An Engine and Ladder Truck were the first to arrive at the fire. Engine 17 and Truck 46.

Most firefighters were heading inside the hotel's high rise, but one stood outside for a moment, looking up at the building. John Adcox. Axe was looking up at the building in concern.

He soon headed inside as another truck came screeching to a stop. Surprisingly, the siren lights on the UFRT were brighter than normal sirens.

"You really had to press the brakes that hard?" Gerald lowered his eyelids. "Can't help it." Spinelli replied.

The Hyperjet and QR Jet soon landed, making sure not to block the way as well.

"Alright, I want EVERYONE inside, we don't know whether the fires have broken out yet, but I want everyone to evacuate the people inside. I want a line ready." Arnold directed orders.

Alarms were going off inside the hotel, and the front security alarms were also going off.

"Stephen! We got back up." The captain of Truck Forty-Six said. "Thanks, Pengelly. Shadow! Great to see you, man!"

"Bull, a pleasure to see you once more!" They shook hands. "So, what's the situation?"

"We've been told there are three different alarms going off, not many civilians here in this hotel. I'll have my guys evacuate them, I'll join you guys with one of my own to do a search."

"Alright, Lieutenant."

"Let's get up there and see whether there's anything is awaiting." Stephen said. "Alright, let's go!" Pengelly, the captain, said.

They all got into the elevator which surprisingly fitted everyone inside.

"So Lieutenant, where's your rookie brother?" Gerald asked. "Surprised you guys still remember him. He decided to take time off. He thought this job was about being a hero after I went in and saved a kid, but he didn't want to listen and ended up leaving. He didn't retire though." Bull replied. "Any idea what he's doing now?"

"Eh, some dumb desk job. Dunno what it is for though." Stephen shrugged.

Brian was working with fire investigators to determine who was the arsonist.

"How do we know if the floors gonna be hot on one of these levels?" The rookie Tim asked.

"Allow me, Bull." Arnold started. "By all means."

"Well, Tim, when we get to the floor, and when the doors open, if it's hot… Don't get out." Almost everyone started laughing and snickering. Most of them tried to hold in their laughter. Tim was just confused about what that meant.

"Wait… Oh, you assholes!" Then they all started laughing.

"Your wife is one lucky woman, you know that?" Sapphire said, almost in a flirty tone. "Indeed I am." Rhonda smirked and held Arnold's hand.

The elevator stopped as they reached the tenth floor.

Lights were flickering on and off as thin smoke filled the entire floor. The atmosphere felt like a haunted house, with more lighting than normal. Several lights were off as some were flickering on and off.

"Alright, listen up. We split into groups, no one separates from their group. No matter what. We search the floors, and remember, this is also something you firefighters learned at the academy… ALWAYS check the door for heat before you open it. NEVER enter before checking, there could be a backdraft awaiting you, with your damn name on it. The rookie gets a pass, but I seriously hope we don't have to remind you too much." Tim nodded. "Alright, we search the building, if nobody is here, we decide from there. Everyone understand?" Everyone in the hallway nodded.

"Alright, my team. Axe, go with Pengelly and the others. I'll take Grindle and Tim." Stephen ordered.

"These high-rise gigs give me the creeps!" Grindle said as he slowly walked off. "You said it." Gerald replied.

Stephen was about to start walking with Tim, but Axe stopped him.

"Bull, we're all early into this one, the fire hasn't broken out yet. We're one man short with Brian gone, I know we have Shadow and his team here but they don't have any equipment for this. Let's wait for another Engine." Adcox said. Stephen barely paid attention to what he said as he looked around.

"Let's catch it before it does break out." Bull answered. He then looked at Tim. "You wanna learn somethin', don't ya?"

"Yeah, I do." Tim replied, excitedly. "Alright Axe, you're with Pengelly. You guys take the other side."

"Don't go splittin' us up, man. It ain't safe."

Stephen turned around. "Look, I ain't got time for this, man. Let's go to work." He turned to face forward.

Adcox gave a frustrated look. "Let me take the lead, Stephen. I'll take Tim, you go with Pengelly."

"C'mon, Axe!" Pengelly said in the background.

"Jesus man… Do your job! They need a line over there!" Stephen retaliated. He then walked off with Tim and the others.

Adcox shook his head and gave a frustrated look. "Let's go, Axe!" Adcox finally went with Pengelly and the other group.

The hallway was half-dark and highly empty. Lights kept flickering as smoke was in the air.

"Woah!" Several of them flinched as pipes were heard falling.

