Up in Smoke
This chapter has been requested by Jack and the prompt was The Roscoe household goes up in smoke, with half of the family still inside. Will everyone get out safely or will someone lose their life in the flames?
Even if you don't normally, please read to the very end of the chapter notes, as there's a very important announcement at the end.
When Sandy Roscoe signed the deed to officially buy her new home in Hollyoaks Village, she knew it wasn't perfect.
There weren't enough rooms for a start, so everyone bar Sandy had to share (oddly Joe and Lindsey didn't have the same qualms as Freddie and Ziggy, and Robbie and Jason did), and the house was an old one, meaning that all in all, the design could be a bit wobbly at times. Freddie and Ziggy's bedroom door occasionally stuck shut and the power liked to go off at frequent intervals, but it was home and in time, everyone had adjusted and even grown to love it.
It also helped that as time passed, so did the family situation, so by the time February rolled around, almost a full nine months after moving into the village, Freddie had moved out of the house, freeing Ziggy up, and the young couple that were Joe and Lindsey were also looking for their own place, finally giving Jason and Robbie the chance to move into separate rooms.
Ziggy had learnt that if you didn't slam the door of his bedroom shut, then it wouldn't stick, and as long as you tended to miss the third stair from the bottom, it wouldn't bend and creak precariously underneath your weight. So no, it wasn't perfect, but it was the Roscoe's home, and they had all grown to love it.
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"Good to see you too Zig!" Sandy called after the retreating form of her son as he stormed up the stairs, not even pausing to say hello, too wrapped up in his own mind and heartbreak to pay her any mind. Ziggy had been that way since Ruby had left him and the village just over two weeks ago, and it broke Sandy's heart to see one of her own in such distress, but unable to do anything to help him.
Hopefully though, Ziggy's pain would lessen in time and she'd get back the former jack the lad that was her son, Sandy hoped so at least. Sighing, she lay down on the sofa, flicking the TV to a trashy reality show and grabbed a magazine from the side, the smell from her scented candles wafting over to her and instantly having the desired effect of pure relaxation.
Days off work were the best thing, though Sandy couldn't help but think they'd be a lot better if her husband wasn't away on a business trip, her two youngest sons weren't holed up in their room, playing some violent and very loud video game instead of doing their coursework, if another of her son's wasn't locked away in his room, unwilling to talk to anyone and if the rest of her family weren't doing God knows what, God knows where.
The only one of her children who was doing as she asked was Joe, who at that very moment was in the attic, trying to find some paperwork from the old garage back in London, though judging by how long he'd been up there for, it looked like he wasn't having any sort of luck. Sandy couldn't help but smile as she envisioned Joe getting more and more annoyed as time went by, because she knew her son well and knew that there was only so much he would be able to take before snapping.
Rubbing her eyes, the nurse dropped her thoughts about her children as she tried to keep awake, the busy shift she'd had yesterday still taking a lot out of her, and despite her best efforts, Sandy knew that now she'd finally put her feet up and was relaxing, sleep wasn't a far off thing, though she couldn't find it in her to mind that much.
Maybe a nap would do her some good. And as Sandy slowly began to fall into the realms of unconsciousness, Joe continued his search for the much needed insurance files, with Ziggy just a floor below, changing the song on his docking station to something a bit more sombre to ft his mood, turning it up with a sigh to drown out the cries from the twins as they continued to fight one another furiously via their newest Xbox game.
Not a single member of the family was aware that once more the faulty wiring in the house was playing up. But instead of losing the power like what usually happened, the wires by the stairs started sparking, setting off more and more sparks, till eventually there was enough energy and power for a single flame to break the ranks, instantly setting the wallpaper in the newly decorated corridor alight, the flames growing bit by bit until eventually there was no getting away from it, the Roscoe household was on fire, and none of its five occupants were any the wiser.
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"Ah got it!" Joe practically cried, scrambling over to one of the boxes that was labelled paperwork, and slicing open the tape that held it shut with the kitchen knife he'd taken earlier. This box, like the ten previous, was full of various files and forms, but this time Joe knew he had exactly what he needed. He'd be up here for another twenty minutes maximum, but then he'd be out of the stuffy attic and hopefully wouldn't have to return to it in the foreseeable future.
The attic would probably have to be Joe's least favourite room in the whole house, because not only was it full of years and years worth of absolute crap that the family had collected over time, but the light also had an annoying tendency to flicker on and off at random intervals, and it was always absolutely freezing, no matter the season or time of day you entered.
Though Joe couldn't help but notice he was a lot warmer than he usually was, which was an oddity in itself. Pausing to try and figure out why that was, Joe completely froze as he heard something collapsing from the bottom floor.
