There was a great deal of smoke but no flames. Searching, I found the stairs and took them two at a time. “Jocelyn,” I yelled on the first floor I came to.
There was no response. Knowing that Benjamin’s brother had died on the fifth floor of this building, I wondered if I should start searching there, but from what I saw from the outside, the fifth floor had already been destroyed by years of abandonment. He was likely keeping her somewhere on one of the other floors.
“Jocelyn,” I yelled out, searching the second floor. “Where are you, baby? Jocelyn?” There was nothing.
I yelled out again once I reached the third floor.
“Don!” I heard her reply.
I exhaled at the sound of her voice, keeping my body low to inhale as little smoke as possible. Dark smoke filled the hallway, and bright orange flames shot out from a few open doors on either side of the hall. I dropped to my knees to stay out of the thickest part of the smoke.
As I passed each open door with fire shooting out, I reached underneath the doors to pull them closed. That would decrease the oxygen flow, slowing the spread of the fires.
“Jocelyn, call out, baby.”
“Don...”
My chest tightened. She sounded weak and frightened.
“Jocelyn?” I called through one of the closed doors where it sounded like her voice was coming from. I pushed through the door.
“Shit.” I coughed, covering my mouth and nose against the smoke. “Jocelyn.”
“Over here, Don,” she yelled from the corner of the room.
I army crawled past the burning stacks of newspaper to find her in a corner of the room, on the floor. She was tied to a chair.
I ripped off my gloves with my teeth to unravel the thick tape around her legs.
“Be careful, Don. He’s still in here, somewhere.” Her nervous gaze circled the room.
“You keep watching the door,” I said as I got her second leg free from the chair. I went for her tied wrists, freeing her within a few minutes of my entering the room.
“Don, look out!”
I stood and pushed Jocelyn out of the way, before narrowly missing being hit by the crowbar Benjamin swung at me. “You’re not getting out of here alive,” he shouted.
“Ah, fuck,” he groaned, dropping the weapon when I punched him in the ribs. He bent over in pain, swaying out of the way of the door.
I ripped off my jacket and mask and handed them to Jocelyn. “We need to get out of here. Put these on,” I insisted.
“What about you?”
“We’re getting out of here,” I said. “Shit,” I growled when a blow to my side almost sent me to my knees.
“Don,” Jocelyn yelled.
“You’re not getting out of here alive,” Benjamin shouted.
“Jocelyn go!” I demanded, pushing her out the door.
When Benjamin ran at me with the crowbar I ducked underneath, sending me deeper into the room again. He slammed the door shut, locking us both inside.
“I’ll get that bitch after I finish you,” he threatened.
Fuck.
“I’m going to kill you,” Benjamin yelled as he ran toward me with the crowbar lifted over his head.
