Harry's Game · Page 25

The captain draws everyone to one section of the room and as food and drink is served he begins with a question.

"All right, anyone, what did we do well out there?"

"Using dirt instead of water, particularly when the oil got into the picture. The idea of having some sacks of dirt with our gear is probably important, even though they'll be heavy."

"Right," someone adds. "And that bit about clearing a dirt area around the fire was significant. I noticed sometimes the flames spread across the ground cover, but it always stopped when it hit the dirt. A lot of the homes, particularly, in the city have gardens or lawns behind them, and if the building is burning it might be good to create such a space to contain the fire."

"Anything else that we did well?"

...

"O.K., what could we do better?"

There is a moment of silence after this one, but then one of the women ventures, "I'm not sure, but I wasn't really certain what I should be doing sometimes. I think that might have been because you wanted to see what we would do, but we were expecting some sort of chain of command. I realize that's not always going to be there--we've got a commander on every shift, but he can't be everywhere at once, and anyway it could easily get confused if, like, Commander John was on shift but Captain Peter reached the fire at the same time as the duty crew. So I think we need a better idea of how jobs are organized, so we know how to fall into our own place in the work when it happens."

"Yes," Peter says, "that could be tricky, and particularly because we can't afford to say that for example Joseph is going to be responsible for bringing the wagon and then have no one do it because Joseph isn't there. It's got to be set up so that everyone knows what the important things are, and that we can each check what is being done and fall to the next job on the list. We also need to communicate. If Joseph goes to find water, it might be that no one knows he's gone to do that, and then we've got someone else doing the same job when we've got other jobs to do. But that's something to consider. What else?"

--M. J. Young

At this point, all I can do is take notes and compare with the Captain as things develop. This level of organization is actually higher than I ever got in my brief stint at the fire academy, but I'm sure as hell not letting that on to them.

You would think that kind of thing would be fairly easy if you could break down everything we need for a fire into five or six groups, and have one person on each shift responsible for each group. Sort of lay it out like a grid, and just put in people's names, so you know that on the third watch Jane is getting the wagons together, on the first watch Matt is getting the sandbags, and whenever she comes in Tarah is in charge of crowd control. I make a note about that, too, but for now I'm doing my silent observer thing.

The discussion continues until after lunch, when the captain assigns people to return equipment to the office, focusing on those who are actually scheduled on shift at the moment and those who are expected to report for duty this evening (whom he says can take the stuff home as long as they bring it when they report tonight). The Captain was on duty overnight, and I believe you are on duty now, so you will be expected to help return some of the gear to the office.

Anything else?

--M. J. Young

Not really.

It looks like the next big thing will be the next time we get together to practice, which will include implementing everything we just said in terms of organization and command structure.

Before that, I'm going to need to speak with the Captain and present my idea of a duty chart, perhaps to be posted on the wall? I mean, literacy is the standard now, what with movable print and factories and such, right?

Yes to literacy and to movable type. The factories are very primitive--generally water-powered cloth manufacture and lumber and a very few other industries, with most manufactured goods being hand crafted. There are no interchangeable parts, for example, and so no assembly lines for guns or carriages or furniture. But literacy is pretty high, probably somewhat above the average American high school (O.K., that's a dig, sorry--but I do remember reading somewhere that literacy rates in this country were higher in the late nineteenth century than in the late twentieth).

You get to see the captain almost every day when you start shift, because you're his relief. If you want to talk to him, the courteous thing to do would be to come in early tomorrow. I'll assume you do that. I recall, though, that you've only got about four to five people per shift, in constant rotation, so your duty roster idea is going to have to be thought through a bit before you discuss it with him, yes?

Oh, and paper is not terribly cheap.

--M. J. Young

That's actually true about the literacy rates. My personal hero John Caldwell Holt cites a study wherein before mandatory schooling was introduced, the USA carried something like a 90 percent literacy rate. That rate dropped a little bit every year thereafter. He was writing several decades ago, and that study showed the lowest was around the time of Vietnam, when the US Army had to turn away close to one-third of its volunteers because they couldn't be trusted to read the safety instructions on their weapons or decipher written orders (the standard was around a third-grade reading level).

I will indeed go in a bit early, and propose the outlines of the idea. The Captain has been good enough so far to help me turn my half-baked ideas into things rather tasty, so we'll see what he makes of this, the idea of assigning each person on each shift a duty - maybe not a constant duty (Matt won't necessarily be on bucket duty every night), since our duty shifts aren't that static, but at least a way for everyone to know who's doing what, and to make sure nothing absurd happens (like 4' 10" Tarah being assigned to loading the wagons, for instance).

