Author's notes:
<>.
—I use this for dialogue.
He recognised it instantly. She had never eaten there but she knew it because she walked past it every day. The owners were a young woman and an older man, and he passed her once when he was taking out the rubbish at night. She was quite cute, but they never spoke to each other.
The flames are huge, and glow in contrast to the darkness of the night. The lights of the fire and police cars glow, illuminating the whole street. There are many people around with their mobile phones recording and the firemen are debating where to cut it out while others are pouring water at different points.
—You've got to get him out, my father, you've got to get him out. —shouts a desperate girl being held by two firemen.
Yariel recognised her, she was the girl who worked there. The one he passed from time to time.
—We can't go in now, the fire is out of control. —replies one of the firemen.
—I'm sorry... We have to wait!.
He was right, all the access points except the windows on the upper floor were completely full of fire.
<
Something catches his eye in the middle of the flames... He could clearly see a figure wiggling. It was not someone physical, but rather as if the flames themselves wanted to form a body. A strange sensation came over him, one that left him petrified, watching without blinking, but it was not evil. It was even familiar. It was clear that he had never seen or felt anything like it, but it was as if he saw someone he had known for a long time, but no longer remembered.
The figure raised its arm in his direction, palm fully extended upwards. He would say it was calling out to him and with every second that passed, it was one more beat in his heart that echoed...
PUM, PUM... PUM, PUM...
Silence fell. You could sense the figure clearly through the reflection in his eyes. Then he swallowed and...
—No, boy! —shouted one of the firemen.
Suddenly his body moved out of nowhere, his relaxed muscles, absorbed in the sight of the figure, moved of their own accord from one moment to the next, he rushed forward like an unstoppable impulse, like a reflex action.
He felt the figure say, ''Come, you are in no danger here''.
With a leap he entered through one of the lower windows, his figure disappearing into the flames. The surprised policemen quickly covered up the escape in the security, reinforcing the enclosure with more troops and fences, so that no one else could pass through.
—He's crazy. —some people commented.
—He's going to die. —said others.
The rest were simply recording with their mobile phones and remaining silent.
It's all fire and smoke. You can hardly see anything.
—Sir! —he shouted from inside. —Where are you, sir! —he shouted again, looking all around.
<
He manages to advance several metres until he reaches what looks like a person lying on the ground.
<
He had a wooden partition on top of him.
—Hang on, I'll get you out of here!.
Then he prepares himself, places his two hands on the wood and with his best effort tries to lift it.
—AAAAAAH!. —She exclaims to the air, making her best effort.
Yariel's fingers practically buried themselves in the wood as he held it.
BANG!
With her last effort she managed to lift her up and throw her slightly a metre or two. Then she could see the man's body in its entirety.
—Sir! Sir!. —she shouted as she shook him from side to side to see if he would react.
<
<
Two quick thoughts. After a few seconds, he grabs the man's hand and as best he can, he tries to get him onto his back.
<
<
<>.
The man was an older man, about fifty years old, tall and stout, so he needed all his strength and hands to carry him.
<
The plan was simple, get out the same way he had come in so he set about it. He practically dragged himself with the men on his back. The weight of a collapsed person is not something that anyone can easily bear.
He was almost at the same window he had entered through when part of the roof came off, blocking that exit.
PPLAASS!
—AGH!... —he complains, looking away. It almost fell on them.
<
<
Then a memory comes to him, a quick flash that gives him an idea. Maybe if he went upstairs, through one of the upper windows they could get out. He remembered that when he left the museum he saw the upper windows without flames.
<
He found the stairs through the fire with a glance, they were only a few metres away. He positioned his man more comfortably by taking a small hop and set out to climb slowly.
As he started to climb the stairs he noticed that the fire had also spread to the upper areas, but he decided to trust and continue. What other choice did he have?
As he climbed to the next floor and following his intuition, he went through one of the first doors in front of him. Hoping that there would be a window in this one. At first he couldn't see, the smoke was too thick and dense, but as he walked inside, he could see a clarity... After a few more steps, he managed to see the shape of a window to go out.
—Good!. —He exclaims.
