Into the Fire

Transcending Times

"Ko—koff!—Koko ni... iru—koff—yo..." the woman responded weakly from where she had been hiding underneath a table, coughing from all the smoke. Her sooty cheeks were streaked with tear stains. She must have been terrified being trapped in a strange building all by herself.

"Nakanaide. Daijoubu desu yo," Tori reassured her, smiling kindly, as she helped the woman out of her hiding place, keeping her low to the ground to avoid the smoke since she didn't have a mask or respirator like them. "Taskete ager—!?" Tori and the others gasped when a great shudder traveled through the massive structure.

"Shit! It's coming down!!" Dennis yelled, quickly taking the woman's other arm so they could move faster as the ceiling began to cave. They had just barely reached the door to the stairs, when Tori felt an intense wave of heat wash over the back of her neck, causing her to glance back over her shoulder in alarm.

"!" she exclaimed, startled to see that the collapsing ceiling had ignited in a rich flashover. In the three seconds it took Dennis to open the door, Tori's decision had been made. "RUUUUN!!" she shouted furiously, pushing her older partner and the Japanese woman through the open door, before immediately yanking it shut again to keep the roaring inferno from escaping out after them.

"TOR—!?" Dennis began to yell at her not to try to be a hero, but it was too late. The young idiot had locked the door to prevent it from being blown open by the flashover!

"Shit!" Tori gasped, squeezing her eyes shut, as she reflexively raised her arms to shield herself, even though she knew it was useless against such intense flames as their heat washed over her, while dangerous debris from the floors above came hurtling towards her simultaneously.

CRAAAAASSHHHH—!! FWOOOOOSH~!

"...?" Tori said as she lowered her arms slightly and risked opening an eye to take a peek, confused when the intense heat suddenly dissipated completely, and she realized she didn't seem to be buried under a mountain of debris either... "What the heck...!?" she exclaimed, shocked to find herself standing in a stark, white, and brightly lit hallway instead of the World Trade Center. This strange hall, which seemed to stretch on forever, didn't have any signs of fire damage or smoke, and it was lined with various different styles of doors. Smack dab in the middle of the hall, was a desk that looked as though it would be right at home sitting in the local DMV. It even had one of those 'take a number' machines on it amongst the rest of the strategic clutter piled up around the spectacled Caucasian man who was occupying it.

'Oh, God... I've died and gone to hell, haven't I...?' Tori thought, sweat-dropping, as she paled slightly with trepidation. It seemed only natural to her for hell to be modeled after the dreaded DMV, given the tortuous experiences—not to mention excruciatingly long waits—she'd had to endure every time she had to pay them a visit. Tori was a bit taken aback when the man at the desk smiled at her, slightly amused, as if he knew what she was thinking. Tori blinked. Well, if that wasn't disconcerting...

"Um, excuse me, but... where am I? And who are you?" she asked warily, really hoping the answers wouldn't be 'Hell' and/or 'Lucifer, prince of darkness'. Unfortunately, the man didn't seem to care much about answering her question, because he had turned his attention back to the papers on his desk and had started scribbling something on them. "I said, excuse—!!" Tori began again, taking a step forward. Her mild annoyance at being so blatantly ignored quickly turned to surprise and shock when an odd stone door beside her began sliding open and sucking her inside. "Wha—!?" she cried incredulously as she struggled in vain to scramble away from the intense gravitational pull to avoid being sucked into the strange portal. The man calmly took a drag on his cigarette and exhaled the smoke as the door shut itself behind her. Aside from the mysterious man, the hall of doors was completely empty, once again.