had found the one they were all looking for. "Jake," he asked out loud?
The figure in the middle of the laundry bags didn't answer, but when Casey got closer, he recognized a hand that seemed to try and reach out for him.
"Jake," Casey shouted as he hurried to the boy a little faster.
Out of habit, he picked up his radio and let the others know that he had found the victim, even if nobody could hear him. Boden had given his order to clear more than three minutes ago, which let Casey wonder if he indeed was the last man inside the building.
Basically, he couldn't care less. He had found the boy, and now it was his responsibility to get him outside. An given the fact that his radio didn't work, requesting further help was not an option. Which meant he was on his own.
First, he tried to get an idea of Jake's condition. One of his ankles looked slightly out of place. It definitely was fractured. The boy was exhausted and breathed heavily. His lungs had inhaled a lot of smoke, which meant that he was getting too little oxygen. Casey knew he was about to make one of the most serious mistakes a firefighter could make but felt he was forced to do so.
He took an extra deep breath. To be sure, he took a second one before pulling off his mask to press it on the little boy's face. Casey held his own breath as he tried to get the boy's lungs to work more efficiently. To stimulate the boy's reflexes, he began rubbing his sternum roughly. Eventually, Casey's attempts were successful, and the child's breathing became a little deeper. He soon opened his eyes. "Hey, Jake. I'm Matt. I'm with the Fire Department. I'll gonna get you out of here."
He immediately felt the pressure on his airways. His voice turned hoarse in an instant as the smoke got caught in his throat, and a rough cough followed.
Jake looked at him with glassy eyes and mumbled, "Mum?"
"She's waiting for you outside. No worry, I'm gonna get you to her," Matt said while pressing the mask over Jake's face harder. "Take a big breath for me." Jake did as he was told. Afterward, Matt masked up again. He knew he needed the Oxygen if he wanted to get them both out of here. His lungs burned, and he couldn't stop the cough even with the oxygen back on.
He stood up and shouldered the small kid. "It's gonna be alright," he tried to reassure not only the trembling boy.
Outside the building, Boden was cursing while he was putting on his own gear. He felt like losing every bit of authority he once had.
Not only had Matthew Casey disobeyed a direct order from him, but he also had ignored his current acting Lieutenant on truck. But then again, this said Truck-Lieutenant seemed to ignore his orders as well.
Sometimes, on days like this, Wallace questioned his own Leadership skills. Was he too liberal, too nice as a boss? Why wouldn't they listen to him?
What's the point of having a Chief if his men would and obviously could do whatever the hell they wanted to do? The purpose of having someone calling the shots was to prevent something like this from happening. If every firefighter just did what he thought was right, CFD would be heavily understaffed.
Boden looked at his men, who apparently still accepted his rank. Otherwise, they wouldn't be standing out here with him, and he sternly addressed them, "I'm going in there. And nobody, I repeat, nobody will enter this house under any circumstances, even if this whole damn building buries me and the others under it. No one, not one single person, enters this death-trap! Am I clear?"
All men looked stunned at their Chief, and every one of them nodded. "No one in. Copy that, Chief," Mouch spoke for all of them.
And they all looked worriedly after their Chief, who entered the burning hell.
Herrmann and Cruz stood next to each other. "Should we go after him," Cruz asked?
"I guess," Herrmann answered unsurely, "but you heard Boden. His order was clear. We should have left long ago."
"And what? Let Casey cook down there?" Cruz felt agitated and torn.
Herrmann looked at him and huffed, "No. Of course not. We'll get after him. Give him a little more time. Maybe he found the boy and is on his way back."
"There's no time, Herrmann!" Cruz shouted.
"And what good does it if all three of us go missing? You don't know what it looks like down there," Herrmann argued.
"It can't be shittier than here," Cruz hissed. "Oh man, it feels like I'm going to burn."
"Then get out of here," Herrmann was serious and emphasized this again when he assured his comrade, "nobody would judge you. There's a direct order."
"Which both of you should have obeyed by now." Boden's voice cut through the thick smoke and tension like a samurai sword. "And yet, here you are. Still standing and talking about it," Boden added accusingly.
"Chief, what're you doing here?" Both firemen were stunned and surprised to see their boss in full gear.
"Apparently rescuing three of my men, who failed to answer a direct order. And now, get out, before I drag you out myself."
Herrmann shook his head and argued, "Chief, Casey's down there. We think he found the boy."
"The Basement had already been cleared," Boden returned.
"Don't know, Chief. But Casey heard something and went off," Cruz gave a quick overview.
"I want both of you out before I can count to three," Boden began. Herrmann took a breath but was cut off by his boss, "I swear to God, Christopher, if you say something, I'll knock you out and let Cruz drag your sorry ass out. I don't care if it's inappropriate."
What followed was a staring contest between the two old friends. Cruz would have laughed if the situation had allowed it. But being trapped around raging flames and his oxygen tank almost empty didn't provide much of a joy factor.
"Chief," Cruz was about to argue with his boss as he saw something moving in the dark beneath them. It looked like a ray of light breaking through the smoke. And it seemed to be swaying closer in their direction.
Cruz frantically patted Boden's arm, "Chief, Chief!"
The older fireman looked in the direction shown to him. Boden leaned further down and called, "Casey?"
