Chapter 1 - The Ring in the Rubble
The heavy bunker gear felt heavier than it ever had in Mark Farrut’s ten years with the department. The corridor was a cauldron of swirling black smoke, heat licking through the soles of his boots and stinging his soot-streaked eyes. Just moments ago, his squad had forced open the stalled elevator doors, hauling out an unconscious woman from the smoldering lift. But on the floor right outside the elevator shaft sat Clara—his pregnant wife. Her hands trembled as she pressed them against her swollen belly, her tank top smudged with soot and sweat.
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When his fellow firefighter knelt to attend to her, she hadn’t asked for oxygen. She hadn’t begged for a stretcher. Instead, with tears streaming down her soot-stained cheeks, she had pulled the delicate platinum wedding band off her finger and pressed it into the rescuer’s thick leather glove, uttering a desperate plea: "Please... give him this."
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Now, Mark stood frozen before her, staring down at the glint of cold silver held in his gloved palm. Her voice echoed in the cavernous hallway like a hammer shattering glass: "Our baby won’t be waiting anymore."
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"Clara, look at me!" Mark dropped to his knees, heedless of the shards of glass tearing into his turnout pants. He ripped off his helmet, letting it clatter across the scorched tile. "Clara, breathe! What are you saying? You're getting out of here. Both of you are!"
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Clara’s pale lips parted, but no breath followed, only a dry gasp as her head rolled limp against the concrete wall. Behind them, a deafening crack tore through the ceiling, and the concrete above the elevator shaft buckled, sending down a rain of burning timber and sparks that blocked their only primary exit.
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