I walked into the building. I could hear the roar of the fire all around me. The radio squawked in my ear, "Boss, where are you?" It was the probie.

"I'm on my way. I'm only the second floor. You're on the eighth?"

"Yeah. Hurry up."

This probie was seriously missing a few screws if he thought he could order me around. "Shut up probie."

I walked the last few flights of stairs, and Angie opened the stairwell door for me, "We're not even sure if you'll fit."

I walked over to the small hole in the wood. "Can we make it bigger?"

She shook her head, "Every time we try the building shifts a little. We have to make his quick as it is."

I leaned down and peered through the hole. I could see a body about five feet from the hole. I seriously hoped it wasn't one of the kids that were supposed to still be alive. "I think I can make it. I don't know if my gear will fit through at the same time. I'll go first, then you can ease it over to me." I knew it was a bad idea, but it was the only thing I could think of. We had to get out of the building now.

Angie helped me out of my gear, and held it for me. "Be careful Boss."

I nodded and started my crawl. I had to do an army crawl to even get through. I was about halfway through when I heard the building shake. Well I felt it more than heard it. "Angie!"

"Boss! You okay in there?"

I tried to move and was glad the walls had fallen even further on top of me. "Yeah." I had to yell to be heard. It seemed the area behind me had closed off. "I can still get through. Is it safe?"

"It's your only option. You won't be able to fit back this way. I'm not even sure I'll fit your oxygen tank in."

"Shit." I started moving, and pulled myself out. I looked around and saw the fire hadn't reached this room yet, but I knew it was in the rooms next to us. I pulled myself up and was glad that I hadn't gotten any scrapes. My jacket usually protected against that, but there were sometimes when it couldn't.

"Boss, you need your tank!"

I leaned back down, "Ease it through. I'm going to crawl in a little to pull it through."

I heard the radio crackle some more. Today would not be the best day to have it fail. Thankfully it stopped. "Ok, just be careful."

I squeezed through once more and stopped about half way through. "We're just starting to push it through boss."

"Ok. I'm about as far as I can go. Push it in more. I can't make my arms that much or else I won't be able to move."

I heard some of the wood shifting and saw my tank come into view, "Can you grab it yet?"

I reached out just a little bit, "A little further." They pushed it in some more, "Got it, stop pushing." I slowly started inching backwards. Every few inches I would grab the oxygen tank and pull it closer. I got all the way out and stood up. I noticed that the valve had opened a little, and that I had lost most of the oxygen. I would need to get out fast. "Get the ladder over to the nearest window. I'll have to make a hole in the wall."

"Got it." I could hear Nate on the radio telling people what to do.

I looked back at the room and saw the two children. I checked the body for a pulse before moving to them. One of the children was unconscious, and the other was just scared. They were in the back corner. "Hi honey, what's your name?"

She whimpered and moved further into the corner.

I took my helmet off, "It's ok. I need you to tell me your name." I knelt next to her, "Is this your brother?"

"Yeah. Is he ok?"

I felt for a pulse. "Yeah, he'll be fine. He's just sleeping right now." They both couldn't be more than 6 or 7. "I'm going to put my mask on your brother's face to help him breathe. Then we'll put it on your face. Is that ok?"

"Yeah."

I held my mask against the boy's face, "Can you hold this here?" She did and I opened my jacket. If I was going to give them the air I had left I needed to cover my face with. I could rip off part of my shirt to at least stop the smoke from getting in my lungs.

I heard the floor creak some but knew I couldn't move the children until the ladder was up against the window. Looking around I saw it was on the opposite side of the room. "Boss the ladder's halfway there. Start moving over."

I looked down at the girl, "I have to move you honey. I'll carry your brother but you have to crawl next to me okay?" She nodded and I picked her brother up. I crawled on my knees, keeping as close to the floor as possible. It took us a few minutes, but we eventually made it to the window. I sat the boy down for a second, "I'm going to have to break open the window. When I do, the fire will come our way for a second. I'm going to block you two from the most of it, but I need you to hold your breath for a second, okay?

She nodded. "Mmkay."

"Nate, we're by the window. Can I break it yet?"

"Do it now. The ladder's two feet away."

I broke the window and felt the heat come towards us. I covered the kids the best I could, but even I knew I would be a little singed after this. After it went back to where it was I looked up. I could see Roman on the ladder. I smiled at him, "Nice job Probie." He smiled back and reached out for a kid. I handed him the boy first, and he handed him to Angie who was behind Probie. Then I handed the girl across, "Be careful sweetie."

Roman looked back to me, "Where's your oxygen tank?"

Shit. We never left that in a fire because if that exploded, it would add pressure to the fire, and could probably cause other things to explode. I looked around the room and saw the girl had dropped it by where we were. "I'll be right back. Have the ladder clear for me to come down." He nodded and started heading down. I readjusted the cloth over my face, and crawled across the room.

The floor creaked at the same time the radio did, "Grab it and go boss. We need to put water into that room now."

"I know Nate. I got it. Heading back to the window now." I stood up so I could get a better look at the room. I double-checked to make sure no other people were here. Right as I started to walk back to the window, I fell through the floor.