"Jill…"
"I am fine but I think I need to get out of the house immediately. The fire alarm has just been rung," Jillian said in a hurried tone. She picked up her cell phone from the floor, carried her handbag from the centre table and hurried towards the door.
"The fire alarm?" Zoey who was still on the phone with Jillian asked.
"I don't know what this is about. I will call later to update you about what happened," Jillian said. She disconnected the call and hurriedly grabbed the hand of one of the tenants who ran past her.
"What happened?" Jillian asked anxiously.
"I think there was an explosion on the floor above ours. We need to get out before the entire apartment gets engulfed in fire. Let's go," The mature lady wearing only undies replied hurriedly. She grabbed Jillian and pulled her along.
"Wait…" the woman kept on dragging Jillian without letting go.
Reaching the elevator, Jillian and the lady still holding onto each other couldn't enter the elevator with the other tenants since the elevator had already carried the maximum number of people it could.
"Hurry, let's use the stairs," Jillian suggested to the panicked lady who was about to argue with other tenants who were inside the elevator.
Jillian had not descended the fourth stairs when she heard a little girl crying and amidst the sobbing, she could hear an adult voice.
"I think someone needs help up there," Jillian announced while pointing at the upper floor above them.
She raised her head and gazed at the staircase above them and truly she got a silhouette of someone.
Jillian tried to climb up the stairs instead of running to safety but the angry woman grabbed her hand and pulled her backwards.
"You've gotta save yourself first. I am sure they can take care of themselves," the woman growled and tried to drag Jillian away but she refused to follow the woman she just met for the first time that day.
"Girls, don't do this to me. We need to get out of here before it's too late," Jillian overheard a lady's voice.
"Is someone there? Please help us. They are children here," The same voice cried out for help.
"It seems like she has kids with her, so why don't we help her out?" Jillian suggested.
Although she desperately wanted to save herself too, her conscience wouldn't let her abandon someone in danger especially if it was a kid.
There was no way she would live peacefully with herself if something bad happened to them.
"Nobody knows the real situation right now. What if it's dangerous up there? Shouldn't your priority right now be saving yourself first…"
"But…"
"If you want to save them then suit yourself. Nobody is more important than me that I would throw away my life for," She hissed, shoved Jillian's hand away and raced down the stairs.
The woman's last statement got Jillian thinking for a while. But no matter the justification she wanted to give for her actions, she still couldn't bring herself to abandon the lady crying for help.
"What if I end up dying while trying to save them? At least I won't have to live with the guilt of leaving them to die when they could have been saved. Instead, it will be recorded that I lived a worthwhile life," Jillian threw reasoning off the window and raced up the stairs.
"Marley!" The words escaped Jillian's mouth as soon as she reached there and got a glimpse of the face of the unconscious girl lying on the tiled floor.
"Please help me out," The tall lady in green matching trousers and suits called for help the instant she saw Jillian.
"Sure," Jillian hurried to carry the unconscious Marley off the floor while the lady in green took care of Monalisa who passed out just before help arrived.
Meanwhile, as this took place, Brayden was in his office handling documents unaware of what had happened at his home.
He was about to engrave his signature on the proposal he just went through when a panting tall guy in a brown suit dashed into his office.
The startled guy raised his eyebrows as soon as he saw which of his employees acted unprofessional at the workplace.
"Forget keeping your work if you don't have a good explanation for what you just did," Brayden threatened coldly.
"The house is on fire," the intruder gasped, pointing at nowhere in particular.
"What house?" Brayden asked nonchalantly. He lowered his gaze about to continue with his work.
"I just saw the news. It's reported that there was an explosion at Daylight Apartment which led to a fire outbreak," the guy explained hurriedly, his right hand on his pounding chest.
"What did you say?" Brayden jerked to his feet in shock.
"Repeat what you just said. Where did you say a fire broke out, Dylan?" Brayden demanded, his widened eyeballs almost falling out of their sockets.
"Daylight Apartment and the explosion is rumoured to have happened on the 13th floor to be precise," Dylan explained a bit more calmly.
"The girls!" Brayden remarked and immediately took to his heels. As he hastened away he forgot to carry his car keys and cell phone with him.
Dylan had to run after him to give him the keys and cell phone.
While driving Brayden repeatedly dialled his secretary's line but there was no response on each attempt.
"Pick up the goddamn phone, Prisca," Brayden growled and banged his hand against the steering wheel.
As he rode on the busy road, Brayden's unsettled mind wandered far away. Due to a lack of concentration, he ran a red light and ended up almost colliding with a truck.