Walsh walked down Riverside with his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans. There was a slight drizzle in the September morning. He stopped at the fence in front of a burned out building.

"3 months ago, and they come out with the news this morning." He said shaking his head

He looked around the property. It was a lot different than the last time he had been there. Slowly he started placing the apparatus around the scene, thinking back to the day when it had caught fire.

"That's one of the clothing factories ain't it?" DK said as they headed towards the building.

"I think so." Walsh said as he guided the truck towards the building.

"Lieutenant 5-5 to Central. Strike an additional alarm on this box. I have a 10 story factory with smoke and flames from 6 floors." Lt. Johnson radioed

They knew their jobs when they got on scene. Walsh had barely put the truck in park before they were jumping out. There were workers scrambling from the building as fast as they could. Taylor, Jimmy, DK, and Lombardo made their way through the sea of workers.

Walsh watched as Engine 86 pulled on scene and laid a line in. It was a matter of moments before the Battalion Chief pulled on scene and assumed command. It wasn't the best scenario for fighting a fire- not knowing how many victims were still inside, or the exact lay of the building. It would eventually turn out to be 10 stories of hell.

It had been about 15 minutes since the crew entered the building. They were not very talkative on the radio, only an occasional status report on their progress. They had made it to the 5th floor, but hadn't found anyone yet. There was fire on floors 4 and 5 they radioed. The search continued as the lines were advanced to fight the flames.

But, this day was not a battle to be won by them. Within seconds fate would send the Squad on a terrible turn. From outside the building they could hear the rumble. The fire had weakened the structure and the floors at the top of the warehouse began to weaken.

"MAY DAY MAY DAY MAY DAY!" Jimmy yelled into his radio

All other radio traffic stopped

"We have a firefighter down, 5th floor. The floor collapsed unknown location on the firefighter." Jimmy said

"There's been a May Day issued, all units not operating the May Day switch to channel 2. All units not operating the May Day switch to channel 2." The dispatcher said

Lt. Johnson turned a worried glance to Walsh.

"Battalion 11 to unit issuing the May Day identify." The Chief called into his radio

"Squad 5-5, firefighter Doherty. Partial collapse of the structure. Fire fighter down 5th floor. Unknown location of the firefighter!" Jimmy yelled into the radio

The fire ground was abuzz with motion. Teams were preparing to enter the building. The crew from Rescue 8 made their way in.

Time moved in slow motion with very few reports coming out of the building. It was only when their air packs were getting low that the firefighters exited the building. DK and Lombardo came rushing out.

"Give me a new bottle!" DK said breathing heavily.

"Any word?" Walsh asked

"No, but I want to get back in there and find her." DK said

"I don't intend to leave her in there." Lombardo added

They quickly changed out their bottles and went right back in. Walsh overheard the conversation between the officers.

"How long's it been?" The Battalion Chief asked

"45 minutes." Lt. Johnson said glumly, not taking his eyes off of the building.

"We're not making much leeway in this fight." The Chief said

Lt. Johnson was trying not to think the worst, but it was very likely that Taylor was dead. She had run out of the air at least 20 minutes ago and for all they knew she fell right into the fire. Miracles had happened, but he was unsure that his prayers would be answered on this one.

"I want to get her out of there as much as you do Francis. After all, I've known her since she was a kid, but I can't spend anymore time trying to find her with a monster like that raging." The Chief said

Reports on the radio were starting to come in that multiple floors were beginning to come down. Lt. Johnson sighed at the thought but he knew what the call was going to be.

"Bring them out; we'll recover the body once it's out." The Chief said

The look on Walsh's face was shear horror. They were leaving one of their own in the building, worst yet; they were leaving Alex Taylor inside.

"Sound the sirens!" Lt. Johnson ordered

Walsh hesitated for a moment, not wanting to carry out the order.

"Billy, NOW!" Lt. Johnson yelled

Walsh took a look at the building and then ran to the side of the squad and started to pull the air horn. The other chauffeurs did the same.

A felling of helplessness came over him as he listened to the call. It was a few tense moments of watching the building when he realized that the rest of his Squad still hadn't come out. Then he heard the radio come to life.

"Squad 5-5 to Lieutenant 5-5, we found her!" Lombardo exclaimed

"Lombardo, you get her and you get out of there!" Lt. Johnson returned

Walsh rushed towards the doorway when he saw them coming out. He was waiting along side Kim and Carlos.

Kim and Carlos moved the stretcher closer to DK and Jimmy. Soon they were removing equipment and then the protective clothing.

"How far did she fall?" Kim asked as a crowd of firefighters gathered around them, including the Battalion Chief and Lieutenant Johnson.

"3 floors." Jimmy replied

"She land on her back?" Carlos asked quickly

"That's how she was when we found her." Jimmy replied as they loaded Taylor into the back of the medic unit.

The rain began to fall a little harder. Walsh could hear someone approaching.

"Burnt down a couple months ago." The voice said

Walsh turned to see a kid who was riding his bicycle.

"I know." Walsh said as he stared back at the building.

"It was a big fire." The kid added

"I was there." Walsh said turning to the kid.

"Said there was a firefighter killed in there or something." The kid added

"She didn't die." Walsh snapped

"Are you a firefighter?" The kid asked

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Walsh asked

The kid didn't like being questioned, so he didn't answer; he just rode his bicycle away, looking back to see if Walsh was still standing there.

Walsh ran his hand down over his chin. He didn't want to be there anymore. He turned and walked back towards his Jeep. He got in, popped the emergency break and shifted into 1st to pull away.

Taylor sat on the back porch of her mom's house. She stared blankly at the picnic table in the back yard. The anger made her numb. She let out a sob every so often, but she wasn't sure how else to react. Her mother stood in the doorway watching silently, unsure how to react.

"I hope it was worth it!" Taylor yelled. "You son of a bitch you took my life away from me! I hope you're happy!"

She slammed her hand down on the arm of her wheelchair and began sobbing. Beth rushed out the door and held her as she rocked back and forth.

"I can't believe this happened to me mom!" She sobbed

"It's okay Alex. Everything is going to work out." Beth said with a worried look on her face.

"That son of a bitch!" Taylor cried

"Come on, let's get you back inside and warmed up. There's a chill out here." Beth said

Taylor just nodded in reply as Beth wheeled her back into the house.