As the vehicles screeched to a halt outside the large, newly built tower block, I couldn't help but gawp at its size. I remembered when I'd seen the old houses get knocked down, watching the dust dance in the wind as they were demolished, their memories soon to be forgotten. Not many people remembered the couples that had lived there before; the old couple who had the pristine front garden with the rose bushes and peonies side by side with the family with an ever growing "nature reserve" of a front garden, touched by nothing but the bugs and creatures that nested within it. They'd been sent packing as soon as the plans were made, persuasive voices edging them closer to signing away the houses they'd loved all their lives. Not long after the couples were gone, the builders were in and working fast - maybe too much so. It was the selling point for the governors, trying to say this insanely large eyesore of a building was going to house so many people within our area and stop homelessness. Oh the irony.
I was now stood on the ground in front of it, watching as the flames spread from the kitchen of the ground floor up one side of the fifty story building. People were screaming as they escaped the building, valuables in their arms as they stood back and watched the flames engulf the building like a hungry game of Pac-Man.

"Vasquez!" My name being screamed by my superior caught my attention and my eyes darted from the dancing fire to my colleagues.

"Sir."

"You're with Johnson, Frank and Gatsby. Take the back stairs and head up. Check the floors for anyone trapped. Razi, Friday and Taylor are going in from the roof. Meet in the middle." We all nodded as we donned our gear and fitted our masks, running into the heat, ready to save lives. The four of us took a moment to adjust to the sudden change in temperature, the sweat beading instantly as the heat practically slapped us in the face. This was fierce.

"What's the cause of the fire?" I asked into the radio, awaiting anyone linked into the frequency to answer me. We stepped confidently through the corridor, thick smoke clouding the ceiling.

"Faulty appliance I think." Johnson responded as he directed us into different flats. I headed into the first of many flats, checking every room and making myself known in case there was anyone to help. This flat was empty, to my relief, and I sighed happily as I headed back into the corridor. We wasted no time in jogging up the staircase despite the weight of the protective gear we were wearing. Once again, Johnson ordered us into different rooms. I rushed to mine and kicked the door open, my eyes scouring quickly as I called out. This room was directly above the one that had started the fire and the interior had bent and peeled in the heat. The far end of the room was on fire, flames cracking as they disintegrated anything they touched. I pushed through into the dining room and quickly noted two people.

"Vasquez here, I've got two in room 6." I ordered as I rushed over, checking the two people. A small child was curled up in the arms of an unconscious mother, tears streaking her dirty cheeks. I tapped the small girl who jumped as her head snapped in my direction. She stared up at me terrified for not only her life but her mother's as she took in my outfit, glad that firefighters were finally here to save them. Johnson quickly entered the room and rushed beside me. "Hey, it's okay. We're going to get you out of here." I soothed the small girl as I pried her from her mother's arms. She let out a resistant wail as I carried her out of the room and away from the fire. "It's okay, my friend is bringing your mum down to the ambulance. We're just making sure you're both okay." I tried, but with no prior experience of how to talk to children, I wasn't sure if I was doing great or failing epically.

"Is mummy okay?" She softly asked, her voice hoarse. I stroked some of her hair away from her face as I responded, knowing false hope was never a good thing.

"The doctors will look after her. Just try not to worry." I said as I ran her out of the building and into the arms of a paramedic who began checking her over. Seconds later, Johnson had handed the mother over to them too. We gave each other a thankful nod and ran back in with happiness twirling in our stomachs, like a kid excited to get back into a soft play area, not adults running into a burning building. Catching up to our colleagues, we checked the flats on each floor and with exhaustion taking over all of us, we finally hit floor 15.

"Surely the rest of this is clear. We've had nothing since floor two." Gatsby said as he leant against a wall, trying desperately to catch his breath. With the split second break, We all checked out equipment and the gauges on our oxygen tanks, giving each other the same look. We were all starting to run low.

"I'm estimating maybe another twenty minutes maximum with these tanks. We will need to be clear of this building before then." Johnson said frankly, emotion lacking from his tone as he stared into all our eyes in a way I couldn't put my finger on. It kind of felt like the last look he'd be giving us, as if someone wasn't going to make it back from this mission.

"Twenty minutes?" I snapped. "No way we're going to make it up another ten floors in that time." I shook my head as I gestured to the top of the building.

"Fucking building. Always been an eyesore and now it's gonna be a life-ender." Frank spat, his common 'sahf lundun' accent coming into play as he swore. "Don't see the management up 'ere though, do ya?" Johnson tutted instantly and gestured for us to continue, knowing any time wasted could be a life we didn't save.

"Save the politics crap, no one cares." Gatsby sighed as he took off towards his designated room.

"Lara does, right?" Frank looked over at me and I shrugged, letting out an awkward laugh as I headed to my room leaving Frank alone with his words. I could hear the others laughing, enjoying the small moments we got to share in a tough mission like this one. "Yeah, love you too, sweet'eart."

BOOM!

A deafening sound shook the glass as the whole building trembled, sending us all off balance. I stumbled into the doorframe, grabbing hold of it as the building groaned, my heart in my mouth as I waited to see what was going to happen next.