As for paper, it doesn't have to be. I have a couple of journals I brought with me from home that I can write in, and posting the duty roster would be better done on something akin to a chalkboard anyway, and technologically those should be common as rocks.

It seems that a sheet of slate large enough to do what you want would be prohibitively expensive in Durnmist, as it would have to be imported probably from New Tempest or Moon of Korg. Slates produced in Durnmist tend to be very small, maybe nine by twelve inches, used mostly for school children to practice handwriting. Lime chalk is cheap enough, so it should work reasonably well if you can get a slate.

But he agrees that the idea has merit; and there wouldn't have to be any particular regularity to the system. As long as every member of the crew is trained in every area, and there are written checklists (which could be painted on wood or stone easily enough) it would be simple enough for the incoming supervisor to indicate who has which responsibilities when he takes over the shift. Thus when you're supervisor, you can write, "John: buckets. Mary: wagons.", adding whatever else based on who you have working that shift. Maybe paint a permanent grid with the jobs listed, so only the names have to be assigned.

The one glitch he sees is that since the number of people assigned to a shift varies slightly, sometimes one person might have two jobs. While that's not a problem in itself, that person might overlook one of the two jobs if he glanced at the board to find his job and didn't read further. But since the crews are small, it's just a matter of the shift supervisor putting the names on the board and telling each person his job or jobs at the start.

Advantages of this approach include that supervisors can take into account such factors as that particular members like or are good at particular jobs, or everyone has to get a turn at the jobs no one wants, or whatever.

But the slate is still a problem.

--M. J. Young

We don't need a proper slate - actual slate is a luxury. Any local stone that can be cut to a flat but rough surface will serve in a pinch - a laminate-thin layer of granite, for instance - provided we can get chalk in a color that produces a decent contrast, so as not to be painful on the eyes. We might be better off writing in charcoal if all we can come by easily is light-colored stone - black on white isn't as stark as yellow on black, but it's better than nothing. Alternatively, we could paint up the jobs like he suggested, and then put pegs on the walls to hang writing slates for the names from, if that would be cheaper than a stone wall (which it probably would). And we could simply make sure that when one person was assigned two jobs, the supervisor puts a star next to that person's name on each slate, so even a cursory glance will tell that person they need to look closer because they're up there twice.

The captain likes the boards idea. He suggests a row of six or seven pegs (you never have seven on duty, but it's better to have the extra pegs), and a set of boards with each member's name, plus a set with each job. Hang the names on the pegs, and then hang the jobs on the names; make it so that you can hang jobs below jobs, so that you can double them that way.

Which means that the only point that remains is to define the jobs and give them names. "Run over them again for me, would you?" the captain asks. "Let's make sure we know what has to be done, and how the tasks should be divided."

--M. J. Young

I'm going from pure memory here, so if I list something we don't have or neglect something we do, please correct me:

Jobs:
Tools and supplies in the wagons. Tool Maintenance will be something everyone contributes to.
Dirt and/or Water wagons filled.
Animal care.
Listening for the Whistle (we do need someone listening for our whistles, after all).
Crowd Control Supervisor.

As for the problem of who's in command at any given time: If a fire is called in, the person serving as Chief of the Watch is in command for that fire, period. If that means Tarah is the highest-ranked person when the calls comes in, and the Captain and I join her on-scene, it's her show, period. If others join us on-scene, they should check in with the highest-ranked person they can find within one minute of arriving on scene, who will then direct them to the Chief of the Watch. (Obviously this means only highly qualified people can serve as Chiefs of the Watch. For this first crop it won't matter - the Captain and I are on hand most of the time, and there must be one other who is good enough. After this, this first crop will become good enough that any of them could, and then they'll train others, and so forth.)

Yes, the shifts were established with a view to having a "senior" on each shift. My recollection is that there are six "seniors", including your captain and yourself.

