Dying Fire

Chapter 8 - I Know

Cat had pushed through the fifth floor too. There were bodies on the ground, and she checked Mike and Jimmy's room to see if they were in there. Thankfully, at least she hoped, they were not. That meant they must have gotten out, they had to already have been making their way towards the top. 

So, she kept pressing on. 

Reaching the door to the fourth floor however, Cat found herself stuck. It was jammed closed, it wouldn't budge worth a damn. She held onto the handle, drove her shoulder into it over and over and over again. It wouldn't give way though, but that wasn't stopping her. 

It was her only way off of this floor, her only way to freedom. 

She couldn't stop. 

No matter how bad her hip hurt, how tired she was, what little energy she had left, Cat pounded over and over and over again into the door. 

She didn't think she was getting anywhere, not until it suddenly gave way. 

Cat crashed forward with her momentum, and her legs gave in sending her straight to the ground. Immediately, the metal grate scraped against her knees drawing even more blood to the surface of her skin. "Fucking A-" she hissed covering her mouth with her arm.

The smoke was thick on this floor, there were still flames engulfing the edges of the rooms around her.

Fire needed oxygen to live though, that had to mean she was getting close to the top.

That meant she was getting close to freedom. 

With every ounce of energy she had left, Cat rose back up to her feet and ducked under the flames as best as she could. Every now and again they roared towards her- but she flinched away from them closing her eyes for protection.

Every step she took seemed to make her legs weaker and weaker, and the lack of oxygen around her didn't help either. Suddenly, Cat was thrown back to the ground as the door to her right busted free. A fireball exploded behind it- and the momentum threw her into the wall and back to the ground.

There was no breathing, no strength- nothing. 

All she had was her grip of concioussness, and that was slipping away from her with every passing second.

She couldn't move though, Cat was done. It didn't matter how hot the door was on her back, how uncomfortable the sticky oiled ground was.

Cat wasn't moving.

Every ounce of energy she has was gone, and with it went her strength.

There was no stopping it. Her bones hurt, she had lost too much blood, she had put up one hell of a flight- but Cat was going to die here.

There was no point in fighting it anymore.

She couldnt.

Not, that is, until she heard his voice.

He was calling her name. It was long, drawn out, and it echoed in the hallway around her.

To make sure it was really him, Cat had to look up from beneath the door through her burnt hair. She couldn't see him, but Cat knew it was him. It was Caleb' s voice.

If she could have, she would have called his name.

There was no opportunity to though.

Hearing a steady hiss of air to her right- Cat turned her head to see a pipe against the wall leaking with something. It was air, it was a gas, and her heart sank. "Son of a bitch..." she sucked in a sharp breath and charged towards Caleb' s voice with everything she had. The door buckled off of her, hit the ground and echoed, and she could almost hear the gas igniting on it's own. 

It was going to be another flash fire, and if they were in here when it went off, they were both as good as dead. 

With her steady limp, she sprinted, huffed, and sprinted some more. He kept calling her name, almost as if he could hear the steady pounds of her foot steps. 

As soon as she could see his face though, she was close enough to take him to the ground. Cat tackled him through the doorway as the hallway behind her caught fire. It looked like an explosion out of a movie- and all she could do was role onto her back and kick the door closed as hard as she could. It slammed closed, and through the shielded window she could see the orange that was nipping at her heels not too long ago. 

It danced around the glass, and the heat crept underneath the crack as if reaching for her. 

It couldn't though. 

They were safe. 

"Holy shit." Caleb propped himself up with his hands looking towards the door. 

Out of pure exhaustion however, Cat went back to laying down and closed her eyes. "Yeah." 

Directing his attention away from the door and towards her however, Caleb's heart had sank. "Jesus Christ Cat." He had looked at her body. She was burnt, covered in oil, sweating, and the bleeding wound on her hip, it had already soaked through the shirt she had tied to it. 

"I know." She kept her eyes closed and took a breath. "Everything just turned to shit so fast." 

He was looking down at her, eyes grazing over every wound that she had; more so her hip than anything. 

Opening her eyes however, all she could do was look up at him- see how he was studying her. 

It was a moment that seemed so unreal. "What are you doing down here Caleb?" 

Looking to her eyes now, he laid beside her still elevated a few feet above her. "I knew you were down here." 

"You came for me?... Why?" 

Sitting next to her, he couldn't believe that she was even asking that. "I wasn't just going to let you die." 

She breathed again. "You're an idiot." 

Chuckling, he nodded. "Funny, that's what Mike said too." 

"Mike." It registered again. "Is he okay?" 

"Yeah, he got out. Mr. Jimmy was a little banged up, but they were still alive. Worried as hell about you." 

Nodding, she took a breath of relaxation and closed her eyes again. "Perfect." 

"Come on." He tried helping her sit up. "Let's get you out of here." 

She allowed him to help her, but every movement that they made sent the pain roaring back to life in her body. There was nothing she could really do about it except bite her lip and try to hide it from him. "Can you make it?" he asked inspecting her a little further. 

Chuckling while leaning against him, Cat just draped her arm over his shoulder and let him help her walk. "Yeah, but not to change the subject drill boy." She groaned as they started up the stairs. "You should cut your hair." 

"What?" He laughed looking to his side at her. "Where did that come from?" 

"Nowhere really." She sighed. "Just figured this shit had to start somehow. Thought that all this grease came from somewhere. Didn't think that I would find the source this fast." 

"Funny." He chuckled. "You're really funny." 

Cat smiled and gripped him a little harder. "I know."