Not much point me hanging around; I have to get back to work, and you’ve probably got lectures this afternoon. Goodbye Mary, it was nice while it la...sted.”I got off my chair, turned around, and walked out. I heard her call after me, but I didn’t turn around, or look back at her. She sounded like she was crying, but I didn’t want her to see me crying, and I couldn’t trust myself not to say anything I would really regret if I stayed with her any longer. I didn’t go directly back to work, instead I. After a little, I came around and made it up to a house near by. I knocked on the door and was asked from inside what I wanted. I said I had been robbed and beaten. The door opened a little bit and a little old lady looked out. She saw I was telling the truth and opened the door and brought me in. She had me to lay on the couch. I was soaking wet from head to toes. She said that she had to get those wet clothes off me. Slowly she began to take my clothes off. She removed my shirt and then my. One, two, three, four, five, six times it rang. There was a pause. It rang again, six times. In every station throughout the city, firefighters stiffened and fell silent. The bell rang six times for the third time. Prayers went skyward, but the bell rang a final six times.The loudspeaker came on. "The department regrets to announce..."A firefighter had died.Tim Bernard gasped for breath. He strove to keep his legs churning, his eyes fixed on the staircase in front of him. His partner ran beside. Whenever they retied her hands after eating or answering nature’s call, she lost all her previous progress. Her stomach growled, reminding her of how long it had been since she’d last eaten. She suspected that the argument outside related to exactly that, and now knew why the predictable schedule she’d grown accustomed to had broken down over the last two days. Someone – likely the masked man – was not with the group right now, and discipline was growing lax. Laughter and boisterous voices.