Young Writers Society

Cynthia's lower lip trembled as she looked up at Jeanine. "Will... will it heal?" She asks, through tears.

--

James continued his search for people, his mind too busied with worrying about his coworkers and the people in the hotel to think much at all of the fox that ran by him and was helping another person out. He ran further into the destabilizing building, following a cry for help. It was yet another familiar voice, that quickly escalated from a yell to a scream. James went from a quick, careful steps to a sprint as the scream drew him near.

As he climbed over rubble he made his way into what he knew to be Henry, the current owner of the hotel's office. It seemed that his office got a very direct hit from the explosions that had gone off, as the room was in shambles.

In the midst of the fallen walls and the spreading fire, he could see Henry, once cowering under his desk, now leaping out at the sight of James, with his coat jacket on fire. James haphazardly weaved his way through the flames but found a wall of fire between the two. He watched Henry panickedly throw off his flaming jacket, before yanking off his raincoat (now, no longer damp, but still somewhat cool amazingly) and throwing it down over the shortest distance of fire between them, whacking it down repeatedly until the fire in that spot went out. "Over here!" He called out.

Henry ran across the coat over to James, a look of relief on his face, even though they weren't out yet.

He heard the walls around them begin to shake, and hurried Henry out ahead of him. He pointed Henry down the hall, and Henry booked it outside. James however, hesitated and looked down the other end of the hall, and called out to see if anyone was still in there. He heard nothing... that is, nothing but the ceiling above him caving in. He leapt forward, barely dodging the fallen debris, but when he looked back, the hall was blocked. He couldn't get out the same way he came in.

Almost immediately, it seemed the air grew thicker with smoke. He could feel the sting in his eyes and his lungs, and stayed low to the floor. He reached for the tool-belt at his waist, grabbing a rag and tying it around his mouth before proceeding to crawl low, looking for more people, and another way out.
--

Alex smiled, shrugging. "I know. 'S called a joke."

James . . . Where is James? wondered Li He. She was sure that nearly everyone was out of the building by now. She had to find the hotel employee.

Following his scent amid the acrid smoke, she ran further back into the hotel, only to find a pile of rubble and an open, wrecked ceiling.

He was behind the wall of debris. Li He dug into the mound, even though she was beginning to heave deep coughs and her whiskers were starting to quiver violently.

I'm coming. Hold on.

The pile started to tremble and shake as she tried to force her way through. The falling debris barely missed the tips of her nine tails as she leaped out and bounded towards James's crawling figure. She let out a whine and nudged him with her nose.

The hotel, little by little, was emptied of its guests with the help of Cornyx, Sarah, and Li He.

James, barely able to see through the blinding smoke, heard the crumbling of debris to his left, and scrambled out of the way. He heard the faint sound of a whine, and the damp touch of an animal's nose. For a moment, there was confusion, and he thought it might've been a pet of a hotel resident that had gotten snuck in even though they had a no-pet policy (it was a pain to pick up after pets, he was the reason for that policy). Then he remembered the fox from earlier that he'd pushed from his mind at the time, having been too focused on the rescuing.

He reached out and touched the fox's head, barely able to make out its figure through stinging, tearful eyes. "You know a way out of here?" He coughed.

Li He morphed back into her human form and let out a loud cough as she was able to finally wipe her teary eyes. "I'll find a way." We're not going die here.

She covered her mouth to try to take in a purer breath. "We have to stay together, James. Focus on my tails. I've got nine of them, shouldn't be so hard, eh?"

With a smile and a reassuring wink, she turned back into a fox and headed forward. She only hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.

Jeanine jumped over and saw the fox. "WHERE'S JAMES?" She had moved Cynthia and decided to find James. "AND WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?"

Li He sighed and turned back into a human. "It's Li He. James is right behind me. We're trying to find a way out of here."

Jeanine swears and runs to him. "You have a mirror?" she asks Li He.

Raven appears next to Jeanine, extending her hand. In it is an old-fashioned silver mirror.

"Hello there," Jeanine says, not fasted at all.

James looked around at the three girl who'd come to rescue him - or at the very least, he tried to. He tried to blink the tears from his eyes so he could see more clearly but the smoke only continued to pull them from his eyes. Li He, Jeanine, and... I can't remember if I met this other woman before.

His eyes drifted to the flames down the hall, threatening to come closer and closer. They needed to move, fast. Sometime today, hopefully.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I want to get out of here," Li He told Jeanine, closing her eyes against the smoke. "So do you have a solution?"

Or else I will find a way out myself, like I was going to before.

"Follow me!" Jeanine shouts, and bounds down the rubble towards where she came.

James followed after Jeanine, letting Li He go before him.