"This bitch playin' dirty…" Bull whispered as he felt the walls. They were partially hot, but not too hot.

"Engine Thirteen, Engine Fifteen, Engine Fifty-One, Medic Five. Truck Six, Truck One, respond." The dispatcher started over the speaker for the station responding.

Firefighters immediately got down into the engine room and suited up. Immediately, the sirens on the truck were on, and lights reflected from inside the station towards outside. Both trucks started to roll off as the sirens started blaring.

Cars in the area pulled over and stopped immediately.

Door after door, Stephen, Arnold, And Ariel were all busting doors open after checking whether they were hot or not.

"Boy, I never thought I'd ever find myself here…" Rhonda told Arnold as she looked around. "I hate high-rise fires… Especially when they go wrong." He replied. He used his chest flashlight to navigate around.

"Uh, Arnold? I hate to ask this because it might make me look stupid but-"

"Aw, you never look stupid! You're the second smartest person. Behind me." Arnold smiled at her. Rhonda lowered an eyelid and raised an eyebrow. "You asswipe." She then smirked. "But what was that question you were gonna ask?" Arnold asked as he checked the door for heat.

"What EXACTLY is a backdraft? I know it's something that could possibly kill someone… But what is it?" Rhonda asked as she looked around.

Arnold busted open the door and looked over. "It's caused by a fire being contained in a room with no oxygen. Let's take this room for example. Say there was a fire in here, but if you look closely at the top and bottom, barely any smoke, and the door is hot. Why? Well, it all happens when a fire gets trapped in a room with no oxygen. Oxygen fuels it. With all the air being sucked into the fire, and with no other way for oxygen to enter the room, the fire rages inside there. That's why EVERY Fire Academy stresses checking doors for heat when it comes to a backdraft. And if you're not careful, you can probably kiss your ass goodbye." Arnold explained as they checked the room. Rhonda got close to him.

"I'd prefer if you could kiss this ass. And it's all yours, y'know." Rhonda smirked and bit her lip. Arnold blushed furiously. Rhonda kissed him on the cheek as they continued searching the place.

"Alright, kid. Take it." Bull let Tim take this door. Tim got excited as he readjusted his gloves. He grabbed his axe, ready to bust the door open.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." Stephen repeatedly said. "Make sure you check it first." Stephen reminded Tim. "Oh, yeah." Tim checked the door for heat. It was around room temperature. He busted the door open and immediately took cover. Fire truck sirens were heard blaring at street level.

The two responding trucks parked near the entrance. They also had to navigate around as the Hyperjet's landing gear was in the way. And so was the QR Jet.

A firefighter got out of the truck and went for the hose lines. He started pulling them off the truck as he came across… a shirt?

"Howdy there!" Brian greeted him from the top of the truck. He had snuck into the fire station and reflected on his short firefighting career. He thought it would be funny to sleep on the truck and also hitch a ride to the fire.

Olivia was in the Hyperjet, mainly researching over the arson fires. She looked over the city's map and fire department layouts. She couldn't help but notice that Station 51 had a bunch of free land, many properties sold off and boarded up.

"A bunch of buildings is gone around Station 51… Could that mean anything?" She asked herself.

She noticed every property was bought and sold off to the city.

"Get that mask back on." Stephen told Tim. "Clear!" He busted the door open.

As they were looking around, they found pretty much nothing. Arnold and Rhonda were walking back towards them to regroup. Tim found a pair of doors that hadn't been checked.

"Checked that door for heat, Tim?"

But Tim wasn't listening as his mind was already focused on busting the doors open. It was a choice he'd regret.

CRASH!

WHOOSH!

A violent backdraft exploded right in Tim's face. He was knocked back, breaking through glass doors and violently hitting a wall behind him. His breathing apparatus was cracked, his oxygen bottle was damaged, and the backdraft wasn't done yet.

"TIM!" Everyone yelled as they ran towards him.

He gasped for air since his oxygen was out, but it would be the last breath he'd take on his own.

BOOM!

WHOOSH!

The fire reacted violently with the sudden breath of air. Fire shot from the backdraft explosion and lit Tim on fire.

"AAAAHH!" Tim rolled around trying to put out the fire. "TIM!" Stephen jumped on top of Tim as he tried to put out the fire on him by trying to pat it out.

Grindle came over with a line connected to a water supply.

"I GOT HIM! STEPHEN, I GOT HIM! MOVE OFF!" Grindle sprayed the hose at the two as the fire was burning through Tim's skin.

Adcox was extremely shocked at the sight. "PUT IT OUT!"

"HELP!"

