The dust slowly began to settle and darkness quickly set in. The crackle of the fire could be heard. There was a constant click, the sound made while breathing through an SCBA. Within seconds the PAS alarm would begin to sound and alert others to the motionless firefighter, but it would take too long to get to him.

Earlier in the day

"Good morning everyone!" Jimmy announced as he walked down the stairs smiling

Taylor sat at the table reading the newspaper while Walsh was cooking breakfast. DK was making a fresh pot of coffee. It was a typical May morning, plenty of sunshine and blue skies. Lombardo came upstairs.

"It's beautiful out there!" He announced as he grabbed the Sports page and sat down.

"Hey, I was reading that." Taylor protested

"It was lying on the table." Lombardo replied

"And I hadn't gotten to it yet." Taylor replied

Walsh walked over to the table with a tall stack of pancakes.

"It's time to eat anyway." He smiled

Lieutenant Johnson came out of the office with his coffee mug in hand.

"Smells good Billy." He said

"There's plenty here so eat up." Walsh then put a plate of bacon on the table as well.

The Squad sat down and ate just like they always had. It was a tradition that had always been carried out by them.

"It's Monday." Jimmy smiled

"Barbeque!" DK and Lombardo said in unison.

The Monday night barbeques were always a treat.

"Is all the shopping done for it?" Lt. Johnson asked

"Not yet, I wanted to make sure that the burgers were good and fresh." Walsh replied with a smile

"We'll go out this afternoon if we don't have a run and get the shopping done." Lt. Johnson replied

There was a bodega down the street, but it was high priced and not as good of quality than one that was a few blocks away. Of course they all began to wonder if Walsh had a sweetheart that worked at that one because that was the only place he ever wanted to shop. Once he was finished shopping he always walked out with a smile.

"So that's settled then." Jimmy said

When they had all finished eating they helped to clear the table and wandered downstairs to wash and wax the truck. They were proud of it and it showed when the chrome glimmered in the mid-morning sun. As they rested along the sidewalk the alarm sounded.

"Squad 5-5, Ladder 100 responded 18116 Lexington for a residential alarm."

"Well you heard the alarm, let's go." Lombardo said as they all got their gear and headed out.

The PAS alarm sounded, first an occasional beep; then it became steadier, finally ending in a constant alarm.

Taylor tried to move but she felt like the weight of the world was on her. She looked around in the darkness, only a small beam of light from her flashlight broke the darkness. She tried to reach for her radio but her arm was pinned. She was on her back looking up towards the point she had fallen from. Her whole body felt like it was being stabbed by a thousand knives. Then she thought about the situation and realized that her air was almost out. She tried to stay calm. Alone in a burning building was not where you wanted to be as a firefighter. Alone and unable to move was even worse.

There was nothing but static coming through her radio. She tried to lift her head. All she could manage was a faint, "Help me" before fading from consciousness.

Walsh was guiding the truck through the traffic of the city when the call came across the radio to cancel on the alarm. It was a false trip. Lieutenant Johnson acknowledged on the radio as Walsh shut down the lights.

"Another false alarm." DK said

"That's what, like the 8th this week?" Lombardo asked

"Something like that." Jimmy replied

"Now come on, do we really want to be fighting a fire on a beautiful day like today?" Taylor asked

"Taylor's right, I'd rather not be covered in soot and sweating my ass off right now." DK replied

"We're gonna stop and get groceries." Lt. Johnson announced, "Anyone want anything?"

"Can we get some salt n' vinegar chips?" Lombardo asked

"What you on the rag again Lombardo?" Jimmy asked

While everyone else laughed Lombardo replied, "No, I just want salt n' vinegar chips, you got a problem with that?"

"At least it's not pickles and ice cream." Taylor cracked

"Alright salt and vinegar chips, anything else?" Lt. Johnson asked

"Not that I can think of Lieu." Jimmy replied

"Unless we do a salad too." DK chimed

"Salad's good." Lombardo said

Walsh pulled the truck to a stop in front of the bodega.

"Shouldn't take too long." He said as he climbed out

Taylor looked in the windows of the little shop.

"Is that the one?" She asked

Jimmy, Lombardo, and DK just about squashed her as they all tried to get a look.

"You know getting out of the truck would be a little less obvious." Taylor cracked

They filed out of the truck trying to catch a glimpse of Walsh with the woman. Taylor looked at them and laughed.

