The storage building is in flames, people are in imminent danger.

That is a distress call that you don’t want to see on your pager. The fire station's siren was roaring over the village. Three long howls calling us firefighters for an emergency. My hometown where I was born. Where I lived for 30 years. Strangely, I can remember that. But not the name of my village. My fellow firefighters and I arrived, roughly at the same time.

It takes me not a minute to switch in my gear. We have only a small Firefighting station ok to be fair it is a garage with a fire truck that is twice my age. Our village has only 104 souls, most working in the nearby city or have since generation a farm. And of course the one repair shop with the storage building. The repair shop has two floors, the shop on the ground floor and the living space above. The building is dated shortly after the war and didn’t have received any upgrades since then. So it didn’t have any fire protection systems. The flames shot out of the half-opened garage gate. In the meantime, I had equipt the SCBA. The owner stands with a garden hose against the firewall and tries desperately to get in the flaming hell that was his shop. He turned and looked at us. From the burning marks over his face and clothes, I can tell that he was too close to the flames. “Go away from the fire immediately!” I shouted and ready my hose, and my fellow firefighter started to build up the pump and water distribution. “My son! My son! My son is in there, please do something!” The man was near the breaking point, the pain all over his face but not from the wounds he had.

“We do what we can,” I say more to myself and then louder “Where is he?”. He was grabbed by the paramedics who pressed him on the medical bed and started to tend his wounds “In the left-back is his room” In that hell unlikely that we found someone alive.

My Partner was ready and with the hose forward, with over 10 years of experience, we know how to go forward safely. We closed a door between the entrance and the Repair shop and stopped the smoke from intruding into the Staircase. If the Flames didn't make it through here, then the living room may be only a bit smokey with no flames and the boy lives. Moving fast up we stand in front of the Door, with a hard kick on the door brake.

I made a rookie mistake in a hurry. I didn't see if smoke was coming out the door top. The fire burned to the floor and a burning hole not wide, maybe half a meter was in front of me. And of course, the smoke that was not Burning because it had no oxygen to do so with now the door open the smoke ignites. My Partner, ready for that scenario, opens the Hose and creates a Water wall between me and the explosion but I land on my ass.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

A little roasted but not seriously hurt I gave him the thumbs up and looked in the now burning room. With a high amount of water, we are cooling the room and only the flames out of the hole sucked to us through a chimney effect are the danger now. I got up and took a risk. I jumped my left foot landed true, but on my right foot, the floor gave way. I do the second jump only with my left foot and make it on the stable part of the floor. My partner screams muffled insults through his mask and start cooling the hole.

I signalled him to stay back and go to the left room. It was a Kids Room I searched quickly. If Children are scared they hide, I found him rolled together like a dog on the bottom of his clothes cabinet. I press the secondary air mask on his face and fix it to his hand in a thing of seconds for me. I lift him over my shoulder and go back to the hole. I hold him like a bag of rice and swing him like tossing that bag of rice to my partner. He grabs him out of the air and lands on his ass.

I chuckle and then I fall as the rest of my part of the building gives way, not 5 minutes we were in the Building and then the Shit thing collapses. I fell on my back and could see the roof coming down. I get shattered under the roof parts, I scream in my mask in absolute pain and shock as the roof comes down. Still, my head peeked out of the smoky ruin that the repair shop was. They could find me thanks to the poor and cheap building style that only broke a few bones. The building coming down had put out the flames. I didn't see any flames anymore. But I can see the stars and then I get lifted, as the liquid gas tank in the repair shop blows up nobody knows that that thing was there. It was built by the owner itself cheap and poorly and that's why the thing blows up instant blows out like a torch. I get lifted and my body is destroyed by flames and rubble.

I scream as I land on the ground, soft on my feet only to roll on the floor. My brain sent paint, only after a few seconds did I realise that I didn't have any more pain. I stand up and I can see the complete scene of my Partner crying, and the boy in the Paramedic truck his eyes moving slowly, I smiled he will live. A deep bell rang and a door was opening. I turned to see father dead in his black robe and his scythe in his right hand. He stands in front of a double heavy wooden door in which was carved on a big scale. The door was light open and a warm welcome light shines through the door. “Come brother, your time here is up. Let me guide you to the court” says father death. He has a warm soft grandfather-like voice. I look around and can see what happened. But I can't do anything. I looked at father death and nodded.

I hear small bells father death head ruck to the noise. My eyes looked at a clown, a strange clown. He had a triangular head. A smile that looks like he can't have a neck. with a rubber hammer that made a squeak noise as he slammed it on the floor. “Who are you?” I ask, not sure what I feel, should I run? I ask myself. He Smiles, a terrible sight and speaks: “Randy Random, YEEEEEEET” and with that, he slams his squeaky hammer right into my chest and before everything goes black, I noticed a window that was in my vision.

Soul transfer in progress. Please stand by.