He shifted the boy around so he could look at his face. “Marco, I’m going to put you on my back. I need to have my hands free to hang on once we make the jump.”
“Jump?”
Hearing the panic in his voice, Cal knew he had to act quickly, before the boy had a chance to scare himself into refusing to cooperate. He pushed his small body around and over his shoulder, didn’t have to tell him to hang on. Marco was already clinging to him like a spider monkey.
“No matter what, don’t let go!” Cal said, taking the fateful leap just seconds before the flames covered the wall they’d been leaning against.
The next few seconds happened so slowly, Cal felt as if he were experiencing some kind of a weird dream. He could see the ledge on the other side, and then suddenly it was no longer there and they were free falling through space.
Down into the abyss of a swirling river of flames that covered the lower levels of the building. Suddenly, Cal felt something clamp down hard on the collar of his rubber jacket, and he realized he was suspended in midair.
“Hang on, Cal! I’ve got you!” Even muffled by her oxygen mask, Cal recognized the voice of Marty, the only female member of the team.
He felt himself being towed upward, one inch—stop. The movement started again, another half inch—then, one hard yank. She relaxed her stance to catch her breath, and her heavy burden slipped back down three inches.
“Get the boy!” Cal called, his voice infused with fear as he felt the boy’s tight little clawlike nails losing their hold. “He’s slipping! Get the boy first!”
Marty reached over his shoulder and lifted the small burden. The child went willingly as Marty sat him behind her. Then she went back to trying to lift the much heavier man.
Cal felt his spirit plummet. Marty was more than capable of pulling her weight—but not his. Cal could feel himself slipping even more, slowly and steadily out of her sweaty grip. He knew that as sure as the sun rose in the morning, Marty would never let go of him, which meant she would go over the side with him. He couldn’t let that happen.
“Let me go, Marty!” he shouted through his fogged mask. “Let me go!”
“No!”
He came up an inch.
“No!”
He came up another inch. Trembling with the effort, she relaxed her exhausted muscles just a fraction, and he slipped back down a half inch.
She can’t do it, Cal thought, and somehow, someway, he had to make her let him go.
He looked down into the nothingness beneath him. The wide opening of burnt wood that spiraled down at least twenty feet left him feeling as if he were staring into hell. Instantly he realized he’d made a critical mistake.
A swirling hell…vertigo.
“Take the boy and get out of here!” he shouted, but when he felt her continuing to pull, he knew he was being ignored.
His head felt light, as beads of sweat popped out on his face beneath his oxygen mask. Without thought, his large feet began swinging back and forth trying to find purchase on one of the many, jagged levels that had not burned completely away. He knew he should’ve just held still, but panic had taken hold of his brain.
“Cal, stop! I’m losing you!”
The fire burned below, the orange and red flames dancing in anticipation of the feast of flesh it was about to devour. The heat surrounding him, inside and outside of his suit had him near fainting, something he’d never done in his entire life.
The tip of one foot reached a small, solid foundation just another inch below him. He experimented with putting pressure on the surface. Cal was certain if he could just get his foot firmly on the small, unburned portion of the next level, he could get clear of the opening.
He pushed his body in the direction he wanted to go. His only consolation was that if this did not work, the fall would kill him before the fire ever reached him. Even in death, he refused to give the monster its due.
Cal’s foot touched on the landing just as the wood surrendered to the inferno. His body slid and scraped along the jagged edge until his fingers hooked onto something that felt like a handle and he broke the fall. Using both hands to hold, he tried to lift his heavy form up and over the ledge. Even though the edge had broken away, most of the charred landing was still in place.
As Cal hung dangling from the edge, he realized it was times like this when a man would be tempted to question God. Death at the hands of the very monster he’d spent his life working to defeat just didn’t seem right.
And what about Andrea? He could clearly see her beautiful face. Big brown eyes filled with more compassion than he’d ever imagined existed. Her golden-brown skin. Her cute little upturned nose and full lips. He’d waited his whole life for a woman like her and now he would lose her, as well. He should’ve married her a year ago, when he first proposed. Why had he waited so long?
“Cal! You down there?” He heard a man’s muffled voice coming from somewhere above. It was Dwight. Marty had gone for help. Cal could sense more than see the group of firefighters peering over the edge a few feet above. He was too exhausted to speak, but he had to find the strength, otherwise his team would believe him dead.
“Yeah, I’m still here,” he called back and tried to lift his weight over the edge.
“Hang on! We’re coming!” Dwight called down into the opening.
Cal tried to lift his body again, and managed to get his left shoulder up over the edge. He hung, listening to the crackling wood and running feet. The feeling of helplessness was a new sensation. And not a pleasant one, Cal thought.
This blaze was probably the worst they’d seen in some time, and the closest he’d ever come to meeting the Grim Reaper. Cal felt large, strong arms clamp around his torso and start to pull him up. Then other hands grabbed the back of his jacket and hauled him over the edge. Tommy took him under the arms while Jeff grabbed his legs and pulled up and over. The pair quickly rolled his large body back away from the edge.
“We’ve got him!”
From somewhere in the distance, he heard Dwight calling. “Let’s go! I can’t hold it much longer. Let’s go!” Dwight had been busy trying to secure an exit route for his team.
“Where’s Marco?” He looked in every direction, before noticing the small bundle tucked in Marty’s arms.
Braced between Jeff and Tommy, Cal used his own legs to run out of the building, despite his dizziness and nausea. A rhythmic bumping noise behind them signaled the others had caught up.
Following the path made by Dwight, the group quickly found the back entrance and exited into the empty alley. In the distance Cal could see the lights of an ambulance flashing, as well as the firemen’s ladder truck, and a couple of police vehicles. He found himself being twisted this way and that as Marty satisfied herself that her friend was still in one piece. The sound of scanners and radios were emanating from every direction.
Jeff tried to help guide him to the paramedics, who were now coming down the long alley to meet them halfway. Cal allowed the man to brace him as he watched the world spinning around him.
Cal took off his helmet and mask and shook his head hard, trying to dispel the feeling of vertigo that seemed to be lingering. He felt more than a little nauseous, and pushed Jeff away as he felt himself becoming sick.
Before the paramedics reached them, Cal turned toward the brick wall, and shielded himself as best as he could while emptying his stomach, his head spinning, his stomach churning. His friends closed in with worried expressions.
Unable to stand any longer, Cal leaned his back against the wall and hung his head in complete exhaustion.
He heard the paramedics quietly discussing the best way to transport