Risen To The Top

CHAPTER 8

Alex looked at the darkened roof as it vibrated dangerously, debris pouring into his eyes, the building was falling apart.

The smoke was too thick and it stung his eyes. He looked at the old man again, the flames were not near him yet, it would take a while for it to get near him, meaning he still had time to get a wet blanket or something to beat the flames and smoke with.

Alex turned around, he had to run back through where he came from in search of a wet blanket, time wasn't on his side.

He heard a loud rumble, a louder one following the first.

The ceiling was collapsing already!

He was halfway down the hall already, Alex rushed down the hallway back to the old man, the ground behind him giving way as the ceiling collapsed chasing him and he ran.

He grabbed the old man's arm and pulled him into what appeared to be a hallway closet

“Al—?” he couldn’t get another word out, as Alex's big hand clamped over his mouth. 

His muscular arms held him tight and the look in his eyes told him he’d better start praying to his God, as the rumbling grew louder around them.

Then they heard  loud deafening noises which seemed to go on forever. 

Alex pulled him down past a few shelves until, finally, they were crouched on the floor behind a large row of toilet paper and towels. His full weight was on him, crushing him to the hard ground. His hand was still over his mouth, blocking out any chance the smoke had to suffocate them.

Then there was a final explosion and he watched in horror as the door was ripped off the hinges. A large fire ball came rushing towards them. He tried to dodge just before a large chuck of wood hit his head and everything went black.

Alex fought to stay conscious by breathing slowly and blinking his eyes a few times. He’d been hit by a large chunk of wood from the door during the explosion. He felt the slickness of blood oozing down the back of his head, and when he reached back, his hand came away red. He felt the old man's unconscious body under him and when he moved to sit up, he felt a wave of dizziness hit him. He continued to breathe slowly.

He knew they needed to get moving, firefighters and extra policemen would soon be here to stop the fire and round up the prisoners.

 Shaking his head lightly, he demanded that his body start functioning. 

He looked down at the man and noticed a large knot on his forehead.

 Gently he pushed the bright red knot aside to take stock of the wound. 

he might have a concussion. Running his hands over her, he felt for any broken bones or other lesions.

He coughed violently as he dragged himself to his feet.

The old man opened his eyes slowly, blinking a few times as he slowly sat up, the room was slowly getting licked by the flames, Alex quickly steadied the man as he looked outside the hallway through the rising flames scanning for any exits.

He could hear sirens already, he knew the police and the fire department were already here.

He quickly helped the old man to his feet, putting his arm around his shoulder, as they quickly moved through the flames, hoping the hot sweat on his body would do his skin justice against the searing flames.

They had to get out of here before the building collapsed fully or before the fire department and police got to them.

He looked around, desperate to find an exit.

"The south…" The man croaked, coughing halfway as blood spurted from his mouth.

"The South gate…. there should be a way there." the man continued.

Alex lifted the man, putting him on his back so as to give him leverage to run faster as he headed for the South gate, not minding the flames licking his skin, it was agonizing but he had no choice, this was a chance to get out of here, a chance he had been looking for, for a long time.

The corridor leading to the South gate had collapsed already, blocking every part, the fire was bigger than it was in any other part of the prison.

The ground vibrated again, it was like an earthquake was taking place, Alex dragged the old man as they dived for cover under a broken dislocated cell.

 Another rumble began, the walls collapsing on them, the broken cell was doing a good job of shielding them from everything except the debris and the smoke.

Alex waited for the rumble to stop, hoping for the fire to have reduced, his skin felt crisp, like he was getting roasted.

The old man was a lot stronger than Alex had thought, he had pulled through everything and still looked fine, only the dusty black face gave away the tired look on the man's face.

Alex crawled outside the cage as the old man followed suit.

The fire was wild, it was everywhere Alex squinted, he could make out a small  window from the distance but it was too high.

He looked again, beside the window he could make out a cable  hanging loosely from the ceiling.

If only they had enough time to use the cable as a rope to climb up the window.

He knew even if they did it and jumped from the window the jump could render them paralyzed.

He limped towards the cable, trying to not think of the wild fire around them, the painw was agonizing but with every step he took her knew he was nearer to his freedom.

The old man was right behind him as they zigzagged across the flames towards the cable.

Alex pulled on the cable, it was strong enough to carry them one at a time.

"You go first." He urged the man with a smile to put him at ease.

"You go….." 

A loud explosion cut him off, as the building began to vibrate violently, Alex knew this was it, the final explosion to collapse the whole building, they were running late already.

"We can't make it." The man murmured as a tear streamed down his face.

Alex could barely hear him above the noise of the explosion.

"Go." The man mumbled again

"huh?" Alex looked at him, he couldn't hear what the man was saying but all he knew was that they didn't have time for any shitty chatter now.

The building shook violently again as the man looked around with an horrified look on his face.

"Go!" He screamed.

"Go!" He screamed again.

"Go! There's no time!" He continued, as he walked backward towards the fire.

"What do you mean? we're leaving here together!" Alex bellowed.

"Go! There's no time! The rope can't hold the two of us! the building is going to fall any second from now!" The man continued, his voice was powerful, like he had made up his mind to die.

"No! I can't leave you!" Alex protested, As the sound of explosions drowned his voice.

"Go! please! tell my baby girl…daddy loves her!" The man continued, the building had started to collapse.

Alex looked at the man as tears streamed down his face, he didn't have much time anymore, the building was already collapsing on them.

He gave the man one last look as he started climbing the cable as fast as he could.

"My wife and son are waiting for me! thank you!" Alex heard the man holler as he got to the window sill. He turned his head to look at the man one last time but the walls had come crashing down on him as the last bits of the building gave way, resulting in a big explosion.

With tears in his eyes, Alex let go of the rope, jumping into the cold dark air, hoping he survived.