Free Seduction Squad by Shaye Evans Page A

personnel. The second the truck came to a halt, Sam slid from his seat with the rest of us following. A couple of homes surrounded the apartment building, but they were old, graffitied structures, almost in ruins with fallen fences and caved-in roofs.  Truck Six and Ambulance Eighty-two were already on scene. Chief pulled up alongside of us a second later.
    Chief Marden slid his tall, buff frame from behind the wheel of his red SUV. Like us, he was also dressed in yellow and black, but he remained outside, observing the fire. “I’ve received several reports of a boy missing and presumed trapped on the fifth level. You know the drill,” he voiced huskily.
    “Yes, Chief.” Sam nodded, leading us all toward the entrance, where a flood of people came racing out. The ground level was hazed with smoke. Two staircases sat on either side of the elevator, facing us. We split into two groups and began scaling the stairs, checking each level and apartment as we went. It appeared most of the building had already been evacuated.
    “Fire department, is anyone in here?” Lockland yelled, bursting open a door.
    With every level we climbed, the smoke and heat increased until we reached the fifth floor, where the fire had evidently begun. An orange-red glow flickered from under a door as Steven and Jay busted inside. Black smoke poured through the door as flames lined the hall and licked at the wallpaper.
    Lockland turned for the first apartment, busting open the door. Steven and Jay raced through and down the corridor.  Smoke blackened the family room while intense flames ate hungrily at the furniture. My eyes slowly scanned the room from where we stood. I raised my head, thinking I’d heard coughing, but it may have been the fire crackling and hissing or structure boards moving.
    “Fire department—anyone in here?” Lockland hollered, and simultaneously we heard the cry for help from a kid, coughing. Lockland advanced, searching behind furniture as he went and disappeared into another room. Flames licking the walls, burning wallpaper in the process, lead me into an untouched bedroom that I began to search just in case. A second later, my radio crackled with Lock’s voice. “Found him.”
    “Is he still conscious?” I questioned, heading into the room he had disappeared into.
    “Barely.”
    A growl in the ceiling made me raise my head. “Be careful, Lockland.”
    Lockland met me in the doorway with a little boy about the age of seven. His creamy skin was dusted gray with ash and soot. He fought to keep his eyes open.
    “Hey, buddy, can you hear me?” I asked, remaining close to Lockland’s side as we hurried to get out. He needed oxygen the second we could get it to him.
    “Having dinner with friends,” the boy wheezed with a gasping cough.
    “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
    “No.” He shook his head.
    “You’re safe now, bud. We have you,” I assured, taking him when Lockland took his radio into hand. “Stay with us, okay? Stay awake.”
    “We found him, Chief.”
    The ceiling began to creak and moan, then Chief’s voice boomed through our radios. “All units evacuate immediately! Repeat, immediately!”
    After that everything appeared to happen at once, so fast it was like watching a TV screen set on fast-forward. The ceiling’s creaks turned to a loud whine as Lockland’s palms pushed into my back, lurching me forward and away from his side. I stumbled, hearing a roar behind me, and as I raised my head, bright orange flames illuminated Sam’s tall, broad frame as he headed in and took the boy, handing him to one of the guys on their way past. I snapped around, back toward Lockland. But I couldn’t see him. Instead, dust and smoke clouded the family room, making it almost impossible to see anything other than the orange glow of flame, now somewhat tamed by the fallen debris. “Lockland!” I yelled, jerking forward.
    Sam’s hand clutched my wrist. “Adan, stop!”
    I snapped my head toward