Author's Note: Not much I can say at this point other than...enjoy!
Chapter 9
It's 1:00 AM and the fire at the old pre-school is spreading fast.
"Quick! Get away from the fire!" screamed Wendy, helping Stan and the other boys get to their feet. They all gathered against the far wall furthest from the fire. They held on to each other as they all watched the room fill with thick black smoke and saw several support beams collapse onto the floor.
"I never thought it would end this way." said Bebe, hugging Kenny tightly.
"I'm sorry you were brought into this Ike." said Kyle, trying to comfort him "I should have come clean a long time ago."
"Goodbye, Mr. Kitty." started Cartman, almost breaking into tears while holding his beloved cat "You were the only one who ever truly stood by me, through thick and thin." Suddenly, Mr. Kitty broke free from Cartman's grip and ran away across the room toward the fire. "Hey! What the hell, Mr. Kitty? You get your ass back here right now!" demanded Cartman.
"Stan…" started Wendy, her eyes tearing up.
"Oh, Wendy!" replied Stan, hugging her and rocking her back and forth "It's all my fault you're here, I can't-"
"Hey guys! Look at Mr. Kitty! I think he may have found a way out!" shouted Cartman. Everyone turned and looked at Mr. Kitty. Through the smoke they could see him sneaking his way in between two of the wooden boards blocking one of the windows on the back wall. They watched as his back end slipped through the opening-disappearing outside.
"Over there! Mr. Kitty found an exit!" said Cartman, looking as if he found a lifetime supply of Cheesy Poofs. "We've got to get over there, it's our only chance!" Renewed with the possibility of a way out, the group crawled on their hands and knees over to the window. The fire now consumed almost half of the building, and was quickly spreading to the other half. Broken glass and other debris fell down from the ceiling as the fire burned through the lights and ceiling tiles. More crashes could be heard as large chunks of ceiling rained down around them. The air grew thick and increasingly harder to breathe in. Eventually they made it over to the window and examined it.
"Dammit, the boards are too close together. It's too big for us to squeeze through." said Cartman.
"No, look!" said Kenny "The fire weakened this bottom one, maybe we can smash through it." Cartman got pissed.
"After all the shit that's happened today, I'm not gonna let some stupid fucking 2 by 4 get me killed!" said Cartman. He took two steps back and threw all his weight into the board. It snapped in half, causing Cartman to fall onto the cool snow just outside the window, leaving a hole big enough to crawl out of.
"It's about time that fat ass of yours did something useful!" shouted Kyle.
"Kyle, not now! We have to get everyone out of here!" shouted Stan.
"Right." said Kyle "Ike, you go first." Ike crawled through the opening and joined Cartman outside. Kyle quickly crawled through after him.
"You two, go!" said Wendy to Kenny and Bebe. Bebe stepped through the hole, then turned back and helped Kenny out. Wendy had just put her leg through the opening when there was another loud crash from the other side of the room. The crash was quickly followed by a painful wail.
"Butters! Oh my God, he's still back there!" said Stan.
"We've got to go back for him!" said Wendy.
"I'll go back, you have to get out and get the others away from here." said Stan. Wendy angrily grabbed his arm.
"I won't let you go back in there alone! You'll die!" said Wendy.
"No time to argue. This whole place could come down any minute." replied Stan. Wendy was about to speak again, but Stan interrupted her by grabbing the back of her head and bringing it up to his, forcing her into a passionate kiss. This sudden act of deep affection surprised Wendy, and she let go of his arm. Stan suddenly pushed her through the opening.
"I'll be right back!" he screamed, turning around and heading back inside.
"Stan, No!" cried Wendy. She started to climb back through the opening, but Bebe grabbed her before she could get inside.
"Wendy, let's go!" said Bebe, pulling her away.
"But Stan-" started Wendy.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine. He knows what he's doing." replied Bebe.
Inside the building, Stan was stumbling half-blind through the thick smoke calling out to Butters.
"Butters? Butters where *cough* where are you?" called Stan.
"Stan? Stan *cough* is that you?" replied Butters.
"Butters! Where are you?" called Stan.
"Over by *cough* by the door!" said Butters. Stan worked his way through the flaming wreckage over to where Butters was. Butters was trapped underneath a large, burning support beam. His face looked gritty and was covered in soot.
"Butters! Are you alright?" asked Stan.
"Yeah, I *cough* I think so, I'm just stuck." said Butters.
"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here." said Stan. Stan moved over to one end of the beam and started to try and lift it up, Butters was stunned.
"Why did you *cough* come back to *cough* help me? You didn't have to." said Butters. Stan almost chuckled at this.
"Neither did you." replied Stan, smiling "But you did anyway." Butters smiled back, and began to try and lift the beam with Stan. It only budged a little bit. With the fire spreading around them, they were quickly running out of time. Stan and Butters counted to 3 and together heaved with all their strength to lift the beam. They moved it enough for Butters to work his way free. Butters stood up, and they put their arms over the others' shoulders for mutual support. Suddenly there was a small explosion, followed by a cascade of debris. The floor was now covered with burning wreckage.
"Let's *cough* get out of here!" said Stan.
"Where?" said Butters quickly.
"This way!" said Stan, leading Butters over to the opening. It was extremely slow going due to the amount of debris, the blinding heat, their beaten physical state, and the stinging smoke filling their lungs with every painful breath, sapping their remaining strength.
"Look *cough* over there! *cough* The opening! *cough*" said Stan, pointing weakly over to the broken window. Stan suddenly started coughing uncontrollably, and Butters had to keep him moving.
"Come on Stan, we're almost there…Stan? Stan!" Butters looked at him and saw that his eyes were closed. Stan's body went limp and Butters struggled to hold him up. There was another explosion, followed by loud wooden cracking sounds. Butters realized the entire building was starting to collapse completely, and he had only seconds left. Lightheaded, half blind, and barely breathing, Butters dragged Stan's body in a last, desperate, stumbling dash toward the opening.