A feeling of eternity passed as the three men looked intently towards the abyss. Finally, a figure emerged. Matthew Casey stumbled around the corner with something wrapped around his shoulders. He swayed slightly.
"Casey!" the three men above him shouted in unity.
Matt stopped for a moment and looked up. He actually was relieved to see that he wasn't left alone. He tried to make his voice sound firm even though his throat ached from the smoke he had inhaled before," found him."
This short half-sentence alone punished him with a violent coughing fit. He ignored it as best as he could and put the boy down on the floor.
"Casey, grab the rope. We'll pull you and the boy up!" Boden shouted.
Matt swallowed before answering, "Negative, Chief. The boy goes first."
"There's no more time, Casey! Grab the rope and let's go," Herrmann supported his boss's approach.
But Casey was already wrapping the cord around the boy's torso. "Rope nor pillar won't hold," it echoed back up. "Victim's secured! pull!"
With the strength of three men, the boy's slim body had quickly reached the top. Cruz immediately took him and headed outside. Herrmann threw the rope back down.
Matt felt the tension inside of him ease. The boy was safe for the time being.
With the relaxation, the exhaustion sat in. His arms and legs were heavy as lead, and his ribs hurt with every breath he took. Memories of his pneumonia he had overcome resurfaced. He wondered if his lungs were causing him such problems because of that, or if it was just the effort in general. Matt stood hunched over with his hands on his knees and tried to get his breathing under control. Sweat was running down his back and forehead in streams.
But Casey didn't have time to rest. The loud shouting of his name brought him back to reality.
"Casey, grab the rope!" Herrmann's voice sounded urgent.
"Come on, Casey. There's no time left." This time it was Boden spurting him on.
Matt looked at the rope, and with determination in his eyes, he grabbed it. He secretly prayed that he could muster the strength to climb it. He had had concerns earlier, and that was before he got the boy out. Now he felt even weaker, and his arms and hands trembled more. That had also been the reason why he had sent Jake first. He had been unsure if he had enough stamina to hold himself and the boy.
After a few climbs, he had to pause briefly. Boden and Herrmann looked at each other with concern. They weren't used to this kind of hesitation from their Captain.
"Casey, hang tight! We're going to pull you up." And with that, Boden looked at Herrmann next to him, who gave him a reassuring nod.
"Okay, on one - two - three. Pull!" Both men counted together, and with a grunt, they began to pull their man up.
Casey tried to make himself as light as possible by not moving at all. A sense of shame washed over him as he hung there and let himself be pulled up. These two men were risking their lives because of him. How did he end up here? In need of help from two of the city's best firefighters, who were also his bosses.
At the top of the edge, Boden reached for Matt's hand. "Let go of the rope, Casey!"
Although Matt had strong confidence in his Chief, he noticed how he hesitated.
"Grab my hand," Boden tried to motivate again.
"No. Pull me over the edge. I don't want to drag you down, Chief!"
"You're not gonna drag me down. Let go! Now!"
"We've got you, Casey," Herrmann reassured his Captain as he held his hand out as well.
The blond fireman looked into his boss's wide-open but strength-giving eyes. With a quick movement, he reached for his hand. Boden immediately felt the additional weight of his colleague tugging at him. He tightened his grip on him, and in a strong voice, he said, "I've got you!"
Casey could feel the power with which Herrmann and Boden finally hoisted him the last bit over the edge.
Basically, he had to make almost no effort himself. His two colleagues had taken over for him.
Now he was panting on the ground in front of them and would have loved to lie down to relax, but the three were still not safe.
"Come on! We've gotta get out of here," Boden said and hauled him up. "Building's more than unstable."
At this point, Casey had let go of any self-reliance. He just did what he was told.
Together they moved towards the exit. Casey almost stumbled, but being flanked by his colleagues, who guided the way, helped.
Being outside felt good, and Casey immediately ripped off his mask. Breathing clean air was all he wanted. It was all he needed.
Unfortunately, in reality, it didn't feel as liberating as Matt had hoped.
His lungs burned despite the cool and fresh air. Even Herrmann and Boden had difficulty taking their first breaths after the effort. But Casey definitely struggled the most.
The urge to cough was the worst and was running through his body in waves. Matt tried to fight it to suppress it. Sadly, the only thing he achieved was to throw up in front of the entire team.
Immediately someone was at his side to support him. However, to be touched triggered an even more oppressive feeling, and so he fought every hand that came near him.
With an empty stomach, burning lungs, and trembling body, he finally dropped to his knees. With his upper body bent forward, he remained silent and closed his eyes.
He should be asking about the boy, he thought, but the exhaustion and fear that all his efforts might have been in vain were greater than the hope of a positive outcome. So, he just sat there and didn't even dare to look up.
Suddenly someone was touching him with such force that he couldn't fight it, and he felt himself being pulled up. Boden's strong hands held his shoulders when he ordered him, "Casey, hey, look at me! You're good?"
His only answer was a nod, the risk of having another coughing fit was too high.
"Hell of a safe, Captain," he heard Otis say and saw him hold out a water bottle. He reached for it and rinsed his mouth out first before taking a long swig. Then he tipped the rest over his head to get rid of some of the sweat and soot.
With the cooling of the water, Casey's brain began to function normally again. The emotions of panic and anxiety boiling inside of him became less and less. And as the first adrenaline rush began to subside, he saw himself able to recover, and he finally managed to get a few good breaths.
