Claws

Chapter Ten

      "Jean, catch!" I shout down to her, throwing her a rope I found on the fire escape. It's partially crumbled, and the people still trapped in this building need a way down. She catches it and ties it tightly to the base of the fire escape. I tie my end to the top. It creates a long strand of rope from the building to the ground, so that people can slide down. They might get a rug burn, but if I can help it, that will be the only type of burn they'll get today.

"I'm ready for the first person!" Jean calls up to me. We started on the lower levels where the fire started, and worked our way up. The fire escape is completely gone on one floor, so from there up, they'll have to take the rope. I turn to the man leaning out the window next to me.

"Are you ready?" I ask him.

"Won't that hurt?" He asks back.

"It'll hurt less than burning to death." I answer. He nods. I help him out onto the existing fire escape- or what's left of it, precariously attached to the building above the collapse- and he slides down the rope. I help out his two children, and then his wife. I move to the next floor.

I continue this routine until the building is empty of people. Some people manage to take a few possessions, some people leave it all behind. Some people are scared to slide down or even step onto the fire escape, which keeps groaning in the wind. Some people aren't, and charge out of their window and down the rope before I even get to them. One of them slid down when I was helping a little girl, and seeing her on the rope helped the little girl be less scared to get on it.

"That's all of them! It's empty!" I shout to Jean, who stands 5 floors beneath me.

"Slide down!" She yells back up at me. But I don't. I go down the fire escape, jumping down the rails and somersaulting past the gap. I land on the ground in a crouch, with one hand on the ground. Jean rolls her eyes.

"Show off." She says. I throw her a thumbs up. She rolls her eyes again and smiles.

We both turn to the alleyways, and run off before the reporters can get here.

I startle the exact same girl in the sandwich shop again. She seems to remember me.

"Where's Adrian?" I ask.

"I don't know. Try Jeremy." She points vaguely in the direction of where they cut the tomatoes and lettuce. I head over.

"Jeremy?" I call. "Hello?" He doesn't answer.

"Alexis? Why are you looking for Jeremy?" Adrian says from behind me. I turn around, startled.

"Someone told me he knew where you were. I was looking for you." I answer. He puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Look, Alexis, you shouldn't be here. You need to leave." He sound agitated. The look in his chocolatey eyes is troubled, and, for some reason, he's holding Buttercup. But even Buttercup looks troubled.

"Why?" I ask. I'm a little stubborn in my tone. I hear Jean burst in from the front. I can tell it's her because she starts calling my name.

"It's just a bad time for you to be here. Go!" He sounds unusually mad. He gives me a small push towards the door.

"Fine. I'll leave. But you have to go explain to Jean, and I want a good reason on why later." I turn on my heel and run to the door. Leaning against the wall outside I can hear Adrian telling Jean to leave as well. He won't tell her the reason either.

She finds me around the back of the building, in a small alleyway. She looks worried, too. I notice that she now has Buttercup.

"Why do you think Adrian kicked us out?" I ask her.