Schism

Chapter 39 part 2

Bryan looked up as William pulled his hand away from his eyes.  "Nobody could have saved them, not you, not me." William said.

Bryan turned to Westen and the hallway.  "Jess?"

Then he heard the screams from the floors above.  Bryan looked up, but couldn't see anything besides smoke and flames.

William looked all around.  "The fire's everywhere."  Bryan wished he could see what the other man did.  "The fire escape is still clear."

Bryan nodded.  "I'll get them out.  Protect Jess."  He rose to a crouch and started up the stairs.

He heard William's voice behind him.  "Go with him."  Bryan stopped, looked back down at William, who was crouched over Westen, picking her up.  He saw William stagger, heard the grunt of pain as William lifted the doctor into his arms and stood.  William stared at him a moment.  "They'll help you.  Go."

Bryan looked around, but couldn't see anything.  He shook his head and hurried up to the second floor.  They would help him?  What did William mean?

The smoke didn't seem as thick on the second floor.  It still burned his lungs if he stood too high, but in the hallway it was at least easier to see.  He looked up at the ceiling, saw sprinklers that weren’t working.  There was all of this smoke, and yet no alarms or sprinklers had gone off.  Harold must have disabled them, just as they'd been disabled two years ago.  Bryan pounded on the first door.  "Out!  Get to the fire escape!  Go!"

The door cracked open immediately and a face peeked out.  Bryan didn't wait.  "Get out!"  He ran down the hall.  As he neared the next door, he stopped close by but didn't pound on it.  The door swung open.  A large man with a little girl in his arms and a robe-clad woman in tow barreled out into the hallway.  It was lucky he had stopped, if he had been at the door, they all might have gotten tangled and gone down in the hallway.  And with the smoke this thick, every second counted. 

“I can’t see!” the man said.

How could the man not see.  There was smoke in the hallway, but every corner and edge of the hallway stood out as clear as in an architect’s drawing.  The man must need glasses.

Bryan steered them toward the fire escape.  “Go.”

He watched as he followed them down the hall.  That might have been him two years ago if he'd been able to get Claire and Danny out.  He realized he hadn't let himself think or say his own son's name for nearly two years.  Not sure if they were from the memory or the smoke, he wiped tears from his eyes as he pounded on the next door.  He heard scraping sounds, like someone trying to find the door. 

He tested the knob, found it wasn’t too hot.  It was locked, but he twisted it as much as he could and prayed the deadbolt wasn't locked.  He knew how hard it was to break a door down, and that the police used battering rams for that reason.  If the deadbolt was locked he might as well pound on a brick wall.

Hand still on the knob, Bryan took one step back and threw his shoulder into the door.  The frame splintered at the knob and the deadbolt as the door swung open.  He stumbled, but kept hold of the knob and stayed on his feet.  He glanced at the frame.  Did he have that much adrenaline going through him?

In the middle of the living room, an obese man knelt on the floor, struggled to pack a large suitcase.  "Leave it!  Come on!"  Bryan hurried over to him, dug his hands under the man's arms and hoisted him to his feet.  The man coughed out a protest, but Bryan pulled him into the hallway.  "That way.  To the exit sign."

"What sign?" the fat man asked.

Bryan pointed.  The sign was impossible to miss.  The colors were muted, but the plastic frame, the outward pointing arrows, every letter was sharp and clear.  Maybe this man was dense as well as near-sighted.

Or maybe he wasn't.  Bryan glanced back at the splintered door frame.  Had that been adrenaline, or had he had help?  Was he getting help from the figures that William saw?  Bryan hadn't thought of that at all when he'd been trying to figure out what they were, what William was.  He hadn’t thought they could move to help someone other than William.  Were they really with him now?  Were they something he had always had with him and just hadn't known how to access?

He put the thoughts aside and shoved the obese man down the hall.  "Just go that way.  Stay low and move fast."

It took only a moment to clear the other apartments and get everyone out onto the fire escape.  It groaned and shook with all of the weight.  He looked up.  There were two more floors.  He climbed to the third as a young couple came down from the fourth in their pajamas.  She had a large orange bag over her shoulder.  As they went past, he saw the star of life symbol on the bag.  She was an EMT.

Without looking, he knew the woman had a phone.  "Call it in, just in case.  Tell them the FSES aren't working.  There'll be more injured coming out.  At least one woman with some third degree burns."  She nodded back to him and Bryan kicked in the third floor window.

*

(Author’s note: Was that the voices helping Bryan?  But if they are with him, who is helping William and can he survive the fire without them?  Stay tuned to find out.  Thank you all for the votes and notes!  Talk to you soon.)