All the other firefighters rushed in as the fire was finally extinguished. Ariel and Arnold rushed over. "He's severely burnt… WE HAVE TO GET HIM OUT, NOW!" Arnold exclaimed.

"Chief! We have a man down! We're bringing him down IMMEDIATELY!" Rhonda exclaimed through her radio. "Copy! I have paramedics on standby!"

Outside…

Siren lights reflected everywhere, off each truck and the building. Firefighters were rushing through the doors. More sirens were heard.

"STRETCHER!" Adcox yelled as many firefighters including the Vigilantes carried Tim. He was barely breathing on his own as his pulse was weak. "GET THAT STRETCHER HERE, DAMMIT! DAMMIT!" Adcox kept yelling.

A crowd of people was outside as police kept them behind the line.

Firefighters and everyone was yelling and shouting at once, hurrying to get Tim to the hospital.

"OH, MY GOD!"

"WHAT THE?!"

"GET HIM OVER HERE!"

"WHO IS THAT?!"

"OVER HERE!"

"TIM!"

Everyone was screaming over each other all at once as they frantically tried to get Tim to the hospital.

"TIM! HOW'D IT HAPPEN?!" Brian soon came in as Tim was severely burnt.

"Just breathe, Tim. Just breathe!" Adcox frantically said. His facial skin was all burnt off and bits of muscle were also shown through the burns. The fire also burned the uniform, burning other parts of his body like his legs and arms.

They all placed Tim on the stretcher.

"C'mon!"

"Get up in there!"

"Get him in there and let's go!"

"Oh, my God!"

Ariel got in with another paramedic as the stretcher was being placed inside, with a severely burned and injured Tim.

One firefighter got inside the ambulance. Arnold closed the rear ambulance doors and hit it twice, signifying the truck was ready to move.

The siren started blaring as the ambulance immediately took off, lights reflecting off everywhere and everyone… Nobody knew whether Tim would make it or not.

Stephen took a few steps forward behind the ambulance. The ambulance raced off and Stephen watched it carry Tim away. He was breathing heavily. Stephen felt extremely guilty for Tim, he was supposed to look after his rookie, but instead, he failed as a leader, while siren lights from Truck 46 reflected off him.

He then turned around to a haunting look he'd never forget.

Every firefighter, near and at the entrance, gave him an annoyed, angry, shocked, and frustrated look. The ambulance siren faded as it got farther and farther. They all stood there as truck siren lighting reflected brightly off everyone. Even the Vigilantes gave him a frustrated look. Everyone had their eyes glued on Stephen.

Stephen breathed heavily as he saw everyone giving him a nasty look. He only stared as he felt disappointed in himself. He was taking full responsibility for the rookie. He failed as a leader and mentor.

Soon, firefighters started to walk off as they were all upset and angry.

Stephen looked at his brother. He only shook his head in disbelief.

All the firefighters had walked off along with the Battalion Chief. Shadow and the Vigilantes were left. They eventually walked away together shortly after. Arnold had an arm over Rhonda, Spinelli had her hands in her pockets and walked beside Arnold, Sapphire only shook her head, Nadine was in disbelief, and Gerald also had his hands in his pockets. Olivia soon joined Arnold and Rhonda. She was mainly monitoring situations in the Hyperjet as she hadn't seen much action, but she was in disbelief about what happened to Tim. Something she would never forget.

Stephen was alone outside, rethinking whether it was a good idea to let Tim inside or not… Clearly, it wasn't. The atmosphere went from panic and distress to dead silence. Nothing made a noise. Everything felt like it was on mute.

Stephen gulped as he soon started walking back into the hotel.

An Hour Later

The little amount of fire that was there was put out, and everyone was inspecting the structure.

"Shadow… We got one." Rhonda called Arnold over. She used her flashlight to reveal a severely burnt corpse, laying there. "Oh, Christ…" Arnold looked over.

"Some guy named… Holcomb."

Stephen was sitting down, not caring about anything else. Tears slipped down his face as he held Tim's firefighting helmet.

"Stephen, you alright?" Rhonda pointed the flashlight at him. "Steve, you alright?" Arnold asked again.

Stephen looked over but didn't answer. Tears kept falling from his face as he looked at the burnt, smoldering, and damaged helmet. Tim was part of the truck team, Truck 46. The number 46 was burned, and the label 'Candidate' was also burned. Stephen felt awful knowing it was his fault for not being careful with Tim.

He then took a deep sigh.

I LOVE how this chapter turned out (despite Tim getting burned), man, it feels great to finally release this!