Page 43 of Day

Chapter Twenty-Two

Leon

The beam was harder to get off the door than I thought it would be.  I snuck a glance at everyone behind me to see they were doing okay so far. Phillip was moving around everyone with stealth to find the firemen that had disappeared.

“They are fine; let’s get this door open and get the kids,” Rose commented, and I refocused my energy. I pushed the doors open, and we heard the yelps and cries of little kids. The room wasn’t full of smoke, but it was filling fast.

“My name is Rose. Everything is going to be okay, but I need you guys to stay calm and listen to me.” Rose walked into the room, and you could feel a calm energy coat the air. Her powers were strong, that was for sure.

All of the kids seemed to relax a little, and the teacher that was with them stepped forward, ready to lead her class.

I looked behind us to the fight that was still happening.

“We need a path!”

“Coming up, honey!” Lilith sang to me, and even in the situation that was going to shit fast, she made me smile.  She twirled around then kicked the woman in the chest. She did the same move another two times, moving her fight over so we could get by.

“Okay, everyone hold hands and follow us. We’ve got a super strong man that’s going to lead the way. He ate all his veggies, so he’s got this,” Rose joked, but no one laughed.

“Right. Let’s go.” She waved them over, and the kids came to her easily. There was about ten of them, so not a large group, but still. So many things could go wrong.

We made it past Lilith and Draco, keeping the goons at bay. I could see the door ahead and took a breath I must have been holding that we were almost out. But then with a huge screech and a groan, the roof fell, followed by a cloud of smoke and flames. Shit.

I turned back to look at Rose. She saw it too, and her face was pale. We needed another way out.

“AJ.” I pressed the button on my watch.

“Front door is the best bet, but you need to be fast. That side is burning up quick,” AJ answered, and I tried to think of how to get all the kids out as fast as possible.

“I’m going to carry them out, two at a time.” I looked at the kids and nodded to myself. It was the best way. I was fast enough and strong enough that I should be able to get them out, and the flames won’t touch them.

“Do it!” Draco yelled down the hall, and I knew it was our only shot.

Rose told the kids what was going to happen, and the first two kids let me wrap my arms around them.

“Hold on,” I told their semi-scared-looking faces before taking off.

We passed the fight, and I found the lobby. Phillip was there waiting for us with the three firemen.

“Knock it down,” he told me, and I took a breath before kicking the fire-coated door, and going full force through it with the kids.

I set them down in front of the first set of firemen I saw then ran back for the others.

Phillip dragged the one fireman out before someone came to help him get the others.

As quickly as I could, I returned four more times, grabbing a pair of kids and running them out to safety. The teacher and Rose followed me with the last two. The fire was too much for them to run through without getting burned, so once I put the kids down I went back for them.

Once I knew they were okay, I had to see what I could do to help Draco and Lilith, who managed to take down the woman, but there was a new man on the scene fighting her now.

“Got them all out!”I shouted to them.

Lilith grabbed onto the guy’s wrist and twisted him over her body and onto the floor, then quickly wrapped her toned thighs around his neck while holding onto his wrist still. He passed out within a few seconds.

“Okay, I’m good to go now.” She stood up and dusted her jeans off, like she hadn’t just incapacitated a man double her size.

Draco looked like he had a run-in with some fire, but was fine minus the burned shirt he had been wearing. He too pulled a ninja move like Lilith, and his man was out.