He tried to tell himself not to be so dramatic, but the noise that was breaking the otherwise comfortable silence sounded a lot like crackling. It sounded a lot like fire, and Joe's suspicions were only confirmed when he saw the smoke making its way through the cracks of the attic door.
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Just one floor below Joe, the twins were coming to the same realisation, as the choking smoke began making its way to their room, the crackling of the fire as it consumed everything in its path ten times louder than it had been for the eldest Roscoe son.
Game forgotten, the twins charged out of their room, stopping in horror as they saw the fire making its way up the wall, jumping to the second floor ceiling. The pair cautiously peered over the bannister to see how the first floor was baring, both cursing when they saw that the flames had already practically consumed the whole of the porch area on the first floor, with not a lot more of that area looking any better.
"We've got to get out of here!" Jason cried, trying to think of a way to get to the ground floor without getting harmed. "If we can get downstairs, we might be able to get the kitchen and get out the back, it doesn't look like the fire's hit there." Robbie looked ready to comment, though before he could, the furious slamming of Ziggy's bedroom door caught his attention.
"Hello?" Said brother yelled, his voice panicked as he struggled to get his door open to little avail, having slammed it firmly shut on his arrival not even half an hour ago.
"Ziggy!" Robbie yelled, rushing to the door and trying to help his brother push it open.
"The door's jammed, I can't get out. What's going on out there?" Ziggy asked, hoping it wasn't as bad as it smelt or sounded, though the panic in Robbie's tone didn't comfort him in the slightest. Not a lot shook up his younger brother, so they had to be in serious trouble for Robbie's usual mask of indifference to be slipping.
"The whole place is going up in smoke, we need to get you out of here and quick!" Jason cried, joining Robbie in his efforts to push the door open, though even with three brothers pushing and pulling against it, they were having no luck.
"Get back Zig, we're going to have to kick it down," Jason cried, trying to keep his cool, though it wasn't easy. Not only were the flames getting ever closer, but memories from the deli blaze kept flashing to the forefront of his memory. The fire brigade had come quickly last time, but would they this time? Hell, would they even be able to get out of the house, because this fire was already looking a hundred times worse than the last one.
As one, the two teens slammed a foot each onto the door, and whilst it did shudder slightly under the force, nothing else happened, and it was still as good as shut. "Come on!" Robbie cried, shooting a cautionary look to his left, where the flames were seductively licking the picture frames that adorned the walls, glass shattering under the pure heat.
Again, their second kick didn't do it, and the two boys felt their strength seeping from them, due to the physical exertion and because of the smoke that was infiltrating their systems and making everything hazy around the edges.
"Looks like you need some help," a familiar voice coughed, and the twins turned to come face to face with Joe, who had just emerged from the attic, shocked at the devastation that he'd been met with. "On three okay? One... two... three!"
The three brothers kicked the door with all the force that they could manage, and this time it was enough, as it splintered open, giving just enough leeway for Ziggy to pull it towards him, so he could scramble forward and get out of his room, the extra heat from the flames pushing back as he tried to acclimatise.
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Unaware about three of her sons latest heroics, Sandy found herself trying to block access to her mouth via her sleeve as the smoke swirled around her, trying to enter to choke her mercilessly. She watched on in horror as the fire increased in size with alarming ease, eating away at the wallpaper, the table cloths and doing everything in it's power to gain access into the living room, where Sandy was still stood, having been violently awoken by the smoke crawling closer to her, the heat burning hot, even though she still wasn't physically touching the flames.
So far it hadn't made its way into the kitchen, but the blonde knew it wouldn't be long before it did so, she could get out now with nothing more than shock and some intense smoke inhalation, but Sandy knew four of her boys were still on the second floor of the house, she didn't know what states any of them were in, or even if they were aware of the fire that was ravaging their home, all she knew was that she couldn't leave them.
She had to risk the stairs, be in touching distance of the fire to get to her boys, risk getting scorched as she made her way up there. It was life endangering, she knew that, knew it was the stupidest thing she could do, but Sandy Roscoe wasn't going to leave her boys, no way in hell. Sandy went to take a step forward, to run into the hallway and to the stairs, but the doorway completely caught, making her task even harder.
'Right, I can do this. Come on Sandy, focus, you have to move, it's now or never," the nurse told herself aggressively, noting the way the fire was getting ever closer to completely circling her now, as it not only began making it's way through the whole of the living room, but also to the kitchen.
She couldn't help but pause in pure terror for a moment, as Sandy realised that time really was running out, and she still had to try and get her kids out of the house, as well as herself.
