Disaster
The next day was Saturday, and that lunchtime, everyone was eating at BBQ Bob's. Amanda had brought CJ and Dion out to lunch that day.
"How did you like the ribs?" Chef Jesse asked the two youngsters.
"Great," CJ expressed his approval. Jesse glanced at him, and picked up a napkin.
"You haven't quite finished yet," he said, wiping the sides of his face.
As Jesse cleaned up the plates, and CJ's face, Mark and Amanda told Steve the story of the fight that had happened over the past few days.
"How did I not know any of this?" he asked when the other two had finished explaining?
"We all kept out of the way of each other," Mark told him. "Jesse spent the past two days avoiding everyone."
"THAT'S why I couldn't find him," Steve exclaimed.
"You couldn't find me because I was never at the hospital on the day you were looking for me," Jesse said, coming over to the table with a cloth.
"I still cannot believe that no one told me anything about this," Steve told them.
"It wasn't exactly the nicest thing to get involved in," Mark mumbled. "I can't believe I lost it with Jesse like that. Again, Jess, I'm..."
"Mark, if you tell me that you are sorry one more time, you get to do the washing up," Jesse chuckled. Mark kept his mouth shut, but grinned.
At that point, a beeping noise could be heard from outside the restaurant. Amanda exclaimed, "That's my car alarm!" She ran outside, closely followed by Mark and Steve. "Kids, stay here," Steve said. He didn't want them to see him arrest a potential car thief.
Dion got up from his chair. "My coat is in the car," he called as Jesse tried to stop him. He gave up and turned to CJ.
"Hey, don't worry," he said, sitting him on a seat at the counter. "It's probably just the breeze outside that made the car alarm go off. Happens to my car all the time. Have some coke." CJ smiled, and drank the coke as Jesse wiped up the counter.
Outside, the four of them had crossed to the other side of the street to find that a girl had roller-skated into the car and the alarm had been set off. "I'm sorry," she said. "I haven't learnt to stop yet."
"It's okay, don't worry," Amanda said, relieved that there was no thief.
They turned around and had taken one step back towards the restaurant when a blast exploded from next door. The explosion was so strong that it had badly damaged BBQ Bob's as well.
"CJ!" Amanda screamed, and began running towards the restaurant. She was stopped by Steve, who grabbed her.
"Not going to happen, Amanda," Steve said, holding her by her shaking shoulders. Amanda noticed Dion, whom was standing still, stunned by the sight in front of him. She ran to him and embraced him into a hug.
Mark had called the emergency services whilst that was happening. He walked over to Steve. "Jesse and CJ are in there," he murmured.
"He'll be okay, Dad," Steve reassured him.
Barbeque Bob's was a mess, to put it lightly. The kitchen part of the building was totally engulfed in flames. Jesse had been thrown over the counter, and had landed in a heap with CJ by his side. The rest of the building had been badly shaken, and smoke overwhelmed the area.
Inside the burning building, Jesse opened his eyes. He saw the ceiling above him, and noted that it did not look very stable. He lifted his head up slightly, and saw that CJ lay beside him.
"Hey, CJ?" Jesse shook the young boy's shoulders slightly. CJ opened his eyes.
"Jesse?" CJ asked, not really knowing where he was.
Jesse, acting quickly, took off his Denim jacket. "CJ, can you stand up for me?" CJ did so, and Jesse continued. "Right, see the door over there?" CJ nodded. "I'm going to put this over your head, and you are going to run really, really fast out of that door. Do you understand?"
CJ nodded. Jesse put the coat over his head, and he watched as CJ ran outside. Now, he said, to tend to the others inside the building.
Amanda watched in awe as she saw the pair of legs and the jacket run towards her.
"CJ!" she cried as she enveloped him into a hug. "Thank God you are alive!"
"CJ, is this Jesse's jacket?" Steve asked, recognising it.
"Yeah," CJ said, sobbing into his mother's shoulder. "He gave it to me and told me to run out of the door."
"At least we know he's still alive," Mark said. In the far-off distance, he heard an orchestra of sirens. "Amanda, we should admit CJ to hospital for shock and smoke inhalation. And we ourselves need to get to the hospital, to help out. I'll take my car, you can ride with CJ in the first ambulance."
"Yes Mark," Amanda agreed.
Jesse was working hard and fast as he tended to the injured people in the burning restaurant. He had sent two people outside, but the doorway was beginning to collapse now, and it was not safe to send them outside. Instead, he kept them under the tables.
"All right," he said. He looked down at his handiwork. He had tied a piece of broken chair to a person's fractured arm with one of the tablecloths. "Now, keep that there until the paramedics arrived."
Jesse had already done the same sort of thing with a broken leg, and he had done his best for a man with burns, but it was difficult with no supplies, and the smoke that filled the room was not helping.
He turned to the woman a few feet away. He felt in her neck for a pulse, and then listened for breathing. "Nothing," he muttered. He put a tablecloth over the woman. He wondered if there were anymore like her in the building, and how many there could be.