I'm going to put some names to your crew. In addition to Captain Peter and yourself (Commander John), you have Tarah and Matt from your own division, plus eight transfers from other divisions:

Joelle
Colleen
Lars
Brandy
Laws
Roy
Nellie
Ben

And three new "green" recruits:

Adam
Marco
Albert

And although you can't see it here, I've put quite a bit of time into setting up the schedule. I'll see if I can copy part of it here:
DCp. Petery: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

12 to 8 Cp. Peter Cp. Peter Cp. Peter Matt Matt Matt Cm. John Cm. John Cm. John Cm. John Cm. John Tarah Tarah Tarah
Colleen Joelle Joelle Joelle Joelle Joelle Matt Matt Brandy Brandy Brandy Brandy Brandy Lars
Nellie Nellie Nellie Nellie Roy Roy Roy Roy Roy Lars Lars Lars Lars Laws
Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Marco Marco Albert Albert Albert Albert Albert Adam Adam
Marco Marco Marco

8 to 4 Cm. John Cm. John Cm. John Cm. John Cm. John Tarah Tarah Tarah Tarah Tarah Cp. Peter Cp. Peter Cp. Peter Cp. Peter
Matt Matt Brandy Brandy Brandy Brandy Brandy Lars Colleen Colleen Colleen Colleen Colleen Joelle
Roy Roy Roy Lars Lars Lars Lars Laws Laws Laws Laws Laws Nellie Nellie
Marco Albert Albert Albert Albert Albert Adam Adam Adam Adam Adam Nellie Ben Ben

4 to 12 Tarah Tarah Tarah Tarah Cp. Peter Cp. Peter Cp. Peter Cp. Peter Cp. Peter Matt Matt Matt Cm. John Cm. John
Lars Lars Colleen Colleen Colleen Colleen Colleen Joelle Joelle Joelle Joelle Joelle Matt Matt
Brandy Laws Laws Laws Laws Laws Nellie Nellie Nellie Nellie Roy Roy Roy Roy
Adam Adam Adam Adam Adam Nellie Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Marco Marco Albert
Marco Marco Marco

Here's hoping that works, but I need to turn my attention elsewhere.

--M. J. Young

That obviously did not work; and I can't do tables here, so I can't fix it. I'll consider how to set it up in a readable format later.

--M. J. Young

If all else fails just email it to me as a spreadsheet. I can read Excel.

The schedule is posted as Harry's Firefighter Schedule for reference. You had your training on Saturday, which was Day 6; which I perceive was actually your day off.

On day 10 you work the midnight shift, and when it is over you realize the necessity of performing your rest ritual. I do not recall whether you have established holy ground in your office or whether you go home for this; that will make a difference in the unfolding of events over the long term.

--M. J. Young

I do recall mentioning wanting to bless my office. It's been long enough by now that I probably should have.

Also I want to be on record that I have checked in with the matchmaker before the time of our first fire - it is known that I am back in town before that event.

You have just settled into your rest ritual when Adam slams into your room, interrupting you. (It is day 10, and you were watch leader until eight this morning; it's about nine now.)

"Sir? Sorry, sir. We've got a fire."

--M. J. Young

Well, shit...

I can't very well finish my ritual this way.

But I don't entirely have to.

"Who is Watch Commander for this shift?" I ask him, "I thought Tarah took the Watch an hour ago." I try not to sound cranky but it will probably come of that way.

"Oh--uh, yes, sir. Tarah is organizing everything." Even as he says it, you hear the whistle being blown outside. "Tarah is organizing everything," he repeats. "The wagons are loaded. The fire is about three blocks away, and she wants to know whether you will send others there who report here, or whether she should leave one of us behind for that."

--M. J. Young

I sigh. It would be nice to stay behind and direct the stragglers, but no.

"I'll go along. It's her fire, but this is our first outing and this whole damn thing is my project. I need to be there."

Not for the first time, I am glad this world has coffee.

I'll go with Adam downstairs to the main floor to find Tarah, and ask her who she wants to stay behind. This will be the first test of our system, along with the first test of their training.

"Good question. Adam's green, and as much as I'd like to give him the chance to fight this, if we leave him we've got you, me, Colleen, and Laws--they're both transfers from other divisions, and Colleen knows the area where the fire is--she worked that district. So I'm thinking we leave Adam to tell others. Hopefully someone else will show, but it's not that promising at this hour--people from your shift are probably already going to bed, and people from the evening shift probably aren't up yet, so really we're probably hoping that a few of the people who are off today get here."

She's double checking the wagon, and says to Laws, "Take it and go; we're right behind you. Colleen, go with him, and scout for water."

At that moment, Brandy and Albert arrive, tired from being up all night with you but ready to work. "Who's in charge?" Brandy asks.

"I am," Tarah says without hesitation. "Albert, I want you to relieve Adam; your job is to send people to the address of the fire. Give it about fifteen minutes, and then get out there yourself.

