Erika Hayasaki

At 20 years old, Fausto Lopez was one of thousands of heroic firefighters who fought the Los Angeles wildfires—some of the most destructive in California history. But amid the black smoke and fierce winds, he also faced a bigger battle: for a second chance at life.

Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic first swept across the planet, as many as 20 million Americans and at least 400 million people worldwide currently suffer from long COVID, a debilitating condition that still has no approved treatment and is often misdiagnosed and misunderstood. In their desperate search for answers, two men are bonded by their quest to feel like themselves again.

A year ago, Kekoa Lansford watched from a hilltop as the Maui wildfires incinerated his hometown. While others fled to safety, he ran into the flames to save as many lives as he could. Today, the scars from that blaze—one of the deadliest in the U. S. in more than a century—remain. Where do Kekoa and the rest of the survivors go from here?