She had to do it now, there was no more time for thinking, but as Sandy went to move out of the living room, the flames finally reached the kitchen, licking a lone, but incredibly full hairspray can that had been left there that morning. She didn't even have time to register it, before it exploded into a pure ball of fire, flames flying straight towards her.
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"Oh my God!" Ziggy cried as he struggled to keep his balance as the mini explosion rocked through the house, ducking as debris starting to fall from all angles. "What the hell was that?"
No-one had an answer for him, though Robbie took a chancy step forward to peer over the bannister, gasping in shock at what he saw. The flames were only growing, the heat enough to rival one of a bonfire, and whilst the main hallway seemed to be no different, he could feel the heat from the back of the house a lot more readily, and could only wonder what had happened, though he knew it was nothing good.
"It's getting worse! I don't think we can even get through the kitchen anymore," he reported back, exchanging a worried glance with his twin, though it was the sudden look of pure terror that invaded Ziggy's face that really made him pause.
"Mum's down there!" he cried, realising that he hadn't heard anything from her still, infact, bar the roar of the fire as it trapped them in, the ground floor of the house had been completely silent.
"She might have got out, seen what happened and left to get help," Jason suggested, though it was obvious even he didn't believe his words.
"Nah, she wouldn't have left when she knows we're up here, which means, she's still down there," Joe commented, wondering just what state his mum was in, and full on praying for the first time in his life that she'd be okay.
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"Please tell me no-one's in there," Freddie hissed as he stood at the front of the house with Sinead, Lindsey, Darren and a few other passerbys, watching his home going up in flames. As he spoke, he tried desperately to catch sight of someone, anyone that could be there, but it was impossible, because if the black smoke wasn't blocking the view, the flames that were lighting up every window in the house sure were.
"Sandy's definitely there," Darren said, his voice shaking as he tried to keep down the bile. "She asked me to come over now so we could talk properly. We were meant to be having a proper family meal remember?"
"And Robbie and Jase are going to be there no doubt, school's finished for the day," Sinead told her newly wed husband regretfully, jumping slightly as parts of the house began falling to the floor. "But God knows about anyone else."
"Joe's not answering his phone," Lindsey said, white as a sheet as she stared into the house, trying to ring him once more. "Is anyone calling 999?"
"On it," one of the Roscoe's neighbours cried, already dialling.
"What can we do?" Sinead asked, her voice shaking as she realised that the people who were as good as her family were trapped in that house, in God knows what state. Before anyone could answer, the newest Roscoe felt herself being pushed to the side as Lindsey ran into the garden, pushing the door open and disappearing into the smoky area in seconds.
"Oh my God!" someone yelled, as Freddie ran in close on her heels, plunging into the flames without a second glance. Darren was next to go, not willing to lose his newfound family when he had just found them, though before she could join the other three, Sinead was physically restrained, though it didn't stop her struggling.
"Freddie!" she screamed. "Let me go, I need him! Freddie, come back!" No-one acted on her crazed demands though, strangers alike trying to comfort the young woman, whilst more started to surround the house in hopes of stopping anyone who had the same idea of running into the fire.
Sinead only paused when Nancy came over to comfort her, pulling the taller girl in tighter in hopes of her calming down, though she wasn't holding out much hope of that working.
"Sinead, Freddie's going to be fine, the fire crew are going to be here soon." "I need to be there, I need to help them save the others!"
"You mean Freddie entered the house?" Nancy asked, eyes wide as she hadn't been there to witness the horrific scene just a few moments ago.
"Yeah, he ran in after Lindsey. I think they're going to try and save the others, but Darren went in with them though," Sinead told her tearfully, clutching the journalist tightly when the news hit her, both women pale as they watched the fire continue to climb up the house, praying that the men that they loved would get out of this alive.
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"We're going to have get downstairs," Robbie yelled over the animalistic roar that was the fire, determined that he was going to get downstairs and to Sandy, because she was going to get out of the house, she just had to, it was unfathomable that she wouldn't.
The other three all nodded in agreement, and as the four brothers turned to start making their way downstairs, the heat began building immensely with every minuscule step that they took. "Are you guys here?" A familiar sounding cry from the bottom floor made them pause, all exchanging looks with one another as they all recognised the voice.
"Freddie? Me, Jase, Joe and Zig are all upstairs, we're coming down now," Robbie yelled, hoping that no-one else had been as idiotic as his brother had been, though his hopes were soon shot down by the familiar sound that was Lindsey's voice.
"Where's Sandy? Darren said that she's here?"
