The explosion had thrown Noah and Max backwards into the bushes. Noah had instinctively leant his body over Max to shield him from the huge cloud of fire and smoke that had burst through the Drop in Centre windows.

As the smoke encircled them and the crashing noises ceased momentarily, Noah thought he heard some kind of pained murmuring sound coming from inside. He listened again... but could no longer hear anything, so the strange noise was dismissed; he was hardly breathing, never mind thinking clearly, the sound was probably just in his head.

He began helping Max around to the front of the Centre when he heard it again, there was no mistaking it this time, there had definitely been a noise.

"Did you hear that," whispered Max.

"Yeah"

"You don't think someone's still in there...do you?!"

"No," Noah coughed "...everyone else made it out, Flynn checked."

Then the noise came again, this time louder, it sounded like a voice - well not quite a voice, more like a groan. Noah couldn't ignore it anymore, his conscience wouldn't allow him to. He pulled Max to a safe distance and then made a decision that went against every brain cell he had. With instinct as his only ally, he made his way towards the blaze for the second time that night.


Kit was distraught, all around her people were screaming and couples were holding each other protectively. She wondered if she would ever have someone to hold her like that, if she would ever have Noah.

Despite Flynn's assurances, she knew that things were far from ok. After the explosion everyone had been made to get back. She was finding it hard to breathe and her eyes were stinging like hell from the smoke; she could only imagine what Noah was going through.

Flynn saw her distress and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. Kit barely noticed, her mind was totally focused on Noah. Only he would be able to comfort her, only he had ever been able to comfort her.

"Please don't let this happen... please... please don't let this happen" she pleaded, to no-one in particular. Tears began to trace down the contours of her face, their pace accentuated by the smoke irritating her eyes.

A few moments later the fire crew finally arrived. Flynn ran over to fill them in on the situation, feeling it was his duty as a doctor and member of the SAS.

"How long've they been in there?" questioned a guy who Flynn assumed to be the head firefighter, putting his yellow protective helmet on.

"Max and Noah...a few minutes mate. This other guy Kane just went in after them then."

The fireman sighed, this exact situation happened at least once a week, he hated have-a-go-heroes, they made his job so much harder. "You never, ever go back into a burning building," he lectured. Flynn nodded his understanding as if he hadn't already known this.

"Look, we don't want anymore heroes tonight, keep everyone away from the fire." Flynn nodded again, and set about moving the crowd of anxious people back for the hundredth time, and making way for the ambulances that he figured shouldn't be far off now.


Noah wearily but resolutely dragged his aching, choking body to the office window. He gingerly pulled himself through, again cutting his hands on the broken glass, and landed in a heap on the floor - he smoke inhalation had made his head whirl like it had been put in a tumble dryer and clumsiness was only to be expected.

It was hotter than before, much hotter, and the smoke was thicker. The main room was completely alight and Noah struggled to see any possible way through it.

Once again the groaning sound spurred him into action. He grabbed a sheet from his desk and held it above his head, hoping it would shield him from the flames. He took a few heavy steps into the blaze and saw to his horror a figure writhing in agony on the ground, trapped between the wall and an upturned table.

Noah realised that if he stuck to a strip of clear floor near the wall then he would be able to reach the person, who he now saw was male. Noah staggered as quickly and steadily as possible to their side, he gasped slightly as he realised that it was Kane; his shirt was on fire along one of the arms and on his back, the material already welding itself to his skin and making him shake with the pain.

Noah knew he had to get himself and Kane out of the room fast, before the flames spread, so opted for the office again. He lifted his former enemy up by the underarms as gently as he could, not wanting to add to his pain. He had no time to wonder why on earth Kane was there, he just had to get him out of the main room and stop the flames.

Devastatingly slowly and painfully, he dragged Kane to the relative safety of the office. He shut the door behind them to keep the fire away for a bit longer, and desperately set about trying to subside the flames that had taken hold of Kane's body. Realising that he had nothing to stop them with, he pulled up the edge of the carpet, and tried to smother the flames away to the best of his barely conscious ability.

"It's ok mate, its gunna... b... be ok."he choked.

Trying to talk was a mistake; he felt the little energy he had left start to drain from his body. He gasped slightly, the intake of smoke unleashing a fresh batch of coughing and causing a severe pain in his throat.

Kane stopped murmuring and his eyes started to roll back into his head, the pain too much for his conscious body to handle. The burning had stopped, somehow realising him into unconsciousness.

With the effort of quelling the flames over, Noah realised his own agony, and collapsed onto the floor next to Kane. His throat was raw and his chest burned, he couldn't get any oxygen into his lungs. Desperately he grabbed his throat and gasped for air. The adrenalin that had kept him conscious was starting to fade, his eyelids drooped perilously low and pain racked his body. He closed his eyes and groaned, becoming delusional. He felt pain, couldn't breathe, and blacked out.

Muahahaha... So, the question is... 'Who Survives?' You'll find out in the next chapter teehee.