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Chapter 3

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn quickly to see Karmen behind me with the hose.
"Scott, I know this is hard but we need to concentrate for Shane, okay?"
"I know he's in here, Kar! I just know it" I said, using the nickname we'd given her as children.
You see, Karmen, Shane, and I all grew up together. We've been around each other since diaper days. Always best friends, inseperable even. So you can see why this particular fire rescue just rips our hearts apart. This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
I grab the hose from Karmen since I'm in front and she puts her left hand on the hose and her right forearm in the center of my back like they tought us in training.
"Are you crying, Kar?" I ask.
"No," she whispers, but I can tell she's lying to me.
"Karmen, it'll be okay," I promised though at the time I didn't know that it'd never be okay again.
I know this house backwards and forwards. We grew up here. We pass from the front room to the kitchen....nothing. Moving to the hallway, I kick in the first door to Shan's study. I still see nothing except the smoke billowing into the room. It is so hot in here, I remember thinking as I pick up a book and lunge it at the window to relaese some of the pressure from the room. The glass shatters and the smoke escapes just as I wish I could.
We move on to the next room, his guest bedroom. At this point, I'm frantic and Karmen can no longer control her tears. Nothing in the guest bedroom. The next room is his bedroom. I bust down that door and there's still no Shane.
Suddenly, I hear whimpering.
"Karmen, Do you hear that?" I ask breathlessly.
"Scott, it's Zoey!!" She yells in my ear.
Zoey is a beagle we rescued as teenagers. She seemed to take to Shane more so he kept her.
"I see her!" I scream as we run ahead.
She's scratching on the only door we haven't looked in yet, the basement.



Chapter 4

We kicked the door inn and run down the stairs as quickly as possible. He's down here a lot working on various projects so it makes sense that he'd be down here.
"I don't see---" Karmen starts.
"There!!" I shout as we run towards him.
He's lying on the ground, covered in debris. The smoke is only getting worse and I can hear him coughing quietly. We rush over to our best friend and try to clear the stuff off of his body.
Karmen grabs his hand and squeezes. She's trying to play the big female firefighter rol but I can tell that she's crumbling inside.
The fire is worsening. I call on my radio to tell Aaden to tell him that we found someone and that we're in the basement, which is one of the most dangerous places to be during a fire.
"Hold in there guys! I'm sending Noah and Koda to get you." He answers into the radio.
Karmen point to a portion of the ceiling to the right of where we're standing.
"No, Aaden! The floor is unstable. It'll fall through!" I'm yelling over the crackling of the fire and the creaking of the wood.
"Okay, you need to get out now!" he says.

"We can't! Shane is under something and we cannot get him out yet." I yell back desperately.
"Just hurry!" He says panicing.
We heard a low moaning sound that we soon realized was coming from Shane.
"Karmen," he says though we know he's struggling, "There's something I need to tell you before I die."
"Shane. You're not going to ---" She started to say but was cut off.
"I love you, Karmen! I always have. I just wanted you to know that before something happens." he says quickly.
"I love you too Shane." She says as she kissed his forehead.
I yelled at Karmen to grab Zoey and get out of the house.
"You can't ask me to do that Scott!" she wails.
"I;m not asking you Karmen! I'm telling you. Now go!" I didn't want to be so harsh with her but I needed to know she'd be safe.
"Scott..." She says looking back pleadingly "Be careful."
"I will, Kar! Now hurry!" I yelled back.
She ran up the stairs and grabbed Zoey and ran out the door.