"She downstairs somewhere! Something exploded and-"
"Oh my- Robbie get back!" Jason screamed, successfully interrupting everyone, as by chance he looked up to see the ceiling above them begin to crumble. His twin looked up, eyes wide in shock as he realised what was going to happen, though he was rooted to the spot and physically unable to move. He felt a sharp tug around his centre, as Joe pulled him roughly back, the action so great that both boys fell on their backs, breathing loudly as they tried to calm themselves.
Not even a second later, the four jumped out of their skins as a fragment of ceiling came crashing to the floor, landing where Robbie had been stood only moments ago, and tumbling down, before it came to a stop at the middle section of the stairs.
Ziggy instinctively lifted his arms up, successfully blocking his face from flying cinders that charged at him and the other three Roscoe's , only letting them fall when he was convinced that for the moment, he was safe. What he saw, made his heart sink, as Ziggy realised that they were well and truly stuck on the second floor of their burning home.
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Darren exchanged a worried glance with Freddie and Lindsey when Jason's cries hit their ears, the worry only growing when it was followed by a loud crash and then... nothing.
"Oh my God," Lindsey muttered, realising there was a very high chance that the ones she loved most, could very well be dead. She couldn't contain the scream for her fiancé though, and it carried easily over the roar of the fire. "Joe!"
"We're fine Linds!" Joe cried back a few nerve-wracking seconds later, causing a sense of instant elation to hit everyone. "We're stuck though, the first section of the stairs seem to be completely cut off, but we're going to try and move it enough so we can get past. Just focus on finding mum! She has to be down there somewhere, but we haven't heard anything."
"Okay!" Lindsey shouted back, turning away from the stairs reluctantly, in favour of looking for the woman who had been as good as a second mother to her in the last ten years. Looking into the living room didn't fill Lindsey with any hope, as not only were all the sides completely up in flames, but broken and fiery debris seemed to cover every single surface, with little room for a person to remain in.
"Stay together!" Darren yelled over the roar, moving slightly, so all three adults were stood in the main hallway, silently deliberating on whether or not the safest route through the ground floor of the house was via the kitchen or the living room, though neither room looked particularly safe at that moment.
Their decision was made up for them when a cracking sound from above caught their attention, and the three all looked up simultaneously, to see a huge chuck of ceiling, and part of the floor from the second floor, starting to crack and fall.
"Move!" Darren cried, the three forced to do what they had promised themselves they wouldn't, as the debris began to fall with force, forcing them to separate.
As the huge piece of plaster came flying down, they found themselves all jumping in different directions, with Darren flying into the living room and crashing into the back of the sofa, Lindsey slamming into the baseboard of the stairs whilst Freddie dived into the kitchen, hitting the counter with a deafening bang, as he disappeared into a cloud of black smoke and flaming debris.
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"Let go of me!" Sinead screamed as Diane and Tony rushed to her side, having not only heard about the devastating house fire, but having seen for themselves from their flat. The couple had run over instantly, breathing a deep sigh of relief when they saw that Sinead was safe and in no immediate danger, though their worry spiked when they saw just how determined she was to enter the burning building to be with her husband.
Nancy wasn't in much of a better state, but she at least had the self control to stay where she was, hands shaking furiously as she realised just how close she was to losing Darren again, though this time it could very well be permanent.
"Where the fuck is the fire engine?" she found herself hissing instead, craning her neck desperately, in hopes that that would make it appear quicker. It didn't, and as more time passed, the more the large family home became submerged with furious flames, and the more danger the Roscoe's were in.
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The crash of the ceiling falling in on the ground floor, shook through the second, startling the four occupants who were still stuck at the top of the stairs. "What the hell-"
"Don't think about it," Joe told Ziggy, knowing that focusing on what was happening to the others would only land them in even more trouble.
He wanted nothing more than to know if Lindsey was safe, but his main task at the moment was to get himself and the others down the stairs, but that couldn't happen till the flaming barricade that was blocking them all, was moved enough to let them squeeze past and escape.
Sparks were still raining down on them from the ceiling above, and the block in front of them was a mix of wooden beams and boxes, all crisscrossed over the other, making the four brothers task that much harder. But they didn't have the luxury of trying to figure out the best technique to free themselves, because the flames were getting ever closer, ringing around them and enclosing them right where they stood.
Joe guessed that they had minutes at most, to break through the barrier before the flames engulfed them, ending it all completely. Jason looked at the structure of the blockade, trying to figure out a way to move it without causing any extra harm to him or his brothers, but it was quickly becoming extremely difficult to even connect the simplest of thoughts together.