"That's all right with you, isn't it?" she asks you. "Albert's green, too, but he's been up all night, so I'd rather have Adam on the site."

In a few minutes, she's out the door, and calls to Roy who is coming down the street: "To your right, three blocks up." He waves in response, and turns toward the fire.

By the time you get there, you have Tarah, Roy, Adam, Colleen, Laws, and Brandy, seven including you. Colleen has found the nearest pump, and has started filling buckets.

The building is a tavern; the pump is in the back yard, which is unpaved and mostly dry grass. There's about twenty yards from pump to building, and they've managed to bring the wagon around back for easy access to the dirt and the water. The fire has gone up the one side of the building, probably starting in the kitchen.

--M. J. Young

I agree with Tarah's original assessment - bright girl, I knew I chose her on purpose - and how she takes charge like that makes me grin without even thinking about it. If I weren't already engaged... Ah, well.

I agree with her second assessment, too. "You don't have to ask me if it's alright. It's your fire. But since you asked, yes, I see your logic."

When she goes, I'll be right with her.

Since Colleen has started with the buckets, I'll ask Tarah what she wants me doing. Bailing buckets is most likely, but it's her show. If she wants me on crowd control or sanding over the dry grass, or searching the place for trapped survivors, it's her call not mine, that's how we do things here.

She gives you a very serious look.

"Someone--someone who can understand what he's looking at--should go in, probably through the front door, and see where this fire is on the inside and what sort of dangers we're facing. If it hits the whiskey and rum, it's going to be an entirely different sort of problem than if it's just the grease from the kitchen and the wooden wall over here. Part of me thinks I should do that; but I'm responsible for telling people what to do. So that means I need you to do it--but not alone. Take someone with you to watch your back."

--M. J. Young

I'll take Brandy with me. Why? Because I know all of these people about evenly, I haven't been told anything about their specific abilities (does Colleen have a particular eye for detail? did Roy have an uncle who used to be a bartender? I don't know) and having someone named Brandy watching my back in a tavern amuses me in a bizarre sort of way.

So in I go, with a shanghaied cohort at my side.

Totally mooching an axe off the equipment cart first, though. You really can't discount how handy an axe is in a fire. And helmets, too, if we're not already wearing them. Cracked on the head by falling debris is not how I plan on Versing out of here. Three years of ridiculous risks, two pirate ships taken at swordpoint, and I'm still bloody here. I suppose it could be worse..

Mind on the job, Sevenwind. No getting yourself killed on your first mission. Right, here we go, in the front door and work our way back toward the kitchen.

Don't most bars keep their stock in the basement? Which means there's a fiery - but thankfully not explosive, alcohol is not explosive - firebomb possibly right beneath our feet? Wonderful.

Brandy similarly dons hat and axe, and is right behind you. "How do we do this?" she asks.

Yes, kegs are kept in the basement, where they will be kept cooler, along with crates of bottles. Open bottles for quick service and a couple of open kegs are kept in the bar, which is the front room as you enter. There is a coat room to your right, but there are only two stray coats in it, probably forgotten by drunken patrons last night. There was a breakfast group this morning, but hardly what would be called a crowd, and the day was fairly warm so they didn't have coats.

The open space that is the bar shows no signs of trouble but for smoke coming through the closed swinging door to the left rear, beyond the bar proper. The mirror behind the bottles on the wall is starting to warp from heat. This room is warm but not hot; the back door leads into it through a hallway by a stairway, and there is a second floor balcony wide enough to sport extra tables. There are probably rooms off the hall, but not more than two large or four small ones, probably used for private dining. This room is of course a bit crowded with the empty tables and chairs. Outhouses are to the rear, and the right wall past the coat room is windowed, as is the front wall to the left and down past the bar. The kitchen appears to be in the left rear of the building, probably two-thirds of the depth. You don't see a door to the basement from here, but it's either in the floor behind the bar or back in the kitchen.

--M. J. Young

"Let's not get separated," I say, "Stay together." I'll go over and look behind the bar to see if there is a door to the basement there. Not that I want to go to the basement, but it would be good to know. Then again, if the fire were in the basement, and there were a door to the basement there, there would be smoke in this room, so either there is no door, or there is a door but there's no fire down there.

Still, I look.

It's too bad there are no radios here. It would be nice to tell somebody where the fire is.

