Storytelling Week 2: Brave Ones

The Iliad: The Rousing of Achilles

VERY fierce was the fight for the body of Patroclus, and many warriors fell both on this side and on that, and the first to be killed was the man who had wounded him in the back, for when he came near to strip the dead man of his arms, King Menelaüs thrust at him with his spear and slew him. He slew him, but he could not strip off his arms, because Hector came and stood over the body, and Menelaüs did not dare to stand up against him, knowing that he was not a match for him in fighting.

Then Hector spoiled the body of Patroclus of the arms which the great Achilles had given him to wear. But when he laid hold of the body, and began to drag it away to the ranks of the Trojans, the Greater Ajax came forward, and put his big shield before it. As a lioness stands before its cubs and will not suffer the hunter to take them, so did Ajax stand before the body of Patroclus and defend it from the Trojans. And Hector drew back when he saw him.

~~~

Menelaus holding Patroclus
(Source: Wikimedia)

The group of men stood outside the building, trying to find the best way to get inside. The intensity of the flames grew by the minute. Sweat rolled down their faces as they paced in their uniforms. Chief Marks yelled at his men to assemble in front of him. Time was not on their side.

"I think our best course of action is to get in through the basement," Chief Marks said in hurried words. "If we can cut the flames off through there then we can work our way up. Any questions?"

"We can do it, chief!" Lieutenant Alex exclaimed. "Lets go!"

The only thing on their minds was if they were going to reach Patrick in time.

"We never leave a man behind," the chief said softly. Fear was clawing at the chief. In his 8 years as chief, he had never lost one of his men. He was not going to start now. He would bring Patrick back to his family.

~~~

When they first arrived on the scene, the fire was only on the third floor. Mission number one was to make sure all of the civilians made it out of the building. A team assembled to go inside. The initial search for survivors showed that everyone made it out, except Captain Patrick.

Ten minutes after the firemen came out, a single survivor walked out. His face was blackened and his clothes were torn. He tried in his strained voice to say something. "He's ... still... there..." the victim cried.

"Who?!" Chief Marks demanded. "Who is still inside?"

"Fireman... got me out... ceiling fell in on him," the man finally said.

After a look around, Chief Marks realized who of his men was missing.

~~~

After the firemen crawled in through the basement window, they ascended the stairs to the first level. The smoke was grayish, black. They still had visibility and found the next set of stairs in minutes. They could feel the time slipping away from them. It cut at them like tiny knifes in their throat. 

The second floor was much worse. Their visibility cut in half. The smoke was so black they had to crawl on the ground and use their arms to feel their way around. 

Lt. Alex reached the stairs first. He led his team up the stairs. They could feel the heat on them as if they were in a furnace. Reaching the top of the stairs, the team realized they could go no further. The beams from the ceiling of the building lay before them and underneath it lay Patrick. 

He had been knocked out. The team split up, two on each side of the beam. Lifting with everything they had, moved the beam off. 

They had to move quickly. The building would not last much longer, and the sound of the fire was growing in their ears. They heard the building beginning to collapse....

~~~

"You've got to get out! Now!" shouted Chief Marks into the radio. There was no answer. He had been shouting for the past five minutes. Pleading with his men to respond. The building was about to come down. 

Chief Marks laid his head in his hands. What would he tell the families? He could not bare to think of it. His heart was on fire for his men. It was his job to protect them and he had let them down. 

"What is that?" one of the firemen asked. "Coming out of the fire?"

Chief Marks looked up and could not believe what he saw.

Author's Note: I chose this story from the Iliad because I enjoy reading about people who are heroic and put other people's needs before their own. My dad was a fireman for over 25 years and was the fire chief for 7. The men risk their lives every day they put on the uniform. I thought of my dad when I was reading The Rousing of Achilles. The Great Ajax protected Patroclus body from anymore harm. He stood between the body and the fight. So I chose to do this over firemen because so many times they are forced to protect other people from raging fires which I substituted for the fight.

Bibliography: The story at the top is from The Iliad: The Rousing of Achilles which was retold by Alfred J. Church in 1907.