By the time they climbed to the seventh or eighth floor, everyone had begun to pant. Ren Yi could feel his sweat trickling down his chest, leaving an irritating, prickling sensation.
At that moment, Xu Jin’s voice came through the radio. “Ren Yi, what floor are you on?”
“The tenth floor.”
“I just got word that there may be people trapped in an elevator on the thirteenth floor.”
“Okay. I’ll send two people over.” Ren Yi had one squad leader from Wang Meng’s team take two men to check the elevator, while the others continued running upward.
This apartment building had two stairwells on both the east and west sides. Since the fire was closer to the west side, they went up through the east stairwell. After struggling their way to the twenty-first floor, everyone was panting heavily, their legs weak.
The twenty-first floor was already filled with smoke, but there were hardly any visible flames. Most of the fire was probably burning inside the suspended ceiling. Ren Yi leaned against the wall and crouched down, gasping, “Rest for twenty seconds.”
Ren Yi counted twenty seconds in his head, then gave orders. “Wang Meng, take them and connect the hoses. Liu Hui, come up with me and take a look.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ren Yi and Liu Hui put on their masks and followed the stairs to the twenty-second floor. Thick smoke billowed through the hallway, and flames raged fiercely. Ren Yi carefully opened the door to the stairwell landing, and a surging wave of heat rushed toward him, making every pore on his body stand on end.
Judging only from the stairwell entrance, they could still barely make their way into the east side. The west side, however, was a scene from hell, engulfed in red-black flames and smoke. No one knew what the situation inside was actually like.
Ren Yi had Liu Hui stay on the twenty-second floor while he went up to the twenty-third. The twenty-third floor wasn’t the floor where the fire had started, but it didn’t look much better than the twenty-second. As he made his way down, he asked, “Wang Meng, are the hoses connected?”
Wang Meng’s voice, mixed with static, came through his earpiece. “They’re connected.”
“We’ll split into two groups. You lead your team in searching the twenty-third floor. I’ll search the twenty-second. Everyone, set the low-air alarm on your SCBA to fifteen minutes. The moment it goes off, you must immediately evacuate the fire scene. Understood?”
“Yes.”
Ren Yi left two men behind to operate the fire hydrant valves. Carrying the hose himself, he was the first to charge into the fire.
The temperature inside was frighteningly high. Even wearing his protective firefighting gear, Ren Yi still felt as though his skin were about to be roasted off. Every pore on his body stung unbearably, and taking even one step forward required immense courage. He gritted his teeth. “Give me water.”
Once the hose was pressurized, the water pressure nearly knocked Ren Yi off his feet. Fortunately, Cui Yisheng grabbed the hose together with him. They swept the flames in the hallway with water, barely suppressing the fire and lowering the temperature before beginning their search, one apartment at a time.
There were six apartments on the east side, all fitted with standardized outward-opening security doors that were impossible to kick down. The firefighters pounded on the doors with all their strength and shouted, “Anyone there? Fire department!”
“There are people on the floor!” Ding Qing’s thermal imaging camera showed two prone figures.
They rushed over and found two people lying in the hallway. Their backs and arms were burned, but they still had pulses.
At that moment, a faint cry for help came from inside one of the apartments. They immediately used their tools to break down the door.
Liu Hui led a firefighter inside and found a father and son in the bathroom. The father was still conscious.
They carried the people they had rescued downstairs.
There was no response from the remaining apartments, so they could only pry open the doors one by one. Two apartments were empty. The occupants of the other two had already died. As for the westernmost apartment, because it was close to the point of origin, the heat radiation was too intense, causing the security door to deform severely. Even after two men worked at it for a long time, they still couldn’t pry it open.
Ren Yi decisively said, “Cut it open.”
They switched to a chainsaw and forcibly cut a hole in the security door just large enough for an adult to squeeze through.
After cutting through it, Ren Yi kicked open the wooden door inside. The apartment was already engulfed in flames, and they could barely see anything.
They pushed the water nozzle through the opening and sprayed into the apartment. Once the flames were brought under control, Ren Yi crawled through the hole and shouted at the same time, “Fire department! Is anyone here? Anyone!”
“Captain Ren, hurry! We can’t hold the fire back here!”
Ren Yi searched all three bedrooms and three living rooms. When he reached the final master bedroom, he crouched down and looked beneath the bed, where he found two children.