"You could make it a little less obvious." Lt. Johnson said from the truck

"Shit, here he comes." Jimmy said as they tried to look discrete.

"What are you doing?" Walsh asked

"Getting some fresh air." DK replied with a grin

"Uh-huh." Walsh said sarcastically as he handed the bags to Lombardo, "Dogs stick their heads out the window for fresh air."

"Hey." DK said insulted

"Let's go." Walsh said as he climbed up into the driver's seat with a laugh.

"You walked right into that one." Taylor admitted

"Taylor?" Jimmy called

"Taylor!" Lombardo yelled as they searched the remains of the 8th floor.

The orange glow from the fire was getting brighter.

"We're losing time." Walsh said

"We have got to find her." Jimmy replied

Kim and Carlos stood outside the building. It was now well after 9 PM and the building was silhouetted against the black night. They were dumping as much water on the building as possible to try and contain the fire, and maybe help the search. The fireboats were pulling water out of the river but it seemed that they were trying to quench the unquenchable thirst of a monster.

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

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

Taylor lay motionless. Her eyes were scanning her surroundings. She had fallen at least 3 floors, maybe more. She tried to control her breathing, but it was starting to get harder to do. The low air alarm began to sound. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Okay Alex." She thought to herself. "Stay calm. They'll find you."

Then she looked at the blackness and heard a noise. Some debris from above fell into her little cavern. She closed her eyes and braced for the impact.

Kim walked into the lounge, it was time for her shift to start.

"You riding with Carlos again?" Taylor asked

"Yeah, Doc's off again." Kim replied

That meant that there was one less bus running out of their house this shift. Taylor kind of hated that but they were still short staffed. Taylor would much rather be on a fire truck and so she rarely volunteered to cover a medic shift. She made more money on the fire truck, so it was more of a financial decision than anything.

"Have fun with that." Taylor said sarcastically

"Thanks." Kim rolled her eyes

Within moments the alarm sounded.

"Squad 5-5, Ladder 100, Adam 5-5-3 respond for a warehouse fire 8108 Riverside."

"Well, looks like the barbeque's going to have to be postponed." Jimmy said as he rushed towards the truck.

Carlos ran up the stairs.

"Looks like I'm changing in the bus." He said

"Good, I'm driving." Kim smiled

As they approached the street they could see a huge column of smoke. Lt. Johnson immediately radioed it in as a 10-75 and requested an additional alarm be struck. Within moments they pulled on the scene in front of a 10 story clothing factory that had flames and smoke coming from 6 different floors.

"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

The Squad looked at the building for a moment and then realized the task that was a head of them. They had to get everyone out of that building. Without orders they set to do the task at hand. Search and rescue was their first and foremost priority, the incoming units would begin to fight the fire. So they all put their masks on quickly and went into the building.

They made their way through the lower floors quickly, there was no fire down there and most everyone had already evacuated. They began their ascent up to the 4th floor where they encountered fire. The guys from Engine Company 86 already had lines up to it and were making a quick knockdown. So they proceeded to the 5th floor where they had heard some workers were trapped.

"Alright, split up, the floor won't hold the weight of all of us." Jimmy said

"Right." DK replied

So they divided, Jimmy and Taylor took one side of the floor, DK and Lombardo went the other.

"Watch the floor and the ceiling; we're in a hot zone." Jimmy reminded them.

"Got it." Lombardo said as they split off

"You ready?" Jimmy asked Taylor

"Let's get this done." Taylor replied.

"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

Lt. Johnson tried to fight back tears of anger and sadness, but he knew that the fire had to be fought and that the teams searching for Taylor would do a lot in helping to control it. He knew that as an officer tough choices would have to be made, and this was by far one of the toughest he had ever faced.

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.

Taylor woke up again; the pain had slid into numbness. She couldn't feel anything. She could hear her alarms sounding, and heard the air horns as well. But she was powerless to do anything about it.

"No." She cried to herself, "Some one please. Some one help me."

She could barely breathe and there was one thought that she had tried to keep out of her mind… DEATH. Taylor didn't want to die. Not here, not now. She tried to fight back the tears that were welling up in her eyes but she couldn't. Slowly they trickled down her face.

"Please, help me." She cried weakly.

TO BE CONTINUED