Minutes had passed, or perhaps hours. Either way, Addison was jolted out of her shock when she inhaled the smell of something burning. Fire.

Coughing, she hurried, against her better judgement, toward the thicker smoke and crackling flames. She squinted down the long hallway as she ran.

As she got closer, yells became louder and Nolan's silhouette clearer. But the rising fire was getting closer too.

In the corner of her eye, Addison spotted a fire extinguisher hanging loosely on the wall. She skidded to a stop and hurried to grab it before facing the flames.

Praying that this would work, Addison raised the fire extinguisher in front of her and squeezed the handle as hard as she could. She held the fire extinguisher tightly as she swept it from side to side until the fire sputtered out.

When she finally dropped it, she found her fingers and hands stiff and her arms tired. Her body shook, either from exhaustion or fear, she wasn't sure.

"Addison..." A voice groaned.

She turned to find Nolan collapsed on the ground, pressing a red hand on his stomach. Blood seeped out between his fingers and he winced as he raised his head. The crazed girl was sitting next to him, staring at the puddle of blood surrounding them.

"Help..."

"Nolan!" Addison gasped, rushing over. She gently lifted his hand off the wound and he hissed. "Shhh, it's okay. I just need to check the wound.

He moaned, but didn't protest as Addison removed his hand once more.

She stripped off Nolan's drenched shirt. She winced at the blood-soaked wound. The wound was infected and brutal. It was a gruesome mix of flesh, burns, blood, and pus.

Addison cursed under her breath.

"That bad, huh?"

She hesitated, then shook her head silently.

"Veeerry convincing, Addison. I'm awed by-" The girl sitting frozen a couple feet away started moaning dreadfully, and Nolan's joke was cut short.

"Oh, just shut your mouth." Addison snapped at her..

The girl pressed her trembling lips together and fell silent, but a single, perfect tear slowly trailed down her cheek. At least she was quiet.

Addison quickly ripped a cleaner strip of cloth from Nolan's blood-soaked shirt.

"Hey..." Nolan touches my arm weakly.

Addison didn't even glance at him, "I swear, if you go on about some 'if  I die' crap, I'm leaving you here."
Nolan laughed, but soft enough that a wave of worry washed over Addison. She had never seen him so weak, so unlike himself.

"Unfortunately, you're not going to die." She sounded desperate now. Desperate to keep Nolan laughing, keep him awake.

"Help is on the way." Her words weren't convincing to either of them.

"Oh, I could do this all day." Nolan said, but he groaned in pain, and the joke fell flat.

The girl whimpered from the dreadful and strained sound.

"What did I tell you?! Shut. It!" Addison barked at her again.

Under Addison's hand, a shudder spread through Nolan's body. She turned back to make sure he was still awake. Thank god he was. When Addison looked back at the girl, she had vanished.

She didn't have time to think of it because right then red, white, and blue lights flooded the building.

"In here! We're in here!" She screamed, and yells sounded, getting louder and louder and joining Addison's screams as if it were music.

Lights flashed over them, and a familiar voice started shouting orders.    

Strong arms held Addison warmly and a stretcher carried a sleeping Nolan towards help. After that, all Addison remembered was the strong arms leading her to a safe bed, and her collapsing in exhaustion, finally resting.