fic: boneyards, fire in the warehouse

Prompt: fire in the warehouse

Liam awoke to the thick smell of smoke and heat heavy against his skin. He registered the dry crackle of flames even as he jerked his body up, rolled over, and shook Code’s shoulders. "Wake up," he said. "Wake up!" he repeated, but Code didn’t move or open his eyes.

Liam was strong, but Code was bigger than him. It was awkward carrying the younger boy. In the end he threw Code over his shoulders like an oversized sack.

He left their bags behind.

The fire was a strangely quiet enemy; by now it had swallowed one wall, and the windows were blocked. It stretched, orange-yellow-blue, from floor to ceiling. There were no exits so Liam made one, drawing back and kicking. The wall crumpled like foil under the force of his kick; behind him, the fire guttered at the sudden onslaught of air, engorging.

Liam didn’t put Code down until he couldn’t hear the fire’s grabbing hisses. Then he was abruptly aware of the dull, aching exhaustion in his limbs, the way his chest heaved from panic. Code was stirring.

"Put me down," he mumbled, the words chasing each other, awkward and stumbling. Liam did. Code grunted as he hit the ground.

Code put his palms against his eyes, as if he had to stop his eyeballs from falling out. "Someone started that fire," he said, slowly, and even then Liam had to think for a moment, separating the slurred sounds into proper words.

"Yeah," he said, because he didn’t think warehouses could spontaneously combust. "But we’re out."

"The bags…" Code started, then stopped, shaking his head. "It doesn’t matter."

At least he was starting to sound coherent.

"Thanks for saving me," Code said.

Liam just looked back over his shoulder. His breath was calming; the world was dulling again, his senses no longer buoyed by panic and fear. He couldn’t think of anything to say, so he didn’t.

Labels: _fiction, c: code, c: liam, verse: boneyards