When a residential building catches fire, there are certain places where people are especially likely to attempt to escape or hide, such as windows, doorways, bathrooms, and underneath beds. These were all key areas in their searches. Children, in particular, were especially likely to hide under beds.
Ren Yi pulled the two unconscious children out and carried them, one tucked beneath each arm, then rushed toward the living room.
“Cover him! Cover him!” Liu Hui shouted. He and another firefighter carried the hose and sprayed water around Ren Yi.
Ren Yi reached the doorway and passed the two children out through the opening one after another before crawling out himself.
The firefighters carried the injured people downstairs one by one.
Ren Yi took several hard breaths. “Let’s push in from the west. Go as far as we can.”
They used the water streams as cover, trying to carve a path through the sea of flames. But the high-temperature steam produced when the water struck the fire made their situation even worse. They barely managed to find another apartment, and after struggling to get inside, they discovered it was empty.
“Captain Ren, the point of origin should be just ahead… It’s too hot. No one can get through anymore.” Ding Qing took out a temperature meter and extended his hand far away from his body. “It’s already over seven hundred degrees at this distance. It’s definitely over a thousand ahead. Even the doors have melted.”
The sound of glass shattering came from nearby. Immediately afterward, the suspended ceiling overhead creaked as it began to loosen.
“Retreat!” Ren Yi shouted.
Everyone ran back together, but the burning ceiling came crashing down onto Ding Qing.
They immediately sprayed water over Ding Qing while the others pulled him out from beneath the debris.
Ding Qing waved his hand. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”
Wang Meng’s voice came through. “Ren Yi, I need support here. Give up the twenty-second floor.”
Ren Yi looked at the fire scene, which was like hell on earth, and knew they truly could not advance another step.
“Ding Qing, your protective suit is burned through. Go downstairs.”
Ding Qing stood up and looked at it. “It’s just a little hole.”
“Go downstairs.”
“Captain Ren!” Ding Qing called out. “It didn’t burn through. It’s only the outer layer. I’m really fine!”
Ren Yi looked into Ding Qing’s resolute eyes, brighter even than the flames around them. He said in a deep voice, “Come on. Follow me to support Captain Wang.”
The situation on the twenty-third floor was somewhat better than on the twenty-second. The two squads under Wang Meng had already successfully rescued several people. However, pieces of suspended ceiling and plaster kept falling with loud cracks, making almost every spot a potential trap.
At this point, only six firefighters remained on the scene. Their SCBA alarms began going off one after another. Racing against time, they worked together to break through the doors of the final two apartments and finally completed the search of the entire floor.
Ren Yi gave the order. “Retreat.”
Everyone began heading downstairs. They had just gone down one floor when Xu Jin’s voice came through the radio.
“Ren Yi, Qian Yue found a household of eight people on the twenty-fourth floor. They need support.”
Ren Yi looked down at his SCBA. Less than five minutes remained.
“On our way.”
“Captain Ren…”
Ren Yi quickly said, “There is no fire below the twentieth floor. The six of you, keep two spare air cylinders. Give the rest to Captain Wang and me.”
Everyone looked at one another.
“Hurry!” Wang Meng urged.
Four of them removed their air cylinders and handed them to Ren Yi and Wang Meng.
Ren Yi said, “Go downstairs immediately!”
He and Wang Meng each carried two air cylinders and rushed up to the twenty-fourth floor.
Ren Yi switched channels. “Qian Yue, this is Ren Yi. Which side are you on?”
“The middle. Hurry! There are too many people in this household. There are four elderly people alone.”
After the two of them went up, they searched for their direction through the thick smoke. Finally, following the sound of voices, they found Qian Yue and the others.
Qian Yue was directing the firefighters as they carried people downstairs. They were severely short-handed. He shouted at Ren Yi, “Two of the elderly people have difficulty walking. You two have to carry them down!”
Ren Yi replaced his air cylinder. “Let’s go.”
At that moment, someone inside shouted, “Auntie, don’t take anything! Hurry and get out! Stop taking things!”
A young firefighter forcibly dragged a middle-aged woman out of the apartment.
Wang Meng watched the waves of flames overhead, which surged like a tide. “Flashover’s coming. We have to evacuate immediately!”
Ren Yi hoisted one of the elderly people onto his back, his calves trembling violently as they bore the enormous weight. Gritting his teeth, he made his way toward the stairwell.