The surrounding smoke had invaded all of his senses and was making him feel so tired, all the teen wanted was to sit down and rest, the only thing stopping him was the adrenaline that was rushing through his system at a million miles per hour, telling him that he couldn't do that, he had to figure out a way to break through the pile of debris, he had to save his family, now was not the time to sit back and let things go, no now was the time to man up and play his part, and God dammit he was going to do just that.
"We might be able to use some of the beams as a pivot," he said around his furious coughing. The air was heavy with smoke now, and every breath he took hurt. "It may push some of it further down, and we could try and force it to one side a bit more, giving us enough space to move past."
"Lets do it," Joe said, knowing there was no time to think over the pros and cons of Jason's plan. As Joe took the first step to the barricade, his three brothers gasped as the floor underneath his foot cracked and as one, they realised the crash they'd heard from earlier must have been some of the ceiling from the first floor falling.
The part of the ceiling that had fallen must have been right below them though, meaning that they had little to no support underneath them, making their situation, that bit more dangerous.
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As Freddie began to stir where he lay, he realised that it was an uphill struggle to breath, as the smoke continued to invade all his senses with even more vigour than it had previously. His eyes began watering so it was that bit harder to work out just where'd landed, but if Freddie knew one thing, it was that he was alone.
As the blood trickled down her face, as the shards of glass dug into her skin as she lay on top of it, as her body started to scream and protest at the pain, Lindsey wanted nothing more than to give into the darkness, she was so tired, had been fighting for so long and now she wanted nothing more than to sleep, to let it all go till it was over, but as the fire roared from overhead, the young doctor forced herself to open her eyes, and stand, determined to find the others, no matter how much pain she herself was in.
Just feet away from Lindsey, lay Darren. The older man began to open his eyes, blinking quickly to clear away the bleariness, though the pure concentration of smoke that had invaded the room was making it difficult to see anything clearly, though one thing he did see, was the limp hand of someone lying next to him.
"Oh my God," he whispered, choking on the air as he did so, crawling over to the prone form, instantly realising it was Sandy. His heart stopped the second he saw her, because underneath all the soot and dirt, he had never seen anyone look so pale, no-one that was alive anyway.
"Shit," Darren heard Freddie's shocked whisper as he stumbled into the living room from the kitchen, successfully dodging the embers that rained down from the entranceway, too focused on the completely still form of his mum. "Please tell me she isn't."
"No, she's breathing, just about," Darren confirmed, breathing out in relief himself. "We have to get her out of here now though, she might have knocked her head or something."
At Freddie's nod, Darren stood, picking Sandy up in his arms and the two brothers began making their way out of the room, backs turned as the flames danced behind them, instead only praying that there would be a way out of the house.
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Like everyone inside the house, every single person who was stood outside was desperately praying for the family to escape. A few of the watchers had run back into the main village to grab a few fire extinguishers from shops, whilst neighbours were sorting out buckets of water, all in the hope that they'd be free up some of the flames, or at least calm them before fire brigade arrived, but the flames were so big, so hot and furious, that the spray was having no effect in dousing them.
Both Sinead and Nancy watched on helplessly as they saw the fire make it's way to the roof, all the windows cracking in seconds as the heat grew to be like it was a furnace. If there was one thing that was clear at that moment, was that the family didn't have a lot of time left to leave the house, the structure was already completely unstable, and would no doubt collapse in the not so distant future, though that wasn't the biggest worry, because if the flames didn't kill the Roscoe's, the smoke would definitely sort out the job.
Sinead knew it was useless, knew that the best thing she could do was stay outside until the fire crew arrived, but she had never been any good at watching from the sidelines, she needed to know if Freddie was okay, needed to know if the people who had taken her in when even Diane had turned her back on her, were still alive.
"Let me go!" she screamed, throat growing hoarse, as she didn't let up on her cries. The Roscoe's were going to get out of the house at any point now, she just knew it, they had to get out. "Freddie!"
"Sinead calm down," Diane said, desperately trying to sooth her step-daughter, though with little effect. "You can't get in there, you'll get yourself killed! Just wait for the fire-fighters, they'll be here any minute."
"And what if they're not?" Sinead snapped, whirling around to face the older woman, eyes wide, her hair sticking up at all ends as once more she ran her hand through it. "That house is going to completely go in a few minutes, what if they're still all in there. They could all-"
"Shh love," Tony said, pulling Sinead into a tight hug as he made sure she couldn't focus on the terrible thought that everyone inside the house had already perished, even though he and everyone else had already let it cross their minds.
