Inferno

Smoke burns my eyes as I stumble through what is left of the building. The inferno spread like a disease through the heart of the small apartment complex. I can't see which way I am going but I feel my way around and reach a door. It won't open at first, but my escape isn't about to be stopped by a few inches of wood. With all of my might, I throw my weight against the door. With a loud crack, the door -and myself- fly into the dark room. As I gather my senses I notice that there is no fire in this room yet. I turn on my flashlight and point it cautiously through the haze caused by the smoke now pumping through the doorway. I nearly drop the flashlight when I see a pair of eyes staring at me, glowing in the light. Right before I lift my weapon to fire, I hear a soft voice whisper "Stop."

If my heart wasn't pounding before, it sure is now. "Hello?" I slowly approach the pair of bright green eyes, glowing brightly from both my flashlight and the fire in the hallway behind us.

"We don't have much time, I can't get the window open and the smoke's starting to get thick. I'm not a fan of fire, so... mind helping?" Her voice is almost sarcastic as she talks about this obviously dire situation. Without a word, I walk over to the window, noticing it was stupidly painted shut, and break it with my gloved hand. I break off the jagged edges and lean my head out of the opening.

To my great horror, There is a sheer drop two stories down to the pavement. "Do you have some rope we can use?"

"Oh, sure, let me just go into me rope drawer. Where is it? Oh yeah, I DON'T HAVE ONE." Her words hurt as she finishes her cute little joke. I scramble around the room looking for something I can use as a rope seeing as Miss Sarcasm doesn't have one.

I use the knife at my belt to cut off a strip of sheet and I wonder if I could possibly use that. Before I get a chance my new 'friend' taps me on the back, holding up an extension cord with an expression that would make you think she made the thing herself. I grab it without any thanks and tie it tightly around a leg of the bed. I throw the rest out of the window and drag the bed as close as I can to the wall. "You want to go first?" I see a quick flash of fear on her face and she quickly tries to hide it, doing a poor job. I toss her my gloves, out of some misplaced sense of chivalry and get a grip on the orange wire with my bare hands. "Here goes nothing." I grip tightly on the wire and slide down as controlled as I can. When I get close enough to the ground, I let go. My feet land perfectly on the pavement. The feeling of being safely out of the smokey building is amazing.

She's sticking her head out of the window, hands gripping the wire and through the holes in the gloves I can see her knuckles are chalk white. " I don't know if I can do this..."

"Oh, so you'd rather burn alive? Have fun, I'll see you in hell." I turn around, not really planning to walk away, but trying to psych her out. She caves.

"Fine! Don't leave. Just walk me through this."

"It's not that hard. Just keep your legs wrapped around the wire and loosen your grip when you want to move. Take it slow. Don't rush." She backs out of the window, carefully making sure not to look down. After what seems like an hour, she's close enough to the ground to get down safely. "You can drop now."

"Are you kidding me? I'll break my leg!" She is at the very most a yard from the ground. I laugh.

"Just let go. And absorb the fall when you hit the ground." Finally, she listens to me and drops. She walks over to me and punches me square in the stomach. I double over in pain and she lifts my chin with her finger.

"That, was for making fun of me." She looks me in the eyes, and touches her lips to mine. "And that, was for saving my life."

"What the-"

"Call me K. Now what do I call you?"

"People call me V."

I never met a girl like K. She's rude, defensive, cruel, and unkind. I already started falling in love with her.