The smoke caught in my lungs. Sending me gasping to my knees, gasping for any type of fresh air at that point.

This is the end. I kept repeating to myself over and over again. The putrid black smoke burnt my eyes. Visibility was less than zero by now.

But those tiny, childish screams continued from the far end of the hall.

At this point, I was well past the point of no return. Either that kid screaming and me were going to get out of this mess. Or neither of us was.

I pressed my face up against the wood floor, drawing in whatever Fred air I could before I held my breath. Pushing off my back foot, I lurched forward, my shoulder slamming into the compromised wood of the door. The frame exploding inward as I gasped for fresh air once again.

It took a moment to catch my bearings, my body desperately started heaving for fresh air as I tumbled to the floor beside shattered, burnt pieces of wood.

It would have been easier to lay down right there. By now, the smoke was torching my lungs, sending me into a feeling of confusion.

Despite all of that. Despite the crackling sound of burning wood. Despite the calls from my crew below. There was still a young soul trapped inside. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t, at the very least, try the best that I could. Even if that meant that I would end up with the same fate. 

I crawled across the increasingly hot floor. It was only a matter of time before the flames locked through and the wood began to buckle. There was only so much time on the clock right now.

The door pushed open behind my weight, a billowing cloud of black smoke hugging along the ceiling as I hit the ground once more. The cries were still there. Not as strong as before but enough to give me some semblance of hope. It was haunting even before I knew what that meant.

Infound a tiny, outstretched hand first. Even through the smoke, I could make out the charred skin of small fingers that tried desperately to loop through mine.

I drew in one last deep breath, trying my best to fight off the incoming cough. I slung the little girl over my shoulder, staying as low as I could while still moving forward.

I’m not sure how long it took. Maybe a minute, maybe an hour. But as soon as that fresh air hit my face, hit my lungs, it felt like I was almost out of the woods.

I lurched forward, nearly stumbling over my own two feet before I caught myself against the door frame of the nearest vehicle. I fell to my knees , trying my best to hold her close to my chest as I felt a dizzying affect swirl in my head.

Maybe it was for the best. I’d kill for some sleep at this point.

It was far quieter than it should have been on the way to the station. We all knew where things fell, but that didn’t make it any easier for any of us.

We were fighting a losing battle. We couldn’t keep up with this. We didn’t have the tools, the systems, to make even the slightest bit of difference.

This was all another world that we got tossed into without understanding the basics of it. We were still lost.

I awoke with a stir back at the station. Every single movement sending a shockwave through my body before eventually making it to my head. The splitting headache, by far the worst part of all of this.

I managed to draw in a deep breath, my words already coming out scratchy before I even said them, “Is-is…did she live?”

Somehow, I was scared of the question even before I asked it. A big part of me knew that I was fighting an uphill battle but that other part, that part that is usually tucked away, hidden from everything, was screaming at me that I can’t walk away.

God knows that I wanted to walk away. I wanted to stumble into the closest bar, forgetting every single sound, smell and feeling. I wanted to lock it away in its neat little compartment until it was forgotten.

That cry broke through everything. It chilled me to the core while burning my heart at the same time. It was haunting yet soothing. It was a pure contradiction.

I pulled my jacket over my shoulders, slamming my locker loudly as I did. I reached into my back pocket, pulling out my wallet. I scanned over its contents for a moment. Not going to break the bank by any stretch of the imagination but, if I played my cards right, I could drink until memories faded. Which was all I was looking for now.