"It's true though! They could be dead in a few minutes, but we still have time! We just need to save them, hell I'll do it myself!"
"You can't!" Nancy yelled, tears streaking down her face as she was unable to pull her eyes away from the horrific scene that was playing out in front of her.
"And why not? I'm not leaving them."
"You can't go in there to rescue them, because there's no way in anymore," Nancy swallowed, and Sinead turned to see just what the older woman meant. She had hoped that Nancy had been bluffing, or at least mistaken, but there was no denying that she was right.
The flames had completely consumed the porch and more and more debris was falling with each passing second. Having already gone to the back of the house, Sinead knew the other entrance was in a similar state, meaning that until the fire crew arrived, no-one was going to get into the flaming house.
However it also meant that no-one was going to get out.
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"Come on!" Joe cried as he leaned heavily against one of the many beams that was part of the debris. He'd finally managed to get to the barricade by being incredibly careful, but the others would have to take the exact steps he'd taken if they wanted to get down the stairs successfully, and as there was little to no room until the pile had been moved, they were still stuck at the top of the stairs, coughing furiously as the smoke entered all of their systems.
It also meant he had to lift the pile single handedly, and whilst he may just about be able to handle it on any other day, that was definitely not the case today and Joe found himself heavily relying on the adrenaline that was still coursing through his system.
Finally the pile began to budge under the make-shift pivot he'd crafted, and within moments Joe had pushed it enough that half of the blockade began tumbling down the second set of stairs, with the rest of it easily sweeping to the side, creating just enough room for him to squeeze past, hopefully without getting burnt by the nearby blaze either.
"I've done it," he coughed furiously, trying to make his way down the stairs as fast as he could, though it was still slow progress as he had to double check each step he was planning on making, well aware that he had no time to wait, as three of his brothers were close behind him, all a lot closer to the ring of fire that had slowly being decreasing in space and successfully trapping them in.
The second half of the stairs was a lot easier to deal with, as none of the structure seemed to have burnt away, and the parts of the blockade the Joe had managed to push onto that section of the stairs, were spread out widely enough to not be of any nuisance.
They raced down the stairs as quickly as they could, ducking and diving any of the fragments and rubble that was threatening to fall on them all, until all four brothers were safely on the ground floor of the house, staring in horror as they realised that once more they were completely surrounded by fire, and that the exit that lay in front of them was completely blocked off by yet another barricade.
Jason was the first to tear his away his eyes away when he heard movement to the right of him, gasping loudly when he saw the still form of Sandy in Darren's arms, both him and Freddie looking worse for wear, their sleeves completely singed and faces black due to the soot and smoke that had danced on their skin.
"Where's Lindsey?" Joe demanded to know when he saw no sign of his fiancée, looking ready to jump into the nearby flames so he could rescue her, no matter what sort of state she was in.
"I'm here," a weak voice coughed from behind them, and Lindsey stumbled to her feet, leaning heavily on the wall, as the blood trailed down her face, dripping steadily as it rolled down her cheek. Joe ran to his beloved, clutching her tightly and bringing her back to the foot of the stairs where everyone had cautiously congregated, and not a moment too soon.
Not a second later, even more debris from the second floor began falling down and would have no doubt crushed the young brunette like she was a bug. Instead of that, the Roscoe's path to the back was successfully cut off, and they realised in horror that there was no way to get to the kitchen, from any side, meaning that the only way to get out was forward, out the front door, which was completely blocked off.
"Oh my God," Lindsey whispered, coughing furiously, eyes watering as she did so, though whether that was down to the smoke or the severity of the situation was anyone's guess. "We're going to die here."
Not even a second after she spoke, a new noise hit all their ears, and the family had never been delighted to hear it, for it was the sound of sirens, more specifically, fire engine sirens. But as the smoke thickened and the fire grew, they group of eight couldn't help but wonder if they'd be quick enough.
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"Oh thank God," Sinead breathed as the fire engines turned into the street, racing down to the flaming house and stopping sharply. Within seconds the crew was out and getting to work, shepherding people away and getting out their hoses, already turning their sights on the inferno.
"Chief I can see people!" one of the crew yelled as he got closer to the door, catching sight of the Roscoe's through the furious flames. "We need to put out the fire on this exit point now, there seems to be seven or so people nearby who are completely trapped, with one definitely unconscious."
In no time at all, the majority of the brigade were focusing their efforts on that specific point, gallons of water being shot at the flames, it no match for the force of the hoses.
"Right, we're clear, get this door open!" Two of the crew managed to break down the door with surprising ease, though the real challenge would be removing the debris, and they had to do it quickly. The family wouldn't be able to survive much longer in the smoke, and one already seemed to be critical.
