Heart of a Hero (Swift Angels MC 1)

Heart of a Hero (Swift Angels MC 1)
Harley Wylde
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2024 Harley Wylde

Dawson

The alarm blared through the station, jolting me into action. “Apartment fire on 5th and Maple!” someone shouted. My heart pounded as I threw on my bunker gear, the heavy coat and pants weighing me down but also steeling my resolve. I joined my team as we raced to the fire truck, sirens already wailing.

As we sped through the city streets, I tried to calm my nerves and focus. Flames. Smoke. People trapped. This is what I trained for. What I lived for.

We screeched to a halt outside the burning apartment building, flames licking out the windows and thick black smoke billowing into the sky. My eyes watered from the acrid stench as I leaped out and assessed the inferno before me. It was worse than I thought. The fire had engulfed the entire building, all the way to the top floors, orange tongues of flame bursting through some of the top floor windows.

The captain walked off to assess the situation and I stared at the building in horror. Evan came up beside me letting out a long whistle. “Damn. Think someone’s Christmas lights caused this?”

I shrugged. This time of year, anything was possible. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Cap came back and gave us our orders, and the crew got to work dousing the building. Another fire station responded, and soon we had two hoses trying to tame the flames. I wasn’t sure it was going to be enough.

Captain Briggs came over a few minutes later, his face grim. He pointed up, and I followed to a window on the top floor. “Dawson, we got a woman trapped on the eighth floor.”

My blood ran cold. “I’ll get her, Cap. Just get the ladder truck in place and --”

“No can do.” Briggs shook his head firmly. “The fire’s too intense. The building’s not stable, and the flames will weaken the ladder. No way to reach her.”

“Cap, we can’t just leave her!” I clenched my fists, my mind racing for a solution.

“Nothing we can do, son.” Briggs put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry. Sometimes, we lose people. You know this already. It’s part of the job.”

I shrugged him off, still staring at the raging flames. Like hell was I giving up on her. Not while there was still a chance. I scanned the adjacent building, an idea starting to form. It was risky as all get-out but it just might work.

The roar of the inferno faded as determination flooded through me. I knew what I had to do. I turned to Briggs, my voice low and urgent.

“I’ve got a plan, Cap. Trust me.”

Briggs narrowed his eyes at me, suspicion etched on his face. “What are you thinking, Dawson?”

I pointed to the adjacent building. “I can get to the roof from there, rappel down to her window, and bring her back up.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Briggs barked, his face turning red. “That’s suicide! I order you to keep your ass on the ground, Kane.”

But I was already moving, sprinting toward the neighboring building. Briggs shouted after me, but his words were lost in the chaos. I knew he was just trying to protect me, but I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Not when a life hung in the balance.

I burst through the door of the adjacent building, my heart pounding in my chest. The stairwell stretched before me, a daunting climb to the top. But I didn’t hesitate, taking the steps two at a time, my bunker gear weighing me down.

Sweat poured down my face, my lungs burning with each breath. But I pushed through the pain, focusing on the task at hand. I had to reach the roof. I had to save her.

I reached the top floor, slamming through the door to the roof. The cool night air hit my face, a stark contrast to the heat of the stairwell. I rushed to the edge, my eyes scanning the burning building before me.

There, on the eighth floor, a window illuminated by the dancing flames. A woman leaned out the window, screaming for help. A little girl clung to her. My heart clenched at the sight.

I knew I didn’t have much time. The building could go at any moment.

I stepped back from the edge, my mind racing. The gap between the buildings was wide, the flames licking at the sides of the apartment complex. One wrong move, and it was all over.

But I couldn’t let fear take hold. This was what I was meant to do. Even if this next shift was my last, it didn’t matter. Every life I saved made it all worthwhile.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. The heat of the fire was palpable even from this distance. I forced myself to focus, to draw on every ounce of training and experience I had.

“You can do this, Dawson,” I whispered to myself, my voice barely audible over the roar of the flames. “You were born for this.”

I opened my eyes, my gaze locked on the window across the way. The woman and child were still there, the woman’s movements growing more desperate by the second.

My heart pounded in my chest, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I knew what I had to do.

I took a step back, my muscles coiled like a spring. The weight of my gear seemed to fall away, my mind crystal clear. I could almost feel the presence of my team below, their silent support giving me strength. Except the captain, who looked ready to murder me for defying his orders.

“Hang on,” I whispered, as if the woman could hear me. “I’m coming.”

