In a Parallel World - The Story of Dan and Phil

Chapter 13: An Explosive Day Out

Chris and PJ were sat on a bench beneath The Shard, eating an ice cream, when they heard the crash. They looked up to see the middle of The Shard shrouded by clouds of black smoke and orange flames. "PJ, what about Dan and Phil? They're up there!" said Chris. PJ grabbed his phone and dialled Dan. "He's not picking up. They must be cut off." Just then, a group of security guards ran out. "It's not safe! All of you, take cover!" they shouted. That was then the explosion hit. The middle of the building got completely blown away from the building, and chunks of steel and iron were flying all over the place. PJ and Chris were knocked off their feet, and hit the bench they had been sitting on. PJ looked up, dazed and confused. But not confused enough to see the huge piece of sharp metal flying towards Chris. PJ scrambled to his feet and pushed Chris out of the way. Chris screamed as the huge piece of metal hit PJ square in the head and knocked him out cold, leaving a huge gash in his forehead. Chris called the emergency services, and cried down the phone for them to come quickly. "Please Dan and Phil. Please be ok and sort this out."

"Phil! Phil!!" Phil heard Dan's voice faintly. "Phil! We haven't got time for this! Come on!" Phil staggered to his feet, and took Dan's hand to help him up. "What happened? Why was I asleep?" asked Phil dazedly. "The middle of the building exploded. The top half of the building fell onto the bottom half and we were all thrown around. But you were thrown into a desk, and knocked yourself out in doing so. We're all ok though. Just. But we need to be careful where we step. One wrong move and we could fall through the floor, and the slightest shock to this building could bring the whole thing down" Dan explained. "So what do we do?" asked Phil. "We're all at the lift shaft, using the pieces of metal and desks to build a ladder. We can get into the bottom half of the building that way. Come and help." Dan began to walk back to the shaft. "Dan? Do you think this is another attempt at killing us?" asked Phil. Dan could sense the fear in his voice. "I'm sorry Phil. I don't know. Most likely. But I promise we will get out of here" said Dan. "Ok" Phil replied. They both walked back over to the shaft. Dan and the others went to get some more material, while Phil peered down into the lift shaft. All he could see was smoke, but through the smoke he thought he saw a black silhouette of a person. A person with their arm stuck out towards the wall, with something flashing red in their hand. Phil quickly got up and ran over to Dan. "Dan, how far down is the 'ladder' going to go?" asked Phil. "About 20 metres. Why?" "We need to use it now. I just saw a person through the smoke attaching something to the wall. Something flashing." "Are you sure? The smoke could be affecting your brain." said Dan. "No. I'm very sure. Put me on the end of the ladder, and lower it down the shaft. I'll check" said Phil firmly. "Ok. but be careful" said Dan.

Phil was in the lift shaft, trying not to inhale the smoke. He had got to the point where he thought he saw the strange figure, but nothing. "Push left!" He spluttered up the shaft. The tower of desktops swung as the people above him moved them. Phil looked around and couldn't see anything. But then he heard a beep behind him. He turned round to see a huge bomb attached to the wall, and a screen on it said 0:15... 'oh god' Phil thought. "PULL ME UP!! PULL ME UP NOW!!! Phil shouted. He heard the beeps every second as he rose through the clouds of smoke. "Dan! There's a bomb! We have 10 seconds!" "Ok. Here's what we need to do. Everybody!" Dan shouted. "Stand next to the windows! When the bomb explodes, jump and grab onto a piece of falling metal. Then ride it down the wall of the building. I'm sorry, we don't have enough time for teaching. The only way we're getting out of here is with confidence and self-belief. Phil? How much time?" "3...2...1..." Phil counted down. "NOW!!" shouted Dan. They jumped and the whole of the top half burst into a million pieces. Dan and Phil both grabbed onto a piece of debris and more or less snowboarded down the building. "It's working!!" shouted Dan. They both screamed as they slid down the building. They started to laugh as they went, but then they saw a long sharp steel support sticking out of the building. Their makeshift snowboard smashed, and they fell to the ground and everything went dark...