"Everyone okay? What the hell was that?" Johnson was quick to check on us all, finally showing a small glimmer of the emotion he normally kept locked up and away from us.

"The foundation is breaking. Get whoever you can and get out of there now. I repeat, the building is unsafe. Evacuate immediately!" Our superior shouted through the radio and panic shook each of us to the core. Hesitant, I combed the area with my gaze, taking in everything I could as the dust, smoke and fire filled each part of the building. Hidden deep in the room, near the windows that looked out over the city, I saw a hand draped over the arm of a chair.

"Johnson, I've got a body. I'm going in." I radioed as I ran in, assessing the situation around me as my brain whirred with scenarios in which I could save this person.

"Are you dumb Lara? 'E said the buildin's collapsin'." Franks voice echoed my headset. He'd always looked out for me, no matter how big or small the job we were doing. No one messed with me because no one messed with him. He was like my big brother.

"I'm not leaving him. He's alive." I said as I felt a pulse and saw his chest moving up and down weakly.

"Frank, Gatsby. Get out of here. I'll help Vasquez." Johnson ordered, swiftly arriving by my side as we both looked around.

BOOM!

Another noise shook the building as some of the windows shattered under the pressure. The building groaned once more and before we knew it, the building began to tip.

"Vasquez! Johnson!" Frank's voice shouted with worry. I could almost visualise the frown lines on his face as he watched the building collapse with us inside. The groaning of the building continued as the foundation crumbled, tipping the building to one side like the leaning tower of Pisa.

"Secure yourself to something just in case." Johnson ordered as he tied himself to some rope and ran out to tie that around the stairwell's thick iron bannister. As I stepped away, getting the rope free from my being, the building groaned again, the ceiling cracking and sending the beam crashing down barely missing me as I dived out of the way. As I skidded to a halt a few feet away, I quickly began to tie the rope around my body.

"We need to get out of here. Now." I stressed as Johnson arrived beside me again. We looked down at the man and then at each other, once again taking in each other's eyes through our masks as if we were sure one of us wasn't going to make it out.

"The fire is spreading too fast, I'm not sure we'd make it back downstairs." Johnson said regrettably, hating the honesty as we realised our odds of getting out of this were getting slimmer by the minute.

"Then we head up. Or out." I nodded towards the window, taking in the beautiful views of the darkening sky and the twinkling stars. If this had been any other day, I'd have stopped to admire it a lot more than I did. This time we had to be focussed. Johnson nodded as I walked closer to the windows, noticing the flooring had a lot less traction nearing the end of the wonky building. It took a moment for my brain to comprehend the angle at which I was now looking at the world, 45 degrees different to normal.

Another loud groan from within the brickwork caught both our attentions as the building trembled once more, causing us both to lose our footing and fall heavily to the ground. Instantly, I began slipping towards the broken window as the building tipped further, sending furniture flying out of the cheap windows.

"Vasquez!" Johnson shouted as he leapt forwards, grabbing the end of the rope tied around me with both hands, halting me instantly. "Shit!" He breathed as he steadied us both. The chair holding the man began to slide towards the window soon after. I quickly shuffled towards him and grabbed him as we watched the chair fall from the window. I counted how long it was between it falling and it hitting the floor. 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... smash. I breathed in shakily as I realised quite how high we were. "This is Johnson. Vasquez and I are stuck on floor fifteen. I'm tied to the stairwell but I'm holding Vasquez and she's holding a man. We're inches from the window. We need assistance NOW!" His voice sounded stressed for the first time. I'd worked with this team for a long time and I'd never seen or heard an emotion leave his being, yet here I was experiencing him full on panicking. This caused my stomach to knot instantly. Something was really wrong. Amongst the sounds of the fire crackling and the sirens wailing, the shouts of people on the ground as well as the whir of the helicopter, I heard something else. Something tugging, twisting, straining... then I realised. His rope wasn't going to hold the three of us, the weight was far too much. He knew he was going to lose one, two or all three of us and he didn't want that to happen. I yanked myself and this man closer to Johnson, slowly steadying the three of us in a huddle as I, unbeknownst to Johnson, slipped the rope from around my waist and tied it to the man, linking it to Johnson's rope for extra support. "I don't know but the building is collapsing and we're about to do a swan dive out of the window." I stayed huddled to them. Maybe, just maybe, someone would come and rescue us before anyone lost their life.

The building groaned once more and so did my stomach as it tangled in fear. The building dropped further, angling us to the point it was impossible to stand anymore. The three of us dangled, the rope twisting and straining as we swayed close to the window and watched more furniture fly out of the window in canon like synchronised swimmers.

"Lara..." Johnson finally used my first name. "The rope isn't going to hold the three of us for much longer..." Our eyes were locked once more, mine welling with tears as I watched a stray one fall from his. I smiled although he couldn't see it.

"I know." I said confidently despite the agonising pain in my gut. I knew it was only a matter of time. "Thank you." I managed to say before the building jolted again and I lost my grip, falling from the two men weightlessly towards the windows.