"She was on the seventh floor, and I didn't see her come down," Julie said.
Before she could say anything else, Alex rushed into the burning building and disappeared into the thick, black smoke.
"Is he crazy? He'll die in there," someone said. "The whole place could come crashing down at any moment."
"Young people are so impulsive," an older man said. "He probably just left something behind, but it's not worth his life."
Everyone was shocked to see Alex run inside as though he had a death wish. The entire building was on fire, and there was no way anyone could be left alive in there. They had only just made it out themselves.
"Has anyone called 911?" someone shouted, but they could already hear the wailing of ambulance sirens in the distance.
Inside the building, Alex pulled up his shirt to cover his mouth and nose as he ran through the inferno. Smoke was all around him, filling his lungs and stinging his eyes. He knew he was in danger, but he couldn't leave Maryann to die in the fire.
As he rushed up the stairs, he heard a loud bang, and a bucket of burning paint came crashing down at him. He managed to dodge it, but some hot paint splashed him, searing his skin. He carried on as if he hadn't felt anything.
The smoke was so thick that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He called out Maryann's name in the darkness; it was his only hope of finding her.
When he got to the seventh floor, he called out her name over and over, but he still didn't get a response.
He smashed open the fire cabinet, picked up two fire extinguishers, and sprayed the flames in front of him so that he could see a little better.
A flash of movement in one of the rooms caught his eye, so he rushed over with a fire extinguisher.
He kicked open the door, feeling heat wash over him, and then he attempted to put out the flames, coughing as he moved forward.
"Maryann!" he cried out into the thick smoke.
A faint voice called out from the corner of the room. "I'm here."
Relieved, Alex rushed over and turned on the flashlight from his phone to get a better look at her.
Maryann was curled up in a corner, trapped by a piece of scaffolding. She had a pained look on her face, and her breathing was shallow. She had already inhaled too much smoke, and her left hand was bleeding where she had been scratched by a nail when she had fallen. Her skin had suffered a few burns, too, but none of her injuries appeared life-threatening.
"I'm so glad I found you," Alex said, keeping his tone soothing. "You're going to be okay."
He lifted the scaffolding off her and helped her up. Then he tore a strip off his shirt and wet it with water from a glass on the desk beside him. He held it up to her mouth and nose, helping her to breathe more easily.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. "It's too dangerous!"
She coughed a few times, and then said, "I can't walk; I think I sprained my ankle. Just go. Leave me here."
At this point, she knew that it would be hard enough for him to get himself out; there was no way he could get her out, too, and she didn't want him to risk it.
"I'm not going without you," he said stubbornly. With little effort, he picked her up and swung her onto his back. Then he began making his way back outside.
Burying her face in his shoulder, she suddenly felt a wave of emotion come over her. Alex was risking his life to save her, and she didn't know how she would ever be able to repay him.
If they made it out of the fire alive, then she would do whatever she could to make it up to him.
A moment later, there was a sharp crack, and the ceiling in the corridor began to collapse right above them.
Burning boards were coming down all around them, and Maryann reached out to protect Alex's head, determined to take the blow herself.
Just as she closed her eyes to brace for the impact of falling debris, Alex batted it away, but he was struck in the face by black ash. It stung his eyes, and they began to water.
Maryann reached out to wipe his face, but he said, "I'm fine. Keep your face covered."
He opened the door to the stairwell, locating it by memory.
The stairs were partially blocked by all kinds of burning debris, and the railings were burned and deformed. Despite this, he fearlessly charged forward, using all his strength, still carrying Maryann.
His lungs burned, and he could barely see, but he made it all the way down to the fourth floor before discovering that the stairs were now completely blocked. There were paint cans melted on the steps, and the flames were too high to move through.
They went back into an office, making it there just as an explosion came from a nearby room. Doors and windows vibrated, glass shattered, and debris went flying as flames rushed out.
Alex quickly dodged most of it, but he was hit with some debris, making him grunt in pain.
"What was in that room?" he asked, surprised. "It sounded like a bomb went off."
"There's a storage room over there." She pointed across the corridor. "It had various flammable materials." She paused. "And there are large windows for ventilation."
Alex took a strained breath and then looked over at the storage room.
It was hard to see through all the smoke, but Alex could just make out that the security door was burning.
Another explosion rang out, and Alex rushed into the room without delay.
Ignoring the flames and the glass all over the floor, he lowered Maryann to the ground and picked up a chair. "Quick, take off your stockings," he ordered.
She gave him a startled look, but then she did as he had asked.
"Get back. Stay away from the window," he said as he lifted the chair over his head and threw it through the window, shattering the glass.
Then he grabbed her again and jumped out the window.
On the ground below, Julie and the other employees watched with their mouths hanging open as Alex and Maryann fell from the sky. Someone screamed, and several people gaped in shock.
Surviving a fall from the fourth floor of a building would be miraculous.