But that was exactly what the team were trained for, and they managed to remove the barricade a lot faster than Joe had, though their axes helped out significantly. The two members of the crew entered the house, guiding the family out as best as they could, having to cary both Lindsey and Ziggy, who had finally let the smoke get to them and were suffering tremendously because of it, whilst Darren still had a tight hold on Sandy.
Just how close they had been to not being saved fully hit them, when the ceiling that had been slowly drooping over them, came to the ground with a crash, pushing dust and sparks out everywhere.
"We need to get them to the ambulances!" One of the crew cried, pushing past people to help the family slightly further down the road, the paramedics instantly getting to work, hooking them up to oxygen machines and looking for any other damage that the fire might have caused.
Freddie greeted Sinead numbly as she came racing down the road, with Nancy in tow, pulling his arms up around her to clutch her tightly, though it felt like he was in a dream world. The smell of smoke still surrounded him, and he couldn't do anything but watch the fire from the house still raging on, knowing that he was safe, he was outside and there was no fire where he was stood. He was safe and so was his family.
They were all out of the house and they were all going to be fine, they just had to be. Freddie prayed for that to be so, as he clutched tightly to his wife, unafraid to sob and scream as the horrific scenes replayed themselves in his head.
Lindsey was used to being on the other side, playing the part of the caregiver and not being the one to receive the help. She had never felt so many hands on her, voices speaking to and above her as they tried to get her to focus, she wanted to bat them away, to tell them she was fine and for them to focus on Sandy and the others who needed it.
She could handle it, she was trained to handle it. But it was like she no longer had control over her body, the exhaustion hit her full on now the adrenaline had faded away, and she felt her body start to slack as the last remnants of her energy left her.
The darkness began to take over, and Lindsey found she didn't have the will to fight it anymore, instead closing her eyes and embracing the blackness, falling limp as it took over.
}}}}}}}}}
The last thing Sandy remembered was being stuck in the living room as the flames ravaged her home, catching a forgotten hairspray can and basically forming a makeshift bomb only feet away from her. She had managed to just about protect herself from the incoming flames, but the force was too much and had her flying off her feet, straight into a nearby wall, where she quickly fell in the realms of unconsciousness.
And that was how she stayed for the rest of the day, even when she was at the hospital, doctors flitting around her, fitting in a drip, readjusting the oxygen, treating the burns that now marred her arms and making sure there was no internal injuries, whilst her sons and Lindsey were all treated in the same manner, though not to such a degree as her.
As she slept, she didn't dream, she couldn't, too weak and battered to do anything greater than breathing in and out, and as time passed, the others found themselves getting discharged, till it was only Sandy, Lindsey and Ziggy still in the hospital, whilst the other five members of the family found themselves pacing the various corridors, not willing to leave the building till all the others were with them too, no matter how long that took to happen.
Darren was the one with Sandy when she woke up ,and as he saw her eyes fluttered open, the awkwardness he had been feeling before grew tenfold. It hadn't been as bad before, when she was still asleep and unaware of his presence, because then he could pretend he wasn't watching the mother he never knew existed, berating himself for not finding her sooner and getting her out of the house before all that damage had been caused to her.
He wanted to leave when she began stirring, wanted to grab Robbie or Joe, or any of his brothers who happened to be nearby and pretend he'd never been in the hospital, but when she clocked him, Darren knew he had to stay. And when he saw the pure relief in Sandy's eyes after she realised that he was okay, Darren felt the stiff nature that surrounded mother and son disperse, as in that moment, that despite their past, Sandy did care for him as much as she cared for the others.
"The others?" she asked after a few moments, blearily blinking around the stark white hospital room, lest they appear out of nowhere. For a second, a look of pure terror flashed across her features, and Darren took a hasty step forward, taking her hand in his to try and calm her.
"They're fine, everyone's fine actually. We all got checked over earlier, and everyone bar you, Lindsey and Ziggy got discharged, and those two should be gone by tomorrow at the latest, or at least, that's what the doctors are hoping for."
"Good," Sandy said, nodding slightly as she felt pure relief flood through her system. Her boys were safe, her family were all still alive and they were going to be fine. She could deal with the other problems tomorrow, like the lack of home, but for now that was all she wanted to focus on, because it was the only thing that truly mattered to her.
Well that was incredibly exciting, but yes, I did wimp out a bit by not killing off anyone, but the Roscoe's had been through hell and back in this chapter, I didn't particularly feel like adding more pain onto that!
