By Zephyria 
A sneer crept onto Grayson’s face as he recalled the Diviner’s words, the very reason he was indulging in this nonsense. Nothing special. Diviners were always deceiving people with their drivel.
Fire, not entirely wrong, I suppose.
Grayson narrowed his eyes, thinking, I’ll burn that Diviner to a crisp.
Desire Me if you can
When they arrived at the scene, thick, black smoke billowed high into the sky, obscuring everything. No sooner had the car screeched to a halt than they were scrambling out, assessing the situation.
“Shit.”
Someone muttered the curse like a sigh. The fire was far worse than when the initial call had come in. The house where it started was already completely gutted, and the flames had spread, engulfing three more houses on either side. Wilkins shouted at the people gathered a short distance away, watching the blaze with worried expressions.
“Are the owners of these burning houses here? Is everyone gone?”
Most people would be at work at this hour, so the houses were likely empty. Confirming that no one was stepping forward, Wilkins busily surveyed the scene. Meanwhile, the firefighters under his command moved with practiced efficiency. Grayson watched them unload and assemble the firefighting equipment in a set order, then rush off, as if it were none of his concern. In fact, it wasn’t. He had no intention of jumping into this mess and running around like a fool.
“Miller, hey! Get over here!”
Wilkins, who had been roughly assessing the situation and issuing instructions, suddenly called out to Grayson. Standing alone amidst the bustling crowd, Grayson didn’t even flinch at the summons, remaining rooted to the spot as he retorted,
“What is it?”
Wilkins felt a surge of anger, but he swallowed it down, mindful of the situation. Putting out the fire was the top priority.
“We need to create a firebreak to stop the fire from spreading further. You’re in charge of this area, from here to there.”
Instead of answering, Grayson frowned. Create a firebreak? He’d never even heard the term. Wilkins, seeing Grayson’s reaction as he stood there silently staring, sighed deeply instead of exploding in anger, then stepped forward to grab his arm and drag him to the designated area.
“Okay, from here to there, you need to remove anything that could catch fire. That includes electrical appliances and any other hazardous materials. Understand?”
Wilkins spoke in the simplest terms possible, as if addressing a preschooler, and met Grayson’s eyes. Grayson, who had been silent until then, glanced to the side, then looked down at the ground, scratched the back of his head, and sighed as if he found the whole thing a nuisance. Fortunately, he began to move without further complaint. Wilkins breathed a sigh of relief. They needed every pair of hands they could get, so this was a small mercy. He immediately turned back to assess the situation.
The sounds of houses collapsing, water gushing, people murmuring, and the grating vibrations of various machines filled the air. Passing DeAndre, who was using a chainsaw to cut through a garage door, he turned toward the next burning house and quickly moved forward, shouting repeatedly.
“Lower! Raise the hose higher! Spray the water upwards! Higher, higher!”
“Is the second floor completely burned out? Damn, the roof’s gone too.”
“Who went inside? …Good, no one’s been found yet? Okay, keep searching.”
Sometimes pointing out areas for improvement, sometimes offering encouragement, he directed the scene. After making a full circuit, he returned to Grayson.
“Oh.”
Unexpectedly, Grayson had completed the task perfectly. It might seem like just moving and clearing things, but as with anything, those doing it for the first time often messed it up, so Wilkins had braced himself for the worst. Seeing the neatly cleared firebreak, he found himself looking at Grayson in a slightly new light.
“Good job, you’re quite capable.”
He lightly clapped Grayson on the arm and turned to leave, just as he spotted an employee about to enter the house. Wilkins frowned.
“Dane! Dane Striker!”
At the sound of his name, Dane, who was holding a hose and heading inside, stopped and turned to face him. Wilkins hurried over and asked,
“Are you going in alone? Is there anyone else with you?”
“As you can see,”
Dane replied nonchalantly, as always. Everyone was struggling to keep up with their assigned tasks in the face of the massive fire.
“We’ll have backup from another fire station soon. Why don’t you go in together? It’s dangerous to go in alone…”
Just then, it happened.
“Aaaargh! Aaargh!”
Suddenly, a man screamed and tried to rush into the house. Dane quickly grabbed him, but the man continued to struggle, ignoring him.
“No, Charlie! Charlie!”
Seeing him weeping and calling out the same name repeatedly, Wilkins quickly asked,
“What’s going on? Are you the owner of this house?”
At the calm yet rapid questioning, the man nodded, tears streaming down his face. Wilkins continued,
“I’m Darius Wilkins. What’s your name? …Alright, Mr. George Wright. Are you single? Do you have any other family?”
“Charlie, Charlie’s inside, Charlie.”
“Calm down, we’ll help you… Who’s Charlie? Is he inside the house right now?”
The man sobbed and nodded vigorously.
“Charlie always waits for me alone, he’ll be waiting for me inside right now. Let me go, let me go! I have to save Charlie!”
“Alright, alright! Calm down!”
Wilkins stopped him with a firmer tone than before. After watching the man, who was simply crying in helplessness, for a moment, Wilkins asked again,
“How old is Charlie? Is he your wife? Or a partner?”
“Twelve, years old… blonde and very pretty…”
“Your daughter, I see.”
Wilkins filled in for the man, who was unable to speak properly due to his sobs, but he shook his head, weeping.
“He’s a dog, Charlie’s a dog…”
Dane and Wilkins quickly exchanged glances. Soon, they learned that Charlie, the dog, was a golden retriever.
“And? Is there any chance there’s anyone else inside?”
At Wilkins’ continued questioning, the man shook his head.
“Charlie’s my only family. Please save Charlie, I only have Charlie… please…”
The man collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably. Wilkins patted him on the shoulder in consolation, then immediately looked around. There were still no useful employees in sight. Except for Grayson Miller, who seemed utterly useless.
Grayson smiled at Wilkins as their eyes met. It was nothing more than a practiced social skill, a meaningless smile. Wilkins grimaced and immediately turned away. He looked around again for someone to go in with, but there was no one suitable.
“Damn, this is a problem. I can’t send him in alone.”
The fire had grown too large now. The risk was too great to send someone in alone without anyone to help if they inhaled too much smoke or something went wrong.