Lucas ran through the door ready for the next room. He looked around for anything that could lead his way to the next room. It was getting very hard to see and the smoke.. Oh, the smoke. That terrible, horrible smell that Lucas had been smelling the second he walked into the building. His eyes started to burn because of how bad the smoke had gotten since he had entered the first room. He thought that if maybe he felt the walls beside him, then maybe he could find a room… any room. He felt his hand on the warm wall as he slid it across until feeling something smooth. A door! As his eyes neared the number he saw the number 43. Dang it, he thought to himself. He just had to hurry. There was no time to go in order. He could just go back to 42. He felt for the door handle and when he found it… when he found it… it was so hot he could just feel the hot surface burn his palm. He started to cough again as he breathed in more ash. 

He held his palm as he took a step back… and then he knocked down the door. As he ran through the door, he looked around the room. The room looked almost the same as the last but more plants and different pictures. He searched the room. Lucas knew the people who had been in this room. He knew who to look for. So he started in the bedroom. More plain then the other. He turned into the bathroom there. Nobody. It was starting to get hard to see. The floor, the ceiling, the walls, the couch, the kitchen and the dining table all started to take part in the fire. Lucas said in his head, What do I do? He started to tear up. This time not because of the black… depressing smoke. He just did not know what to do anymore. 

The blackness of the smoke getting darker, the ash getting heavier, the-. “Help!” What was that? Lucas started to walk towards the door. “Hello?”. “Yes I'm in here, hurry?” This time in a sob. Lucas started to walk out the door fanning the smoke away from his eyes. Someone was there. Someone… someone for him to save. He walked out the door with struggle and started to feel around again, for any room numbers. “What room are you in?” Lucas asked.”I'm in room 42.” Oh gosh. He had to go backwards. He started to walk the opposite direction – or what he thought was the opposite direction. His hand started to throb. He could feel the apartment wall. He thought maybe if he went to the other side then maybe there would be a room there.

He crossed sides and luckily fell right into the room he had thought to be 42. “I'm coming in.” Lucas waited for a response. “Hurry… Please hurry,” said the person. It was a female, you can tell by the scream and sob. He learned his lesson from the last door, so he put his blue zipped jacket sleeve over his hand and shook the door knob. This time it had luckily been open. He started to gag. “What room are you in?” Lucas again waited for a response. 

Nothing. 

Lucas started to get into his head. No… was he just too late? Maybe they were- 

“I'm in the bathroom!” 

Lucas smiled with relief even though nobody could see it through all of the thick smoky ash. Lucas started to look around. This room had been more clear than the others… but not by a lot. He saw a burnt up couch and a broken tv in the first room. Bathroom, bathroom, bathroom, Lucas thought to himself. “Where is the bathroom?” he asked out loud. He heard a scream… but with a boom. “AHHH!” Lucas went silent. It was like the whole world went silent. “Hello?” He was afraid to know if she was alive or… dead.

 “Help me.” He heard, and the sound to the world was back. He could hear her sob.

He saw a room, and just hoped that was the bathroom. He walked in… looked around, and saw her. She was bundled up in the corner and he could just see the fear in her eyes. “Come on, let's get you out of here.” He took her hand. She was young, just in her twenties. She thanked him. With her grateful eyes, he helped her out of the bathroom and out into the kitchen area. He noticed the further he walked, the darker it got. They found their way out of the room and into the hall. He felt around for the door to the stairs.

  Lucas started to cough again. He found the door to the stairs and the only way he could tell was because of the brown color. With his sleeve over his burnt hand, he opened the door to the stairs. When they opened the door, it was way smokier than the way it was before, but it was adjustable to the eyes. Lucas and the girl rushed down the stairs to the lobby. He stopped to think. Lucas was scared that if he saw outside, then maybe he would not go back in. He led her through the lobby to the front desk near the door. “Are you sure you need to go back in? Stay out here where we are all safe.” Lucas knew she was right, but he had to be selfless. “It's ok. Join the others and don't look back. I'll be ok.” She looked at him in tears… and walked away. As Lucas started walking out, he looked back. Only two more rooms to go.

Lucas burst through the door, up the stairs and back into the smokey hallway he once was happy in, lived in, and loved. He only had room 44 and 45 left. He started to cough again… missing the fresh… amazing air he had enjoyed only a minute ago. This pleasure tempted him to go back down. I gotta keep going! He was sweating so bad that his fingers slipped off any surface he touched. His eyes started to burn as if they were in contact with the flames in red.  “Anybody here? Please… somebody answer me!” In a sob he fell to the ground. As Lucas crawled around the ground he looked for anything… anything that would just lead him to a door. 

