"Mr. Wilde, you're our teaching director!" one girl said. "How can you just stand by and do nothing?"
"I can't possibly go up there," Billy said, staring up at the balcony. "There's a fire! Not to mention two dangerous intruders. If you're so worried, then why don't you go?" In all the excitement, he had forgotten that he was a teacher and therefore responsible for the students.
"Get out of my way. I'll go!" Alex's voice came from behind the crowd, and everyone moved aside, letting him through.
"Mr. Ambrose?" one of the students asked.
"Mr. Ambrose, will you help Heidi?" another girl asked, tears streaming down her face.
"Be careful, Mr. Ambrose," another student said. "There are bad people up there, and the fire is getting worse."
"That's why I'll be going alone," Alex said, and then he rushed inside.
"Idiot!" Billy called after him.
"At least he's doing something!" one student said, glaring at Billy. "It's bad enough that you're too scared to go, but you could at least keep your mouth shut and not insult him."
The other students joined in, making their feelings clear.
"I don't know how you managed to become the teaching director. It's a joke. What are you going to teach us? How to watch the school burn down and how to yell at students?"
"You're pathetic!"
"You make me sick."
"And he has the nerve to look down on Mr. Ambrose!"
Billy flushed with embarrassment, and his heart pounded. Alex was almost certainly going to die, and better him than Billy.
Firefighters were already battling the blaze, and a couple of them had been hurt. No one had managed to reach Heidi yet.
Because so many people were watching him, Alex didn't climb up the outside of the building like he had when he had chased the sniper at Clifton's building. It was better to keep a low profile, so he ran up the stairs.
As he ran, he passed a firefighter helping one of his colleagues down the stairs. He kept going, noticing holes in the walls that had been made with submachine guns. The intruders were extremely well-armed.
Alex was glad he had chosen not to scale the wall. If the attackers had spotted him, then he would have been completely exposed, and they weren't likely to miss with submachine guns.
James and Amy were growing anxious because they knew they were running out of time. But it seemed that Heidi would rather risk falling to her death than being captured. They had been told to take Heidi alive, so they had to be careful. If they rushed to the balcony and Heidi fell, then they would have failed, and that was unacceptable.
As they tried to decide what to do, Alex arrived. Amy and James were much better trained than the Blood Brothers gang, and even though Alex remained quiet, Amy heard him coming.
Amy gestured to James, who dropped to the ground, lifted his gun, and took a shot at Alex.
The bullet whizzed by Alex's head, narrowly missing him, and Alex ran faster. If James had remained upright, he would probably have hit Alex. His shooting skills were better than average.
Light glinted off a dagger, warning Alex at the last moment, and allowing him to dodge the strike. He reached out, hitting Amy's arm and causing her to drop the dagger, sending it clattering to the floor.
Amy and James were surprised to have run into such strong resistance.
Alex knew he would have to fight hard to defeat this couple. They seemed just as skilled as the martial arts experts he had defeated before, and this time, he was having to fight two of them at once. This wasn't going to be easy.
[Bang!]
Another gunshot rang out, but Alex held up a knife, and the bullet hit it and ricocheted, hitting James.
As James fell, his finger tightened on the trigger, spraying bullets around the room, some of them in Alex's direction.
"What are you doing?" Amy yelled. When she saw what had happened, she fired her gun at Alex, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Come out and face me!" she screamed.
Alex rushed at her, using the smoke as cover, and knocked her to the floor.
He wanted to keep her alive, needing to ask her questions, but Amy had orders to not allow herself to be captured. She bit down on a cyanide capsule and died moments later.
Alex dismissed her and concentrated on saving Heidi. He tore down a curtain and lowered it over the edge of the balcony. Heidi grabbed it and held on tight, allowing Alex to pull her to safety.
The students below cheered and applauded, some of them in tears.
Heidi threw herself into Alex's arms, shaking and crying.
"Mr. Ambrose, I thought I'd never see you again," she said, sniffling.
Alex frowned, but he didn't push Heidi away. He could tell she was seriously frightened and looking for comfort.
"You're okay now," he murmured. "But I need you to stay calm."
Heidi pulled back a little, and then she realized she was only wearing pyjamas. She blushed and quickly let go of him.
"It's all right!" Alex said. "Go outside and wait for me."
Heidi ran out, and Alex dashed to the corridor, grabbed a fire extinguisher, and helped the firefighters to contain the blaze.
The fire hadn't spread to other parts of the school, and within twenty minutes, it had been completely extinguished.
Alex walked over to examine the two assassins, wondering who they had been. He had been surprised by their skills, but they still hadn't been a match for him.
Heidi was waiting for him just outside the room, so Alex went out to check on her.
Heidi had seen the two bodies, and she was trembling so hard that Alex had to pick her up and carry her downstairs.
When he stepped outside, a group of students swarmed him, peppering him with questions.
No students or teachers had been killed, thanks to Alex's quick actions. Recognizing his bravery, the principal, teachers, and students burst into applause.
Billy stared at Alex, unable to understand why he wasn't dead. How could he have survived?
"Mr. Wilde, aren't you ashamed of yourself?" a girl asked. "You would have let Heidi die."
The principal snorted. He had heard Billy's remarks during the fire and was extremely disappointed in him.