Jesse glanced up to the ceiling. More and more bits of plaster and dust were seeping through the cracks of the heaving ceiling. "That is never going to last," Jesse murmured as he moved to the other side of the room.
He walked over to where a couple were sitting, near the front window of the building. He found a man with a bleeding head, and a woman in shock.
"I knocked it on the side of the table," the man said as Jesse applied a cloth to the wound. "How bad is it?"
"It will be fine once it gets stitched up," Jesse began. He was about to tell the man that he also had a concussion, but he never got that far.
The ceiling above him gave its final heave, and plaster began to rain down in the restaurant. Thankfully, Jesse had kept most people under the tables, so there would be less damage done to them. For Jesse, though, he only had time to shut his eyes before the rubble plummeted from above and crushed him beneath it.
Outside, screams could be heard and a huge rumble filled the air. "The ceiling must have caved in," one of the fire officers called to another. Steve, who had been putting his fire-fighting equipment on at the time, grimaced as he heard this bit of news.
"We're going in now," the captain called to the crew. For Steve, this announcement could not have come soon enough. His best friend was in there, and he had a huge desire to get him and the rest of the civilians out of the inferno.
The two people tried to pull Jesse under the table, but it was too late. The dust cleared, and they began to pull the weight of plaster off of him, but Jesse was already unconscious, with injuries that the two civilians could not hope to deal with.
After a few minutes, one fireman entered the building, shortly followed by Steve, who was in fire-fighter gear. He looked at the state of the restaurant, and gasped. He wondered how anyone could have survived the blast from inside.
"Hey, over here!" The man with the bleeding head waved to the fire crew, and choked as he called to them.
Steve came over to them, whilst the other man went to see other people. "There's a guy under the rubble. We've been trying to get it off of him."
As Steve carefully picked out the rubble, he saw that it was Jesse underneath it. Steve gasped. He felt for a pulse, and was glad that it was still there, however weak it was.
Even in the dim light, Steve could see a lot of Jesse's injuries. His head was bleeding in several places. He lifted the blocks from Jesse's torso, and revealed that Jesse's shirt was torn in several places, and blood was seeping through in others.
"All right, get a stretcher in here, now!" Steve called out to nobody in particular. He had finished uncovering Jesse. "You're gonna be fine, Jess" he said to him. Where was that stretcher? "I said NOW!" A stretcher was produced, and Jesse was lifted to it.
"See you later, buddy," Steve whispered as his best friend was carried away.
The next day was Saturday, and that lunchtime, everyone was eating at BBQ Bob's. Amanda had brought CJ and Dion out to lunch that day.
"How did you like the ribs?" Chef Jesse asked the two youngsters.
"Great," CJ expressed his approval. Jesse glanced at him, and picked up a napkin.
"You haven't quite finished yet," he said, wiping the sides of his face.
As Jesse cleaned up the plates, and CJ's face, Mark and Amanda told Steve the story of the fight that had happened over the past few days.
"How did I not know any of this?" he asked when the other two had finished explaining?
"We all kept out of the way of each other," Mark told him. "Jesse spent the past two days avoiding everyone."
"THAT'S why I couldn't find him," Steve exclaimed.
"You couldn't find me because I was never at the hospital on the day you were looking for me," Jesse said, coming over to the table with a cloth.
"I still cannot believe that no one told me anything about this," Steve told them.
"It wasn't exactly the nicest thing to get involved in," Mark mumbled. "I can't believe I lost it with Jesse like that. Again, Jess, I'm..."
"Mark, if you tell me that you are sorry one more time, you get to do the washing up," Jesse chuckled. Mark kept his mouth shut, but grinned.
At that point, a beeping noise could be heard from outside the restaurant. Amanda exclaimed, "That's my car alarm!" She ran outside, closely followed by Mark and Steve. "Kids, stay here," Steve said. He didn't want them to see him arrest a potential car thief.
Dion got up from his chair. "My coat is in the car," he called as Jesse tried to stop him. He gave up and turned to CJ.
"Hey, don't worry," he said, sitting him on a seat at the counter. "It's probably just the breeze outside that made the car alarm go off. Happens to my car all the time. Have some coke." CJ smiled, and drank the coke as Jesse wiped up the counter.
Outside, the four of them had crossed to the other side of the street to find that a girl had roller-skated into the car and the alarm had been set off. "I'm sorry," she said. "I haven't learnt to stop yet."
"It's okay, don't worry," Amanda said, relieved that there was no thief.
They turned around and had taken one step back towards the restaurant when a blast exploded from next door. The explosion was so strong that it had badly damaged BBQ Bob's as well.
"CJ!" Amanda screamed, and began running towards the restaurant. She was stopped by Steve, who grabbed her.
"Not going to happen, Amanda," Steve said, holding her by her shaking shoulders. Amanda noticed Dion, whom was standing still, stunned by the sight in front of him. She ran to him and embraced him into a hug.