"Fire's in the kitchen. We leave it sealed as long as possible. Sweep the first floor for survivors, front to back, and then if it's safe we'll go upstairs. If they don't have i all locked down by then, we'll go out and tell the others what we've found," I nod to the warping mirror, "Make sure Tarah knows where to get them focusing."

You and Brandy check the coat room, sweep through the dining room, check the back rooms, all of those areas vacated. Then you get up the stairs to the upper level.

The upper level appears not to have been open to customers at the time the blaze started, but the tables are set for the lunch crowd. Down the far end over the kitchen smoke coming up through the floorboards--and there is a girl lying there, possibly overcome by the smoke, in the area above the kitchen.

--M. J. Young

I really should have remembered this. Damn it. Come on. I've played enough D&D, this is inexcusable. I've left out a commonplace adventuring item. I'm not carrying any rope. Damn it.

Alright. Next best thing. Ideas..

How sound are the floorboards around her?
How far is she from the nearest wall?
How structurally sound is said wall?
How much lighter than I am is Brandy really?
Did Brandy think to bring any rope?
What are the odds I could TK Pulse the girl out of there? How many pulses would it take?

Well, the situation is nearly as bad as anticipated.

How sound are the floorboards around her?

There's smoke over there, and quite a bit--it might be that she was overcome by the smoke before she realized that it was more than merely the smell of being above the kitchen. You can't really tell with certainty how bad it is.

How far is she from the nearest wall?

We're looking at a section of dining room that extends over the kitchen and the front of the house. She's probably ten yards from you and five yards from the far wall, and pretty much in the middle of this section of the room, halfway between the front and back walls of the building.

How structurally sound is said wall?

The nearest wall is the one that is already showing the fire outside--the one on that side is where Tarah is focusing her assault. The front and back walls are probably still quite sound, but they're some distance from the girl.

How much lighter than I am is Brandy really?

My sheet makes you 260# (6'1"). I would wager Brandy is at least a hundred pounds less than that, probably between 130 and 150, and the gear you have is nowhere near the weight of modern fire gear. So she's the lighter one here. On the other hand, you're the stronger.

Did Brandy think to bring any rope?

You outlined the needed equipment; she's got what you suggested. (I agree that rope is definitely an oversight for an experienced adventurer, particularly one with skill in knots from having worked on a ship--but in this particular case, the circumstances are such that I'll have to go with what you said.)

What are the odds I could TK Pulse the girl out of there? How many pulses would it take?

Your experience with TK pulse suggest that it works maybe two times in five, and that it botches maybe one time in twenty. I don't know that you've ever used it on an inert body before; you've used it on people in combat to throw them off balance, and shifted them an inch or two, but you might get enough of a push to move her a foot, maybe more. Also, you don't know her level of consciousness; shaking her might awaken her, in which case she might be able to move herself your direction.

--M. J. Young

I was kindof hoping she was near enough to a wall that I could sink an axe into the wall to use as a gripping point to support myself if the floor gave. Oh well.

I'd like to think working at sea for two years would have lost me some weight, or at least converted it into muscle. I'm hoping I'm a much more solidly built 260lbs after these years of much leaner eating and military scheduling, even if I didn't spend my time hauling ropes.

"Brandy, put down everything that isn't vital and see if you can get over to her. Figure out if she's alive, and see if you can get her back this way.
I outweigh you by close to a hundred pounds, so you're less likely to have trouble. Go slow, and if it feels like the floor isn't sturdy enough, get your ass back here on the double. And next time don't let me come into a building without some goddamn rope."

If she's not carrying one, I'll give her a bit of cloth to cover her mouth and nose with. It occurs to me that someone with two years at sea wouldn't leave home without a bandanna. Ah the things in-character experience teaches me that not having those experiences OOC would have me overlook.

While she does that, I am going to try to TK Pulse the girl towards us. She might be shaken awake. At the very least she's likely to be easier for brandy to get to. And at least according to D&D logic, the unconscious always count as willing, so hopefully she won't be resisting like those pirates.

As Brandy creeps out that direction, you focus your mind on the girl and nudge--and get nothing. You try again, and this time you roll her a quarter turn toward you.

Brandy startles. "She moved," she says.

I've rolled more successes and failures for the TK pulse, but I'll ask you to respond to this first.

--M. J. Young

"Doesn't mean she doesn't still need help," I say, "Trust me."

It occurs to me that firefighting is dangerous. I need to prepare a spell to maintain the 'freshness' of a burning floor. Fire is an oxidation reaction, after all, same as rot or rust. It should work... But not on the spot, and not when trying to focus on that means I won't be looking if Brandy suddenly needs a timely TK Pulse.