He walks slowly but surely until....
CRUNCH, CRUNCH
The fire had taken hold of the whole building and the creaking of the wood anticipated the fall of the roof. The whole building was swaying. Yariel could feel it not only in the sound, but also in his feet. She felt the vibration and then....
CRASH!
With a very quick and dry movement, he managed to throw the man's body out of the window. Avoiding the pile of debris rushing down on them. His reaction was instantaneous, he didn't even use logic, it had been pure instinct, he knew he had the necessary strength so that at least the man could get out of there and somehow... he felt that the firemen would catch him, and if not? well, the alternative was death.
His body acted again without his permission, you could say that instinctively he knew that the man would go down unharmed.
The fire captain outside was watching all the escape possibilities since Yariel came through the window. At a glance, he knew that if they had any chance of getting out of there, it would be through the upper windows, so he had mats placed under each of the windows, trying to anticipate the young man's movements.
The gentleman fell into one of them, as he had predicted and without injury.
PUMBA!
—Quickly, assistance!. —he gave the order.
All the ambulance crews immediately jumped in to help him, one put on the mask, another checked his pulse, while the others brought the case and a portable stretcher.
—His pulse is weak, we have to take him to the hospital. —exclaimed one of the medics.
The chief fireman watched the scene with astonishment: had he also foreseen their movements?
<
Yariel is still inside and even though part of the ceiling fell, he could still see an opening to get out. However, he turns around and runs back down to the lower floor, following the same path he had traced to avoid a landslide.
He had not forgotten about the animal and despite the extremity of the situation, he knew that if he got out of there without trying, he would never forgive himself.
The closer he got, the louder the sound of the flames grew. The fire was totally out of control and he could no longer see a metre away. He had to get down on his hands and knees to see what was in front of him. He tried to do the same route from memory on the way down... The timbers echoed through the fire. The building was about to collapse and it was an oven.
Chas, chas!
He managed to reach the animal. It was a black cat, or maybe brown, but quite a big one. Surely it was part of the restaurant and that would explain why he was protecting it.
Luckily nothing had fallen on it and as it was lying on the ground it had a good chance of recovering if it was still alive.
—Easy buddy, I'll get you out of here... —He said to himself.
Suddenly...
BANG!
—AHG!.
Something hit him with a resounding thud. The place was a modern construction, made of stone... but the roof was completely made of wood, as well as most of the pillars that crossed it. One of the wooden pillars fell on its side, hitting him right in the head and part of his back.
He fell to the ground, but holding on to the cat, he didn't let go for a second. A few seconds later he opened his eyes. He had been briefly knocked unconscious, but his survival instinct was pushing him to get up.
<
The blow was enough to open a large gash in his head. Blood began to gush out quickly and trickled down his face and neck, staining his shirt. He was dazed and disoriented but what was clear to him was that he had to get up and get out of there.
After an attempt to sit up, his legs went slack. He rested one of his knees on the ground while he held one hand against it to keep his balance. The other was holding the animal. He also began to cough. He was clearly affected. He had already been inside the fire for a long time, he was tired and his body ached.
<> he thought shakily.
—G-goo...!.
Again he tries to stand up but his strength has left him. His legs are no longer responsive and he is short of breath. He is practically unable to see anything, only to hear the burning of the fire and how it surrounds him.
BOOM!
He fell on his side. He looked at the cat and thought that this would be the end of him, but at least it would save another life.
The only thing he could think of was to move closer to a wall, sit down and lean his back against it. He tucked the animal under his shirt, against his body, and bent his knees as he hugged them to support them. Maybe this way he could at least protect it from the flames, from the blows... from the smoke.
<
<
It was ironic, he would lose his life to try to save an animal that may have already died...
<
At that moment he remembers his grandparents. Being a good person and helping others, that's all he had to do in life. He also thinks about his father... He hardly remembers him well but he always keeps an image of him alive in his thoughts. He was a cheerful, funny and very familiar person. Always helping everyone.
Finally, the image of a child comes to mind, a childhood friend. He imagined him standing on a grassy esplanade by a river, inviting him to play together again. Yariel smiled...
<