Next Chapter – The Roscoe's find out about Robbie's part in the bullying. How will they react? - prompted by a guest
Upcoming Chapters
144 – The aftermath of when Jason and Robbie's dad leaves them - guest
145 – Set 4/5 years after chapter 47 and follows Bella as she starts school, looking in to see just how much Roscoe life has changed since she was born – lawyerly brunette
146 – The twins end up having a serious fight, leaving them both incredibly annoyed, angry and worse... distracted. The car came out of nowhere, but it hit Jason square on, landing him in hospital with Robbie openly blaming himself, knowing it was all his fault that his twin was now on deaths door because of him – guest
147 - Lindsey has been acting odd for weeks, leaving Joe out in the cold and always snapping at him for the stupidest things. When drunk he ends up sleeping with Sinead, but it all goes to hell when their respective spouses find out - guest
148 - Robbie gets really drunk at a party and his kidneys end up failing. Jason, Ziggy, Freddie and Joe aren't matches. But Darren is. Will Darren save his brothers life? - DBS2000
149 – When Robbie finds out about the rape, Finn does the same to him to ensure his silence. Will anyone find out and save the suffering Roscoe? – gleegeneration23
150 - With the pressure mounting and the stress of upcoming exams becoming too much to bare, Jason suffers from a stroke. - Lucas
151- Finn attempts to rape Robbie but because he lied before about his uncle touching him, everyone refuses to believe him. That is everyone other than Phoebe who just so happens to be a witness, will she support him and go to the police? - xander
152 - Fed up of him taking over the Roscoe household, the boys hatch a plan to get rid of Fraser, but will it go to plan - fergo (Would you like them to succeed and for them to know exactly know what Fraser is like, or for it just to remain comical?)
153 – Shortly after the Roscoe boys discover Darren is their brother, Oscar need a transplant, though the brothers refuse to help, all hurt after how Darren treated them. Feeling bad for his new-found brother, Jason gets tested and agrees to go ahead with the transplant, though recovery is never quite that simple - CBurns1995
154 - Sandy's brother comes to live with them, but he's not the friendly uncle that they all think he is. No, he's hiding a very dark secret, he's been abusing Jason since a young age. How will Jason cope living with his abuser and will the others ever find out?- aleks
155 – The Roscoe's spend a day at the beach but there's someone out to ruin the day! - xanadu (who and why? Also, serious or funny?)
156 - Fraser wants some alone time with Sandy so resorts to locking the boys up in the garage over night. - goingsolo
Guest– To the prompt about Robbie dying, with all the family's reaction, that will be up for chapter 81 as there's already been something very similar prompted
Cupcakes – I've gotten a few similar prompts where Jason is sexually attacked. That will be chapter 68, where Finn rapes him and I've included your prompt there, as what you requested fits in there.
Jostle – I've gotten a few prompts via tumblr, so I may have. Would you be able to tell me what it is so I can find it and tell you, or just add it to the list if I haven't received it. I definitely do have a prompt from you though - 'Joe starts having frequent hallucinations of his late father Alan and Sandy fears for his mental well-being'. If that's it, then it's been merged with another prompt and should be posted at chapter 84.
Freefalling -There's definitely at least one Phoebe and Robbie chapter coming up if not more
Every prompt I have received so far, has been posted at one point or another in the author's notes of this story. If you wish to know when your prompt has been posted, then all you have to do is look through my author notes, where I announce upcoming prompts. These announcements have been posted from chapter 33 to this one.
BIG SERIOUS ANNOUNCEMENT PLEASE READ
So I recently reached and quickly passed by my 150th prompt (wow guys, thank you all so much!). Now this is obviously a huge number, especially when you take into consideration that this is the 48th chapter and I've actually only written up to 52. It's for this reason (and that I'm currently receiving a lot of the similar prompts from people) that I'm going to be putting a freeze on the prompts, but don't worry for everyone who has one currently that they're desperate to share, because you have a final ten days to post all your requests. This means you have till the 14th of March, but after that date, I will not be accepting any prompts, no matter how fab they are.
I want to catch up and can simply not do that when I get more requests than I can write and I worked out that the people who are at the bottom of the list are going to be waiting a seriously long time! Some of you may be aware that I'm currently writing another fic (Downwards Spiral, feel free to check it out), but once that has finished (and I'm incredibly close to that happening), I'm going to hopefully start updating this fic every three days instead of five!
This will hopefully mean that people have a smaller waiting time and that I will catch up to the final prompt a lot sooner. Once this is done, I may re-open the prompts, though I can't promise that, as I'll have no idea how I'll feel or what I'll be doing at that time.
So get prompting guys, because your time is now limited!