Mark had called the emergency services whilst that was happening. He walked over to Steve. "Jesse and CJ are in there," he murmured.
"He'll be okay, Dad," Steve reassured him.
Barbeque Bob's was a mess, to put it lightly. The kitchen part of the building was totally engulfed in flames. Jesse had been thrown over the counter, and had landed in a heap with CJ by his side. The rest of the building had been badly shaken, and smoke overwhelmed the area.
Inside the burning building, Jesse opened his eyes. He saw the ceiling above him, and noted that it did not look very stable. He lifted his head up slightly, and saw that CJ lay beside him.
"Hey, CJ?" Jesse shook the young boy's shoulders slightly. CJ opened his eyes.
"Jesse?" CJ asked, not really knowing where he was.
Jesse, acting quickly, took off his Denim jacket. "CJ, can you stand up for me?" CJ did so, and Jesse continued. "Right, see the door over there?" CJ nodded. "I'm going to put this over your head, and you are going to run really, really fast out of that door. Do you understand?"
CJ nodded. Jesse put the coat over his head, and he watched as CJ ran outside. Now, he said, to tend to the others inside the building.
Amanda watched in awe as she saw the pair of legs and the jacket run towards her.
"CJ!" she cried as she enveloped him into a hug. "Thank God you are alive!"
"CJ, is this Jesse's jacket?" Steve asked, recognising it.
"Yeah," CJ said, sobbing into his mother's shoulder. "He gave it to me and told me to run out of the door."
"At least we know he's still alive," Mark said. In the far-off distance, he heard an orchestra of sirens. "Amanda, we should admit CJ to hospital for shock and smoke inhalation. And we ourselves need to get to the hospital, to help out. I'll take my car, you can ride with CJ in the first ambulance."
"Yes Mark," Amanda agreed.
Jesse was working hard and fast as he tended to the injured people in the burning restaurant. He had sent two people outside, but the doorway was beginning to collapse now, and it was not safe to send them outside. Instead, he kept them under the tables.
"All right," he said. He looked down at his handiwork. He had tied a piece of broken chair to a person's fractured arm with one of the tablecloths. "Now, keep that there until the paramedics arrived."
Jesse had already done the same sort of thing with a broken leg, and he had done his best for a man with burns, but it was difficult with no supplies, and the smoke that filled the room was not helping.
He turned to the woman a few feet away. He felt in her neck for a pulse, and then listened for breathing. "Nothing," he muttered. He put a tablecloth over the woman. He wondered if there were anymore like her in the building, and how many there could be.
Jesse glanced up to the ceiling. More and more bits of plaster and dust were seeping through the cracks of the heaving ceiling. "That is never going to last," Jesse murmured as he moved to the other side of the room.
He walked over to where a couple were sitting, near the front window of the building. He found a man with a bleeding head, and a woman in shock.
"I knocked it on the side of the table," the man said as Jesse applied a cloth to the wound. "How bad is it?"
"It will be fine once it gets stitched up," Jesse began. He was about to tell the man that he also had a concussion, but he never got that far.
The ceiling above him gave its final heave, and plaster began to rain down in the restaurant. Thankfully, Jesse had kept most people under the tables, so there would be less damage done to them. For Jesse, though, he only had time to shut his eyes before the rubble plummeted from above and crushed him beneath it.
Outside, screams could be heard and a huge rumble filled the air. "The ceiling must have caved in," one of the fire officers called to another. Steve, who had been putting his fire-fighting equipment on at the time, grimaced as he heard this bit of news.
"We're going in now," the captain called to the crew. For Steve, this announcement could not have come soon enough. His best friend was in there, and he had a huge desire to get him and the rest of the civilians out of the inferno.
The two people tried to pull Jesse under the table, but it was too late. The dust cleared, and they began to pull the weight of plaster off of him, but Jesse was already unconscious, with injuries that the two civilians could not hope to deal with.
After a few minutes, one fireman entered the building, shortly followed by Steve, who was in fire-fighter gear. He looked at the state of the restaurant, and gasped. He wondered how anyone could have survived the blast from inside.
"Hey, over here!" The man with the bleeding head waved to the fire crew, and choked as he called to them.
Steve came over to them, whilst the other man went to see other people. "There's a guy under the rubble. We've been trying to get it off of him."
As Steve carefully picked out the rubble, he saw that it was Jesse underneath it. Steve gasped. He felt for a pulse, and was glad that it was still there, however weak it was.
Even in the dim light, Steve could see a lot of Jesse's injuries. His head was bleeding in several places. He lifted the blocks from Jesse's torso, and revealed that Jesse's shirt was torn in several places, and blood was seeping through in others.
"All right, get a stretcher in here, now!" Steve called out to nobody in particular. He had finished uncovering Jesse. "You're gonna be fine, Jess" he said to him. Where was that stretcher? "I said NOW!" A stretcher was produced, and Jesse was lifted to it.
"See you later, buddy," Steve whispered as his best friend was carried away.