On ten attempts (including the first two) you manage to nudge the waitress four times (including the one mentioned). Of those successes, the first and third are the best, rolling her a quarter turn each, the other two shifting her slightly. She has by this point rolled over three quarters of a turn, and groaned once.

That groan has let Brandy know that she is alive. It has taken ten minutes for her to reach her (the last of your successes occurring as she arrives), crawling on her belly to spread the weight across the floor, while holding that scarf over her face.

"Come on, girl," you hear her say. "We've got to get you out of here. Boy, I wish we had a rope. Harry, how come you didn't think of rope? Yeah, blame it on the man, right? Brandy, why didn't you think of rope?"

She shifts the girl and tries to grab under the shoulders, but she can't lift the girl.

"Harry," she calls, "the floor doesn't feel that bad, but I don't think I can carry the girl out. Advice?"

--M. J. Young

John, not Harry. I'm John Caldwell Sevenwind in this world.

Ten minutes strikes me as far too long - the floor would've burned through by now if we were right over the fire. This gives me some confidence as to what's going on below: either the others have gotten ahead of it and the fire isn't spreading as hot any more, or the fire in the room below isn't getting enough oxygen, in which case gods do I hope they don't think to breach it - the resulting flashover would kill whoever did it, and if there's any flour barrels in the kitchen, the subsequent dust explosion would probably kill us all.

"Stay flat. Move back to arm's length, then drag her a few inches. Shuffle, then drag. I'll come out to join you if you think it's safe."

If she says it's alright, I'll lay flat and shuffle out to join her, thankful my grandfather taught me that Army crawl they do. I suck at it, but it's a better way of moving than just an untrained shuffle. Between the two of us we should be able to nudge her onto ground solid enough to stand on.

Sorry--it does say that on your character paper, but I don't always remember and I don't always check. I should be used to it--I had a guy call himself Kaiser Sodzhe for several worlds, and had to remember that none of the indigs had any clue that that was not his real name. It was an interesting reminder to everyone that you are who you pretend to be in these worlds, because usually no one can prove otherwise.

Ten minutes strikes me as far too long - the floor would've burned through by now if we were right over the fire.

So, how good are you at this B1@2 Belly Crawl skill? I'll want to give you an SAL. You manage to get out to join them either way, as it's not that difficult a task and your bias is pretty high.

--M. J. Young

I'm going to be generous and say 1@7. I'm practiced, but not exactly good if you follow my meaning.

As you attempt to belly crawl across the floor, the mining helmet keeps getting in the way--it falls off twice, largely because you can't really twist your neck high enough to keep it in place while keeping your weight spread across your chest, arms, and legs. It takes a long time for you to get to Brandy and the girl.

There is definitely more smoke over here, and it's much hotter. Brandy has in the time you've been coming made a couple feet of progress, but nowhere near what is needed.

"I don't know if we can get out of here that way," she says. "I'm thinking maybe we need to get one of us under each of her arms, then get as much of a deep breath as we can, get our feet under us, and move as quickly as we can back toward the stairs. Of course, you're the expert here. How does that sound to you?"

--M. J. Young

"Sounds like it will work, provided the floor holds us. It seems pretty solid... Let's give it a shot. If we waste time crawling we'll fall through for sure. At least your way there's a chance of it working."

You and Brandy get under the arms of the unconscious waitress, and together on your mark you lift her and drag her out of the balcony area to the stairs.

Flames are starting to show along the wall at the far end of the room.

--M. J. Young

Bugger! I really wish I actually knew the right way to carry someone over my shoulders. Two years at sea and I still don't think I'm strong enough to actually carry her dead weight alone.

"We have to get her down the stairs. I'll take her shoulders, you take her feet, and we'll get her outside, alright? We have to get the hell out of this building. Ready?"

I wait for Brandy to be ready, get my arms under the girl's shoulders, and on three, hoist. Let Brandy go first.

It's not a light load nor an easy task, but you lift the girl as Brandy supports the legs and leads the way down the stairs and to the back door. (Unless you've got a sling of some sort for that axe, I'm assuming you left it at the top of the stairs.)

You go out the back door and realize just how much smoke there is inside the building. More firefighters have arrived while you were inside, including the captain, and the outer wall on the kitchen side is being drenched by the bucket brigade but giving off significant amounts of steam.

--M. J. Young