Assistance Required

The Ski Trip Part 3

TW cursing, fire, Remus

Thurs Jan 14

"Virgil! Virgil! Come on! Wake up!"

Virgil groaned as he tried to get away from the person shaking him.

"Janus, I fucking swear! I told you to let me sleep in this week!"

"It's Patton and we have to go! Don't you hear the alarm?!"

Virgil shot up in bed as his tired mind took in the beeping from the hall.

"Wh-what's going on?" he asked.

"We have to go!" Patton said dragging him out of bed.

"P-Patton, what-"

"The fire alarm is going off. We're okay, it might just be a false alarm, but just in case we should leave the building," Logan said calmly.

Patton kept a gentle hold on Virgil's wrist as they grabbed their jackets and left the room. They joined the others in finding an exit. They stood outside in the cold. Virgil's gaze was locked onto the building as people walked out in pajamas and jackets. He could feel himself shaking. He was cold and scared. People were in there. His stuff was in there. He used to be in there. He was sleeping in there just a few minutes ago. He didn't even hear the alarm at first. He noticed the smoke starting to crawl out of the building. He felt a hand touch his back and turned to see Roman standing next to him. Virgil moved closer to him and Roman started rubbing his back.

"We're all okay, Emo," Roman said softly. "Everyone made it out."

"All of our friends did, but that doesn't mean everyone in the building left."

"The fire department will be here soon. I'm sure they'll get everyone out safely."

"How can you be so sure?"

Roman wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer.

"Worrying isn't going to change anything."

"Virgil, look!" Patton said grabbing his arm causing him to jump. "You can still see the stars! Remember when we all looked up at the stars and Logan told us about them?"

"I see smoke."

"No, look up at the stars!" Patton said.

Virgil closed his eyes to tear them away from the growing smoke. Roman turned him away from the building and he slowly opened his eyes to look up at the sky. Despite the chaos behind him, the stars still managed to calmly twinkle brightly down on them. They were so much clearer out here than they were in the city. He couldn't help but feel a small sense of peace as his eyes adjusted to the night sky. The longer he stared the more he could see. Soon he could see faint greens and blues swimming across the sky.

"Hey, Logan?" Patton said. "Where's Mars?"

Virgil turned when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He saw Logan moving to stand next to them.

"Mars is easiest to see a few hours after sunset. It's too late in the night to see it now."

"Can you tell what time it is based on the sky?" Patton asked.

"I've never really tried, but I think with some practice it's possible."

"What time do you think it is?"

"Too early to function properly."

Virgil chuckled.

"I can agree with that," Virgil said.

"You know, this would be the perfect scene for a horror movie!" Remus said excitedly. "Just think about it! Someone or something sets fire to the only safe place in miles! Everyone comes to the parking lot while they wait for rescue and then, from the woods, something appears! It'd be the perfect bloodbath!"