Distant Minds

Chapter 10: Trapped

          Daniel ends the call and stands up from the couch he Randall and Ralph were sitting in. "What's wrong?" Ralph asks. "Kate," Daniel answers. "There's a fire at Kate's house." Ralph and Randall immediately get up from the couch, and head out the door. The three sprint to Kate's house, since its only three blocks away. Ralph pants and looks at Daniel, sprinting as well. "Tell me, why the fuck this is happening all over again."

          Gabby gets in her car, and begins to drive back to her house. "Don't worry, sis. Help is on the way." She dials 911.
911 what's your emergency?
"Hello, There's a fire at 3097 gateway drive,"
We'll be there shortly. Please stay calm.
"Thank you"
          Gabby arrives home, to see a chaos of a fire Visible in the first floor of the entire house. Kate is trapped. Kate opens her window. "Gabby! Help!" Gabby looks at Kate in a panic, "don't worry, I called 911 they'll be here shortly!" Gabby sees Kate begin to tear up. "How will I get down? If I jump, there will be no support because of the concrete!" Gabby begins to tear up as well. "Everything will be fine, sis, just stay calm!" Gabby looks to her left and sees Daniel Ralph and Randall running towards her direction. Gabby smiles. She wipes the tears away from her face and yells "Guys! Over here!" She waves and the three reach her. Ralph and Daniel look at the smoldering first floor of the house, slowly spreading to the 2nd floor. "Fucking hell," Daniel says. Kate yells from the top floor. "Ralph! Daniel! Do something!" Ralph inches closer to the front door. Randall and Gabby meet eyes, "it been a while," Gabby says with a sniff. "Yeah," Randall says quietly. Ralph turns to Daniel gabby and Randall and says "I can't believe I'm doing this shit again, but I'm going in." Ralph turns back towards the door, and holds the doorknob. "Gabby, give me the keys."
          "No, you're crazy! We need to wait for the firemen and ambulance!" "GABBY, GIVE ME THE FUCKING KEYS!" Ralph yells in anger, "fine," Gabby says reluctantly. She takes the house keys out of her purse and hands them to Ralph. He unlocks the door, opens it, and runs inside.
          Ralph's heart races as he sprints through the burning first floor, but stops when he reaches the stairway. The stairway was burning bright. Sweat pours down Ralph's face. He closes his eyes, then he jumps. He jumps three steps at a time, singing his shoes in the burning floor. As he gets to the last three steps, he trips, falls, and burns a part of his left leg. "Ah!!!" He yells. He limps back up, and barges Kate's bedroom door open. Kate gets out of her bed, teary eyes, and gives Ralph the biggest hug she ever gave. She whimpers, "You're crazy for doing that." Ralph hugs her back, tighter. "Crazy for you."
Meanwhile, outside, Gabby is struggling to see Kate. "She disappeared! Where did she go?" "Hey! Over here!" Randall and Gabby look to their left. They see Braden running their way. "What the hell happened here?!" He yells as he looks at the smoldering fire. "I don't know," Gabby answers. "I was out when this happened." "Where's Kate?!" "She's inside. But Ralph went in to get her." Braden looks at gabby, "Ralph is in there?" Gabby nods.
"How are we gonna get out?" Kate asks. "We need to get out through the window." Ralph says. "Its the only way." Kate shakes her head. "I can't, I don't want to. We're too high up from the ground, and there is no grass or dirt to support our fall." Ralph sighs. Then the fire begins to enter Kate's bedroom. "Oh no." Kate hides behind Ralph. "We have nowhere to go." Ralph thinks for a second, then says, "grab what you need." "Why?" "Just do it." Kate grabs her backpack, her journal, and her phone. "Now what?" "Get on my back." The fire begins to burn the bed, and the smoke begins to fill the room.
Braden says to gabby Randall and Daniel, "I'm going inside." Gabby and Randall shake their head. Then Gabby says "You can't. Ralph is already in there." Braden begins to yell "I DON'T TRUST KATE IN THE SAME ROOM WITH RALPH IN A FIRE. I'm going in." Gabby yells back "LEAVE THOSE TWO BE! It's Kate's choice wether she needs you or not. For your information, she called Daniel Ralph and Randall to come here first, and not you. So quit interfering." Braden's face begins to glow red. He inches towards gabby, hand in the air, and strikes, he attempts to slap her, but his wrist stopped. Randall stopped it. "Lay a hand on her, and these fists will be the last thing you see." Braden backs away. Gabby looks at Randall with a blush on her face.
Kate gets on Ralph's back, then Ralph says, "If were not going out the window, were going out the front door. Kate says "but the fire-" then Ralph starts running. Kate holds Ralph tight as Ralph sprints through the burning house. As they reach the stairs, Ralph pants, takes a deep breath, and backs away. "W-why are we stopping?" "Ralph coughs, "hold on." "I am" "hold tighter!" He insists. Kate grabs his chest area tight, and Ralph grabs Kate's legs, "here we go!" then he jumps. His feet slam against the burning wooden floor, "HOLY SHIT!" Kate yelled. "You jumped an entire staircase!" Ralph coughs, then laughs again. "Going to the gym every day does pay off, does it." After a few minutes, Ralph continues to carry Kate on his back and run towards the front door. The wooden walls begin to fall down, and Ralph begins to hear the fire trucks outside. They're finally here, he thought. He sees the door swung open, closes his eyes, and reaches the front door. The two made it out alive. He sees Braden, Daniel, gabby, Randall, and two fire trucks behind them. He settles Kate down from his back, and falls flat in the ground.