Chapter Text
Sadness.
That was the main emotion the young girl felt as she faced the fire. The light from it illuminated the night sky stronger than any lantern could. Flames danced in her eyes as tears sprang up in them. She stood crying and sobbing, screaming out the name of someone she loved. But nothing she could do would cause the flames to stop spreading.
Finally, she decided to take charge.
She ran towards the fire, not caring about the danger, not caring about the heat. Only about finding that person.
She ran into the factory as fast as her legs would take her. She heard yelling behind her, telling her to come back, but none of them registered into her mind. She just kept on running.
Once she got in, she rubbed her eyes from the tears to clear her vision. The fire hadn't entered the part she was in yet, but it would get there soon. All around her, there was a thick haze of smoke. The smell of burning rubber and papers entered her nose. Her heart pounded in her chest and she felt her eyes stinging from the smoke. She searched around, frantically looking for even a slight hint of a human movement.
Once she registered there wasn’t any, she delved further into the factory. She entered the hallway of the blueprint room, where there were papers scattered across the floor. The fire had partially entered this area, with some of the papers bursting into flames while others were developing charred edges.
To the girl’s asmay and shock, there was an injured man in the corner of the room, near the printer. He appeared to be clutching his side, and there were burn marks all over him. His worker’s uniform was in scraps, showing blood seeping through his shirt. The girl had never seen blood that dark before, only a light amount like from a nosebleed or a scratch.
Though a small part of her knew she should help him, the girl stood paralyzed in fear, just waiting to see what would happen.
The man took ragged breaths, and grabbed the printer to drag himself upright. His arm shook as he tried to pick himself up, but his strength gave out, and he fell back to the floor. He went back to clutching his side, and turned himself on his back, facing the ceiling. He stayed like that for a few minutes, the pace of his breathing speeding up, then it slowed down and grew quieter, until the girl couldn’t hear him anymore. Then, in one last movement, he jerked, coughing up blood, then went still.
The girl was frozen, her eyes wide in fear. She felt her heart sink into her stomach. She didn’t quite understand what had just happened, but she knew she hated the feeling it gave her, like she couldn’t breathe. Her lungs felt like they had been tied into a knot. Her shoes felt like they were glued to the floor and she couldn’t move.
All of a sudden, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She jumped, startled by the sudden movement.
Beside her, there was a tall man looking down at her with eyes of pity, sadness and a slight hint of fear. He was wearing a large trenchcoat which was burnt away on the bottom, blue jeans, and a white shirt, which also had dark blood seeping through.
The girl looked warily at the stranger, her heart beating rapidly as she felt the blood pounding in her head.
He carefully took her hand, suggesting she come out of the burning building with him. She pushed his hand away, protesting that she needed to find someone first. The man paused for a moment, as if to ponder his next decision, before scooping up the girl and hoisting her on his shoulder.
The girl kicked and yelled trying to loosen his grip on her. Her screams were louder than the crackling of the fire, filling the warehouse. They were deafening, blood-curdling screams unheard of by anyone of her age. But no matter how hard she kicked or yelled, the man didn’t loosen his grip on her, only making slight grunts with the impact of each foot kicking his chest.
Around them, there were bodies being eaten by the flames. The smoke grew thicker with each moment, swirling in a gray fog as they passed by. Soon, the sounds of agonizing terror by the workers subsided into silence, with only the girl wailing, the man's heavy breathing, and the fire’s crackling to be heard.
The man started off walking at a steady pace but as time went on, his speed slowed as his breathing became more uneven. He had been subjected to limping when an overhead pillar broke off and crashed right in front of them.
The pillar was burning yellow hot flames, and blocked the path the man was taking. He paused, searching for another exit. Noticing a change in the man's movement, the girl opened her eyes, stopped fighting and looked around. Once her eyes reached the corner of the room her breath caught up in her throat.
A shiny object was sitting in the middle of the flames. It was a pocket chain, red hot from the heat, but persevering.
The girl wiggled in an effort to escape from the man's grip and rolled over to the chain. She didn’t dare to touch it, but looked at it from a distance, fresh tears trickling down her face. Her hope was gone.
Her body went limp with all senses gone, just a heaviness in her heart, and she fell to her knees.