No Angel - Dallas Winston

33

As we pulled up to the church, Dallas stopped the car. 

The fucking church was on fire.

There were thick, black plumes of smoke pouring out of the windows and roof of the church. 

The pops and crackles of the flames seemed to grow louder by the minute. 

"Holy shit." I managed to say, as I stood up from my seat.

Everyone stared at the church in disbelief. 

"I told you guys to watch your cigarettes." I scolded them. 

That's when our attention was turned towards the group of school children standing to the side. 

There were two teachers that were frantically counting heads. 

"Some of the children are missing!" The woman yelled. 

The large man that stood besides her looked like he could have fainted then. 

"I let some of them play in the church." He said, as all of the color drained from his face. 

Oh.

My.

God. 

And within a second, Ponyboy had made the decision of jumping over the side of the car, and running over to the burning church. 

"Get back here!" Dallas hollered at him, but it was no use. 

Johnny's eyes darted quickly between Dallas and the church, before he jumped out of the car and ran after Ponyboy. 

"You better be going to get him!" Dallas yelled after Johnny. 

Johnny wasn't going to get Ponyboy, he was going to help him. 

I watched as the two of them began ripping boards off the window, before climbing inside the burning church. 

The guilt of the possibility of us starting the fire was now getting to me. 

I know that's why they ran into that church. 

Those little kids didn't deserve to burn in that church. 

Dallas looked back at me, and he knew was was going through my mind. 

"No!" He told me, as he attempted to grab ahold of any part of me he could grasp onto to prevent me from getting out of the car. 

I was just out of his reach.  

I opened my car door, and ran out as fast as I could. 

"Son of a bitch!" Dallas yelled. 

I looked back for just a second to see him getting out of the car. 

He slammed his door shut, and he came running towards the church. 

As I ran into the building, the smoke instantly hit my lungs. 

It was hard to breath, it was hard to see. 

Every breath I took felt like I was breathing in hot coals. 

My nose instantly started running. 

The smoke dried my eyes.  

Within a second my whole body was drenched in sweat. 

"Over here!" I could hear Ponyboy say. 

Him and Johnny were in a far end of the church, grabbing kids that were hiding in the corner. 

As we heard a loud crack behind us, we turned to see Dallas pulling boards from another window.

He was creating an opening for us. 

We each grabbed whatever kid we could, running them over to Dallas, who grabbed them through the opening, and tossed them away from the burning building. 

"Ow! The little shit bit me!" Ponyboy yelped, as he threw the kid out the window. 

The cracking and shifting of the roof grew louder and more often, as the building began to have an unsettling sway to it.  

My lungs and throat were starting to feel like they were closing up. 

It was getting harder to breath. 

It was getting harder to see. 

My head hurt so bad, it felt like someone was squeezing it with all of their might. 

Everything was starting to move in slow motion.

It didn't feel real. 

It felt like I was in some fever dream that wasn't mine. 

I look over to see a board fall, hitting Ponyboy on the back, and the back of the jacket he was wearing started on fire. 

"Ponyboy! Fire!" I tried to yell out. 

He didn't hear me, but thank God Dallas did. 

Dallas reached in and grabbed Ponyboy out my the neck of his clothes, pulling him out of the church. 

Dallas grabbed a board next to him, and smacked Ponyboy on the back to put the fire out. 

Well, he did put the fire out... but he must have hit Ponyboy a little too hard. 

He knocked him out cold. 

His eyes rolled back into his head, and he hit the ground like a ton of bricks. 

Dallas leaned over Ponyboy, and rolled him to his back. 

Dallas grabbed Ponyboy by the front of his shirt. 

"Stupid, kid!" Dallas pointed his finger in Ponyboy's face. 

Ponyboy's eyes fluttered a bit, as he took in little breaths.  

That's when there was a loud crack above Johnny and I. 

The two of us looked up at the ceiling.  

I grabbed Johnny's hand, and began running. 

Large chucks of burning would began falling around us. 

We tried to run as fast as we could, but we weren't fast enough. 

Just before we made it to the opening, the roof gave in. 

Everything above us toppled down. 

The two of us were covered in heavy, burning rubble. 

"AHHHHHH!" Johnny let out a terrifying, scream that ripped through the air. 

"I'M COMING FOR YOU!" Dallas screamed out. 

That was the last thing I heard, before I blacked out.  

I regained consciousness only for a few seconds. 

I was in an ambulance. 

People were all around me. 

One person was cutting my burnt clothes off with a pair of scissors. 

Another was starting an IV.

And another was putting a mask on my mouth and nose, which was connected to a large green tank. 

My eyes began to flutter shut again, no matter how hard I tried to stay awake. 

"Were loosing her again!" One of them yelled, as I blacked out again.