Reign of Fire

"I can smell the fire coming," Captain Jake said, even before the alarms went off at the station. A minute later, the alarms blared. He was a seasoned fireman with years of experience and always knew when a fire was coming. Jake was a real hero, not like the fake comic book hero’s you see in the movies or television. Jake actually saves lives for a living.

The other firefighters looked at him, impressed.

“You always know dude. That’s some serious skill,” Tim said, and slapped Jake on the back.

They got the location from the captain and ran to their truck as the alarm blared, echoing through the fire station.

They started the engine and rushed to the late night emergency.

Its red lights piercing the night sky, they drove as fast as they could, weaving in and out of what little traffic there was at the late hour, the few cars that were on the road quickly swerving out of the way.

“I love being able to drive this fast,” Bill said. Some of the other men chuckled.

“Yah, what a rush,” Don said.

As they sped through the streets, the scent of burning grew stronger. The smell of gasoline started to permeate the air and Captain Jake knew that meant a gas leak or someone was using an accelerant.

“Step on it, the fire’s gotten significantly bigger, I can smell it. And there’s gas in the air,” Captain Jake shouted.

The fire engine screeched to a halt in front of a towering apartment building, its upper floors already engulfed in a raging inferno.

“Go, go, go,” Captain Jake shouted and while two fireman hooked up the hose and doused the billowing flames with water, the rest ran in to check for survivors including Captain Jake.

Most of the people managed to escape the burning apartment, but one fireman found a woman who was shouting that her baby and husband were still inside.

“Get her outside, I’ll find her husband and the child,” Captain Jake shouted.

Captain Jake heard the baby crying and was able to quickly find him. He grabbed the baby and quickly carried him outside.

“Did you find my husband?” The woman shouted.

"No. We're going back in!" Jake barked and pointed to two other fireman, Bill and Abe.

The three firemen ran inside, and as they were searching for the husband, Jake fell through the floorboards and his body loudly thumped on the floor below.

“Captain Jake,” Bill shouted. Bill and Abe jumped down the gaping hole to rescue their captain. They removed the clutter covering him and helped him up.

“Let’s go find her husband,” Jake shouted and ran back upstairs.

“Damn, where does his stamina come from?” Bill asked. Abe shrugged.

They followed closely behind Captain Jake, and heard him shouting “over here.” They threw a couple charred pieces of wood off the man, and Captain Jake picked the man up and carried him outside. Bill and Abe followed.

“Is this your husband, ma’am?” Captain Jake asked the woman.

She let out a sigh of relief and cried, “Yes. Thank you for saving him.”

They finished putting out the fire, then sat down and took a moment to breathe, removing their helmets and masks.

“That was good work, Captain,” Bill said, breathing heavily and wiping sweat off his forehead, but streaking ash from his fire proof glove across his face.

“Yes, sir, it was,” Abe agreed. Jake didn’t respond.

They turned to face Captain Jake, and he was gone.

“Jake must have gone back into the building. Everyone, gear back on, now. Find the Captain,” Bill shouted.

With axes in hand, they charged into the building, their hearts pounding. A thick layer of settling dust obscured their vision.

“Over here! Quick, I found someone," Bill shouted.

“Isn’t this where we found Captain Jake after he fell through the floorboard?” Abe asked.

The others gathered around Bill to see a charred corpse in a fireman’s uniform. Bill and Abe gently rolled the cooked corpse over and his name tag was still in tact. The others gasped as Bill read “Captain Jake.”

“Who carried out the woman’s husband?” Abe asked.

“It must of been Captain Jakes ghost. One last heroic deed,” Bill said.

Don sighed, and said “Ghosts aren’t real. One of you guys must have done it, and the rest of us mistook you for Captain Jake.”

“Shut up, Don,” Bill said.

They carried their captain to the fire truck and called the coroner. They saluted their captain as he was driven off.

All the firemen from the station attended Captain Jakes funeral, which was held two days later at Sundry Acres, who’s slogan was “We’ll bury anyone… for a price.”

“Who’s that sitting with Captain Jakes wife?” Abe asked, ignoring the monotone eulogist who was giving a boring speech.

Bill turned and the man in the fireman’s uniform smiled.

“Oh my god, that’s Captain Jake,” Bill said with a shaky but loud whispering voice.

As the others turned around, the man was gone.

“Very funny guys. Not really the time for jokes,” Don said.

“Oh come on, Captain Jake would have appreciated the humor,” Tim chimed in.

“No, we’re serious. He was there, right there,” Bill said, frantically waving his finger.

“We’re not kidding,” Abe said, sounding almost angry at the disbelief from Don.

“I believe you,” Tim said.

“Thank you, Tim,” Bill said.

“Uh-huh. To much smoke inhalation, you guys are crazy. Hallucinations,” Don said. Bill and Abe looked at each other, they knew what they saw.

“We know what we saw, Don,” Bill said angrily.

“Sssshhhh, be respectful. My husband is being buried,” Captain Jakes wife said.

And with that, not a word more was spoken of it.

The next day they were back to the station. Bill was now in charge, but he hadn’t officially been given the title of captain yet.

The fire alarms blared again and Bill picked up the phone to check to see where the fire was. The operator relayed the location, they got in their truck and headed to the building.

When they got to the building they saw several people in the windows shouting for help. They went inside and ran up the stairs. As they ascended the stairs, the fire roared with increasing ferocity.

They rescued the people inside, then ran in for one last check as the fire continued to blaze. The building collapsed on them, and none of them were able to get up.

“Who rescues the rescuers?” Bill asked, his eyes getting hazy. He saw someone remove the rubble on him and pick him up before briefly passing out.

He woke up outside, next to his truck to see his fellow fireman laying there too.

“How did we get outside?” Bill asked.

“No idea,” Don said. Tim shrugged.

“Look,” Abe pointed.

Captain Jake was standing over them and saluting.

“Believe us now, Don?” Bill asked as he stood up and saluted Captain Jakes ghost.

Abe stood up next and saluted, then Tim, then finally Don, his jaw still hanging in disbelief.

To this day, Captain Jakes spirit continued to follow the firemen wherever they went, and continued to help them whenever they were in a dangerous situation.