Your lungs constrict as you enter the building, hearing the flames roar and structure creak unsteadily as you tie your bandana around your nose to stifle the onslaught of thick smoke. Your eyes fall on Michael as he hurries out of the building, clutching a bleeding and unconscious Gavin whose feet drag through the soot. “The fuck?!” he yells as he pushes past you, eyes angry and face pained “Vagabond’s gonna be so pissed if you die.”  “Then I’ll try my best to make it out” you reply, scanning the area quickly as your heart pounds uncontrollably against your aching ribs. You can hear your crew angrily screaming after you, but as you watch them race towards the entrance the frame collapses; Geoff’s agonised expression the last thing you see before the room is engulfed in flames. With a shudder you return you gaze to the room, panic nibbling at the edges of your resolve.

 The stairs are buckling into the fire, leaving the bones of the building exposed beneath a gaping hole choking with plumes of smoke. Taking a deep breath you rush towards it, blood hammering in your ears. Reaching up you grasp at a beam and haul yourself upwards, determination pushing you forward. Struggling, you climb a flight or so further as the final beam beneath your foot strips away, clattering to the ground now dangerously far down. The heat becomes unbearable as you wriggle your way onto the exposed 3rd floor, spotting movement through the billowing smoke.

“Ray” you croak, shuffling towards him. Again, the building clatters, the floor above you cracking and plummeting down towards you. “Ray!” you call louder, squeezing your eyes shut before the concrete smashes into your leg; causing you to let out a scream. Blinding pain shoots through you, your foot contorting as you hear your bones snap. Shrieking, you force yourself to look at your mangled leg buried beneath the rubble, clutching it as you writhe in agony. Taking deep, sporadic breaths you throw your gaze quickly to Ray, able to see his face exposed and staring at you in fear. You can see his mouth moving, but the ringing in your ears drowns out all noise with every flip of your stomach.

Your mind begins to race as you refocus on your leg and the excruciating pain that has you sweating and convulsing uncontrollably. With all your strength you begin to lift, the concrete cutting into your fingers as you force the mass to move. After enough leverage, you try to balance the weight with one hand, using your other to snatch your leg awkwardly out from underneath. Another scream escapes your lips in a gurgle of bubbles, forcing your body forward to wrap around the wound that is now steadily losing blood, glugging fast and thick onto the floor. Groaning through a spasm of pain, you use your knife to help rip a strip of fabric from your shirt, ignoring the jagged bones jutting out that beg for attention. Taking a deep breath you begin to bind the fabric around the wound, wincing and panting as your exposed flesh touches the soft material; dust and ash shuddering from above you to flutter across your skin. Shielding your head from the trickles of debris you twist onto your front, hauling your useless leg behind you as you shuffle closer to Ray with his hand outstretched.

“Y/N?” You hear him choke out your name feebly through your ringing daze, and once you are close enough you tug on his hand; hearing him curse. “We can’t get out” he tells you desperately as he locks onto you, the depths of his eyes frantic and fearful. With a cold sweat setting in and making it harder to breathe, you look around and notice a window glistening with heat. “There,” you point, but Ray shakes his head in rejection.

“Too far down,” he lets out a gut-wrenching cough, “I’ve already thought about it.”. Faintly you can here sirens in the distance; your mind quickly jumping to the safety of the rest of your crew. “Think about it again,” you command while working your way over to the sill, feeling it burn your forearms as you lean against it to look out and on to the street; staring down at the distant ground as you start to shake involuntarily from exertion.

Now turning back to the room, you watch the flames viciously creep towards you; time quickly running out. “Can you move Ray?” you ask while motioning to a large, plush arm chair with a high back adorned with ash, though mostly intact. He struggles, wobbling to his feet and lurching towards it, collapsing onto the seat with the floorboards letting out a moan underfoot. “You’re right,” he jokes weakly “I feel much better.” “Bring it over,” you instruct, struggling to keep a grip on consciousness as the pain in your leg works its way up your body, setting in your bones. He does as you say, pushing the chair towards you and the window, though your vision blurs as you fade in and out. You motion weakly to his pants, “off.” 

“Now’s not the time,” he smiles, but as you roll your eyes you see he begins to strip off his jeans and offers them to you. In a swift motion you tear the denim with your knife, creating a makeshift rope. 

“Help me up?” you ask and he’s at your side in an instant. Ignoring the pain as best you can, Ray wraps an arm around you, lifting you to your feet. You snatch at the armchair, shuffling it closer to you before Ray helps you to push it up against the window. With a grunt, He smashes the glass with his elbow, blood dripping from the fragments lodging into his skin. Now working together you manoeuvre the chair to face the room, the back leaning slightly out the window and into the cold, refreshing air.

“We’ve gotta sit” you gasp, keeling over and coughing violently. Ray nods, dragging you to the seat and placing you gently in it. You give him his jeans and he squeezes in next to you, wrapping the fabric under the chair then around your bodies. You look at him as your head spins, holding your hand out for him to cling to firmly. “We’re fucking dead” he says in an almost cheerful tone and you wheeze, placing your uninjured foot flat on the floor. He plants his feet too, and you both close your eyes. “On three,” he says, “one-” he pushes off with his feet and you feel your stomach churning and rushing into your throat; hurtling backwards and out of the window. Clenching your mouth shut, the wind rushes around you noisily as you plummet to the ground, landing with a painful crunch.