Bruce Garrison dashed inside the burning office building and gave little to no regard for his own safety. His 6ft 4inch frame darted about glow of the inferno. He kicked down doors, peeked inside, and called out; "Hello...is anybody here!" Even if someone answered he could barely hear it because of the crackling wood, flickering flames and shattering glass. Nevertheless he persisted until he kicked down a broom closet door and discovered three people huddled and sitting on the floor with their arms wrapped around their knees.
"Oh thank god...thank god you found us," an elderly man cried.
"Come on people; thank me when you're out of here," Bruce shouted.
The heroic firefighter calmly guided the three people down the burning staircase, however a small frame woman collapsed in the lobby. He lifted her into his arms and carried her out into the cool night air, just as the sound of the roof caved in and several floors crashed down to the lobby.
"Good job Garrison, that was a close call," Captain Barrios cried as Bruce lowered the unconscious woman down on to ambulance cot. "Hey kid, that was fantastic timing." Barrios exclaimed as he slapped his hand down on the younger man's shoulder.
"Yeah, it looks like we just go out in time."
"Excuse me...excuse me captain, but I think someone's still in there," the elderly man cried who Bruce just led out the building.
"Say what," Bruce fired back.
"I think Gina Roman might still be in there," the man cried.
"Where," the captain questioned.
"One of the secretaries said she went down to the basement supply room."
"Are you sure," Garrison asked.
"No one's seen her. I guess she might've got out but I don't think she'd have gone home."
"Damn," Bruce snapped under his breath.
At that moment, a large explosion occurred and literally rocked the ground beneath them. Witnesses dashed and darted about as small fiery ambers, glass, and debris rained down upon them.
Barrios turned toward the young firefighter and exclaimed, "Don't back in there kid. That basement is filled with flammable chemicals. That explosion tells me that the fire's reached the storage area and if that's the case, then I expect a lot bigger blasts than that."
Garrison...Garrison don't go back in there kid, not this time," Barrios sighed and shook his head.
"Hey chief...what's Garrison doing," two firefighters shout and point to their friend as they saw him rush back into the burning building.
"What Garrison does, being bull-headed."
"But they said the place was clear,' the man asked.
"One of the supervisors said there was someone else still inside."
"Damn, you didn't tell him about the explosive chemicals?"
"Like that's gonna stop him; come on Davis, you two know better than I do. That boy's got the heart of a lion and the persistence of a pit-bull. Captain Barrios shook his head once again. This wasn't the first time the young man rushed in to a dangerous situation foolishly. He only hoped that this time it wouldn't be his last.
With nerves of steel, the powerful firefighter marched through the inferno. He never blinked as a large burning beam fell down and blocked his path. Without hesitation, he raised his large axe and spit the wooden beam in half, then kicked it away. As he reached the stairwell door, he noticed the steel doorknob dripped and melted under the extreme heat of the fire. Once again he raised his axe, and brought it down the center of the door and in one swift motion he kicked the door and turned away as the air rushed from the downstairs area and turned the upstairs area into a blow torch.
Bruce took a long deep sigh, shook his head, gritted his teeth and made his way down to the basement. Half way down one of the steps cracked under his weight and he struggled to maintain his balance. He reached the basement floor with a wall of flames literally in hot pursuit.
"Hey...is anyone down here...Gina...are you down here!"
He titled his head and listened carefully, and when he didn't hear a response he attempted to shout louder, however the heavy smoke quickly filled his lungs and instead of a shout, he began to cough.
As he moved down a long, dark corridor, the light from the fire at a distance, he needed his flashlight to guide him along the way. Upon reaching the end of the corridor he heard a faint whimper.
"Hey...Gina...Gina Roman, are you in there?"
Once again he listened carefully but when no answer came, he turned and began to leave when he heard the whimpering sound again. He jump-hopped and kicked open the door. The sight of the young woman pended cattycorner at the far end of the room almost startled him.
"Hey come on; we gotta go and quickly." He extended his hand but the woman refused to move. "Hey lady let's get a move on huh, we don't have time for milk and cookies."
Finally it hit the gallant fireman that the woman was in shock. Quickly he made his way over to her; took her by the hand and attempted to lead her out when suddenly she began to scream at the top of her lungs.
"No...no...we're gonna die, we're gonna die!"
"Hey lady, take it easy, we'll be okay but we must leave now," Bruce shouted. Unfortunately the woman couldn't hear him in her panicky state.
"Gina please calm down, we need to get out of here." He extended his hand only to have the frantic woman lash out and scratch his face.
"Damnit woman, we don't have time for this!"
The woman lashed out once more, however this time the powerfully built firefighter, caught her hand and delivered a slap to the woman's face which caused her to crumble to her knees.
In one swift motion, Bruce flipped the woman over his shoulder and rushed back into the corridor.
He made it a few feet before the flames which had now totally engulfed the path ahead of him. "Oh shit...this looks bad, really bad!"
Bruce glanced around and had to come to grips that there was no other exit. At that moment the woman broke free and fell to the floor. She screamed in terror and dashed back inside the room and closed the door behind her.
"Hey...hey Gina open up, Gina open the damn door," Bruce shouted. He examined the heavy metal door and discovered there was a second lock. Aiming his axe he slammed it forward, effectively slicing open the lock. He stepped inside the room and slammed the door behind him. "Lady get a grip, oh shit," he shouted as he ducked away from a glass thrown toward him.
"Alright goddamnit...that's it," Bruce took a long stride across the room, took the woman into his arms and slammed against the wall. "Alright you looney bitch, the courtesy gloves are off. Now either you come to your senses or I'm gonna take this axe handle and shove it down your goddamn throat."
"We're gonna die...don't you understand...we are both going to die!"
"Hold together lady, we're not gonna die, not if we..."
The sound of the explosion rocked the building and sent the roof down on the unsuspecting firefighter.
Bruce was unable to recall how long he lost his conscious but as he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a throbbing pain in his legs and a pounding pain in his head.
"What...what's happening?"
"Lay still, don't try to move."
"Aarrggh...shit, I can't move even if I wanted to, my legs feel so...heavy."
