Beyond the Flame

en, a strang

.. flo

. The smoke, the

oked

, amidst the burning de

. Cha

wasn'

aptain Sarah Miller.

team into impossible situatio

y called m

wards. My officer

the bank ho

s, the acrid sm

pinned down, a clear sh

t think.

, took the bulle

ed throug

black then to

old me. "Paralyzed. Waist dow

e etched with guilt, wi

moted to Capta

my bedside

, Sarah," he' d sa

e of you. Alway

sed a mo

et ce

ect me, to cheri

heavy, like a debt

him. Or I th

eved h

own funeral pyre,

t you f

All