And with that, I took a running start, my feet pounding against the rooftop. The edge rushed toward me, the gap between the buildings yawning wide.

But I didn’t hesitate. I pushed off with all my might, my body arcing through the air. For a moment, time seemed to stand still, the world falling away beneath me.

And then I was flying; the wind whipped past my face, and the flames reached up to meet me. My heart was in my throat, and my pulse pounded in my ears.

I didn’t look down. I kept my eyes on the prize, on the window growing larger with each passing second. I could see the woman’s face now, her features etched with fear and desperation.

I braced myself for impact, my body tensing as I prepared to land. The heat of the fire was overwhelming, and if it hadn’t been for my gear, I knew the smoke would have choked my lungs.

I landed on the opposite rooftop, rolling with the impact. One of my firefighter brothers was on the rooftop behind me, the one I’d just vacated. He held up a coil of rope and I nodded. I’d been so focused on reaching the woman and kid, I hadn’t even thought to grab anything. I’d have figured it out once I got there.

Evan ran toward the ledge, much like I had to just done, then he was airborne. He landed a little more gracefully than I had, then found a place to tie off the rope.

“I’m going to rappel down to the window,” I said.

Evan looked around. “Better hurry. This building isn’t going to stand much longer, and the flames will probably eat through the rope pretty quick.”

I nodded and braced my feet on the ledge of the building, my hand gripping the rope. It seemed to be holding, so I started my descent. The window came into view, and I swung through the opening.

The woman and her daughter were huddled in the corner, their faces streaked with soot and tears. The fire had already eaten through their door and was fast approaching.

“It’s okay,” I said, my voice steady. “I’m here to help.”

And as I gathered the little girl in my arms, then secured her to my back, I knew this was my calling… the one thing I was meant to do. I used the rope to climb back to the rooftop and handed the little girl off to Evan.

“Where’s the woman?” he asked.

“I’m going back for her. Get the girl out of here.”

Evan shook his head. “Not leaving you behind.”

I didn’t argue with him. Didn’t have the time to do so. I went back down and through the window again, this time getting the woman out of the burning building. The flames had already traveled across the carpeted floor and I knew even a second later, they’d have been blistering her skin. As it was, she might very well have burns from the heat.

The flames licked at us as I shielded the woman with my body. I went back up the rope, and as I looked up, I saw Evan’s frantic expression. That’s when I noticed the fire already trying to eat through the rope. It wasn’t going to hold. Making a drastic decision, I climbed faster, and when I thought I was close enough, I grabbed the woman’s arm.

“I need you to let go,” I shouted over the raging fire.

She shook her head. “No.”

“I’m going to toss you up to him. This rope is about to burn through.”

Her eyes widened, and her grip loosened enough for me to put my plan into action. I wrapped the rope around my leg and used my other to secure my hold. Keeping one hand on the top of the rope, I swung the woman up toward Evan.

He leaned over the rooftop, his fingers grasping at her hand. Once he’d grabbed hold, I let go of her. I watched as he pulled her onto the rooftop, and then I looked at where the flames were eating through the rope already.

Time was up.

I kicked the rope free of my feet, holding it in both hands now. Then I walked sideways to my left a few steps. Calculating the distance between my current location and the nearest window at the next building, I decided it was now or never. I ran, my feet pushing against the building until I reached the end, and then I was soaring through the air. The building was within reach, when the rope snapped.

My heart pounded in my chest, and I heard a roaring in my ears, as I started to fall. Thanks to my momentum and mass, I had just enough of an arced trajectory that I managed to grab hold of a windowsill on my way down. My shoulder screamed at me, and I grabbed hold of the bricks with my other hand.

Just as my grip was starting to slip, the window jerked up and another firefighter looked down at me.

“You going to hang out all day, or come inside?” He smirked.

“Fuck you. Get me the hell inside the building.”

He helped me over the windowsill and into what appeared to be someone’s bedroom. “We vacated this building and the one on the other side of the inferno. Not taking chances of a spark catching.”

“Good. Now let’s get down to the ground so the captain can chew my ass out.”

He snorted. “Damn right he will!”

In the stairway, I spotted Evan with the woman and child. Their faces were streaked with soot, but at least they were alive. I straightened, the weight of what we’d just accomplished hitting me like a ton of bricks. Everyone else had given up on them. If I hadn’t ignored the captain, these two would be dead right now.