C.R.A.N.E (Strange Editing WiP)

Chapter Three: Evacuation

Roukan walked away from the window and slowly advanced to the boy.

"Hey, what's your name?" He gently said, slowly reaching out to him. The boy constricted his body and moved slightly away from him.

"Don't worry. It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you," he reassured. "Where are you parents? Is there someone looking for you?"

"Scary man," he simply muttered, pointing at the window.

"What scary man?" I asked him. "Did he have... a red picture on his arm? Like a bird?"

He nodded.

Roukan's heart began to beat twice as fast, and his breathing became uneven. He had to get into her room before something goes wrong.

"I'll be back as quick as I can," he said with a shaky breath. "Jake will take care of you. Don't go anywhere. I'll find your parents. Jake, stay here."

Roukan headed back to the window and stepped out of it. He stood on the ledge from the outside, feeling the wind pass through. The plan was absurd, and absolutely terrifying. He knew that he shouldn't have looked down, but he did. One slip up, and that would've been the end. He closed his eyes and tried to readjust his focus on the window across from him. He held onto the window and quickly calculated on how to reach the next one. He took a deep breath to calm down and repeated to himself, Focus. Just focus. He didn't have time to stop his legs from trembling and to stop his heart beating at a ridiculous rate, so he just jumped. He jumped, and thankfully made it onto the other window ledge. He swiftly jumped through the window, that was also already opened.

The room was completely trashed, just like the one next door. He scanned the surroundings, and no sign of life was found anywhere.

"Accalia, are you here?" He whispered. "Please tell me you're here."

He looked under the bed. He looked in the cupboard. He was hoping that she was just hiding; just doing what he had told her to do in situations like this. But after searching every inch of the room that was getting colder the more the window stayed open, he was losing more confidence.

He ran back to the window and watched the crowd move through the streets. He wasn't able to think about what he had to do. He didn't know what to do. What the hell was he supposed to do?

In the crowd were speckles of red snaking their way through, however one seemed to flow the same way the crowd was, standing out. Roukan inspected him more thoroughly, or rather, what he was holding in his arms. A little girl, looking all to familiar, crying for help.

Never in his life had he gotten so fearful and angry. Without hesitation, he headed to the entrance door of the room, unlocking it from the inside and ran into the room next door. The boy had been petting Jake gently across the head.

"C'mon Jake, we have to go right now! You too kid, I guess you're with us for now."

The boy didn't show reluctance when Roukan lifted him up. The boy locked his arms around his neck as he held him with one arm. They got out of the room and tried to leave the hospital by going back downstairs, but a scent of smoke came from the ground floor. Halfway down the stairs, light from the flames illuminated the stairway. Roukan's eyes and chest became irritated by the smoke, and wooden debris began to fall from the roof over their heads.

"I guess we're using exit B."

They went back to the boy's room again and peeked through the window. Roukan tried to figure out how he was going to get a child and a dog out of a multi-story building from the top floor.