“HELP US!”

Lucas raised his head. Someone is here. Lucas started to stand up slowly. He felt weak. He needed something to hold onto, something to support him. He leaned up against the wall for support, but he knew to put his jacket sleeve over his hand. He ran … ran till he found a smoother surface, door like. “I’m COMING,” Lucas said in panic. He ran… ran like he was trying to save his own family. Sadly, it kept running through Lucas’s mind that he didn’t have the chance to save his family… and this is why Lucas was determined to save this other family.   

   I have to go. Lucas, finally was able to feel the smooth surface of the door. “WHAT APARTMENT NUMBER ARE YOU IN?” The lady yelled. “44!” He looked up. He couldn’t see. His eyes were watering from the smoke. His lungs were filling up with the smoke, and it was getting hard to breathe. “HOW MANY OF YOU ARE IN APARTMENT 44?” Lucas waited for a response. “THREE!” Please let this be the right room. He felt for the metal number on the door. Four…four. Forty-four! Lucas stepped back and ran into the door. It did not open.

 “DANG IT,” Lucas yelled! He tried again. He stepped back and rammed into the door again. It finally broke open. He fell into the door and then got up. This apartment was a little more affected by the fire. The tile was black, the couch was burnt and the windows were broken. He looked around. This room was a lot different. It was more… family like. Something Lucas never got to have. There were family pictures, kids toys and skateboards at the door. “KEEP YELLING TO ME SO I CAN FOLLOW YOUR VOICE?” Come on, come on. “WERE IN THE BATHROOM!” Ok ok. Bathroom bathroom bathroom… where's the bathroom? Lucas ran through the living room into the bedroom and out the laundry room. Where is the bathroom? Lucas looked around. The room started to fill up with smoke.

Lucas was determined to get this family out of the apartment as safely as possible. He turned the corner of the bedroom to see a closed brown door that had been right in the middle of the hallway. He knew this had to be the bathroom. Lucas darted across the hallway and right to the opening of the door. Please be safe, please… be safe. “YOU GUYS STILL THERE?” They responded. “Yes, we're here. Please hurry. It's getting hard to breathe.” Lucas tested the door knob to see if it was hot. He opened the door slowly only to find a mother and her two children. One boy and one girl. Lucas knew that now was not the right time to let the memories of his family stop him. The girl must have been seven or eight years old. The son, eleven maybe twelve. 

“Ok guys this is what's going to happen! I need you guys to follow me out of the building as quickly and safely as possible. Stay together and put your shirts over your mouths now. ”They stood up, and started to run and follow Lucas. He very cautiously led them out of the room. They walked out the bathroom into the living room. He slowly opened the door and helped them all out. One by one they walked through the smokey hallway. The kids started to cough and the mother’s eyes were on fire because of the smoke. The harder thing about this rescue was that he couldn’t see the way out. He needed the wall again for support. “Slow down guys. I need to make sure we know where we’re going.” He walked and walked through that smokey fiery hallway. With his hands over his sleeve, his eyes burned by the smoke, and his lungs begging for real air… Lucas opened the door to the stairs. This time it was worse. Not on fire, but definitely filled with more smoke than before.

Luckily though, he could see. He led the family down the stairs. Floor one. He opened the door and realized that this was the worst obstacle that they would have to face. This lobby was smokey, on fire, full of ash, and honestly just describes the word… dangerous. We have to run. Lucas turned to the family. “This will be hard, but I need you all to run. Just run, run, run, and don't stop until we get outside.” They all nodded their heads in fear. “It’s going to be ok,” Lucas assured the family. They were ready. They all started to run. Slow at first but keeping up with Lucas was a matter of life and death, so they kept up with his pace. They ran for what felt like hours. Once outside, the feeling of safety and calmness settled in. Lucas felt happy. 

He saw the girl he saved before. She looked so happy, but mostly grateful. She looked at him and mouthed… Thank you. Lucas nodded his head and looked back at the family. “You guys need to go call 911.” The mother responded. “What about you?” Lucas looked at her. “I’ll be ok. One more apartment and that's it.” How am I going to do this? Lucas turned his head and started to run slowly back. “HELP!” Ok there's the last person. Lucas very vaguely heard it but knew it was someone. “I’M COMING UP,” Lucas yelled! He started to run when he noticed something. Wait… something isn’t right. Why is the floor-

BOOM!