“My bracelet! My bracelet!” the woman screamed hysterically.
“Do you want to die? Don’t take it! Get out!”
“Stop her—”
Suddenly, Ren Yi felt the floor beneath his feet violently shake. Before he could react, there was a deafening boom. He and Wang Meng were both thrown off balance and fell at the entrance to the stairwell.
Ren Yi scrambled back to his feet. His face was deathly pale. He and Wang Meng practically crawled and rolled their way back, but when they saw what was in front of them, both of them froze.
The floor had collapsed.
The floor of the twenty-fourth floor—the ceiling of the twenty-third—had fallen through, crashing through the ceiling of the twenty-second floor as well. A two-story-deep hole had appeared before them.
The people who had fallen were buried beneath the rubble and thick smoke, nowhere to be seen.
Qian Yue let out a shrill roar. The other firefighters nearly went mad as well. They shouted their comrades’ names while ripping off the ropes from their bodies, intending to climb down and rescue them.
Ren Yi grabbed Qian Yue and held him back. “Qian Yue, calm down. You can’t go down from here. It’s not safe!”
“Let go of me! Xiao Zhou is down there!” Qian Yue shoved Ren Yi away.
“Go down from the twenty-third floor! It’s too high from here!” Ren Yi shouted. “Qian Yue!”
Qian Yue ripped off his mask, violently wiped away his tears, and said in a trembling voice, “G-go downstairs.”
Ren Yi grabbed the radio. “Captain Chang, the twenty-third floor needs support. The floor has collapsed and a firefighter has been injured. We need support!”
“Received.”
Qian Yue choked back a sob. “Ren Yi, get the injured people downstairs quickly. I’m going to save my people.”
Ren Yi said sternly, “Qian Yue, don’t act rashly. Wait for the rescue team.”
Qian Yue didn’t answer. He quickly led two men downstairs.
Ren Yi and the others carried the trapped people on their backs and struggled their way downstairs.
When they finally reached the ground and handed the rescued people over to the emergency medical personnel, Ren Yi’s legs suddenly gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground. For a long time, he couldn’t get back up.
Several people came over to help him.
Ren Yi removed his mask and waved them off. “Let me sit for a while. How is Captain Qian’s side?”
Cui Yisheng shook his head. “I don’t know. What exactly happened up there?”
“The floor collapsed. A young firefighter was…” Ren Yi’s voice trembled more and more, until he could barely continue.
Everyone fell silent.
“Ren Yi.”
A steady, clear voice sounded beside Ren Yi’s ear. It was like a cool touch entering the scorching heat. Even if only for an instant, it eased the pain.
Ren Yi raised his head and saw Gong Yingxian standing in front of him. He was bent slightly at the waist, the afterglow of the setting sun falling from behind him, making his handsome face alternately light and shadowed. Ren Yi didn’t know whether the worry and heaviness on his face were merely enhanced by the interplay of light and shadow.
Ren Yi stared blankly at Gong Yingxian. His eyes suddenly grew hot, and he unexpectedly felt an urge to cry.
He really wanted to cry. He had watched a young firefighter get buried beneath the rubble, his life or death still unknown. But he was the commander. He couldn’t cry. Yet when he faced Gong Yingxian, he suddenly felt an urge he could barely suppress.
What was wrong with him?
Gong Yingxian crouched down and handed him a bottle of water. In a low voice, he asked, “Are you okay?”
Ren Yi nodded. He took the water and drank in huge gulps, downing the entire bottle in one breath. Then he tossed the empty bottle aside and shook his head.
“No.”
Gong Yingxian looked up at the high-rise building. “I know what’s inside there.”
“…”
“I’ve been in there before.”
Ren Yi knew what Gong Yingxian was talking about. He opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say.
He thought of the two children he had just rescued. Back then, had Gong Yingxian also been like them, helpless and terrified as he hid beneath a bed?
Why? Why did tragedies like this have to happen again and again?!
Gong Yingxian extended his hand toward Ren Yi. “Get up. No matter who did this, I will find out the truth.”
Ren Yi stared blankly for a moment before grasping Gong Yingxian’s hand in return. Gong Yingxian pulled him up from the ground.
Ren Yi could feel the strength coming from Gong Yingxian’s hand—powerful, solid strength that gave him a faint sense of reassurance.
Gong Yingxian gazed deeply at Ren Yi.
“We’ll find out the truth together.”