A/N: Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews for the last chapter. A comment was brought up in one of the reviews that I think needs addressed. It was mentioned that Kate was up and walking around only hours after having had a miscarriage. You're right, that's really inaccurate. I'd like to apologize for that inaccuracy. In this case, I think Kate can go on her walk the day after she had her baby, and it won't take anything away from the story.

Chapter 15 Fire

"Do you smell gas?" Kate asked Lizzie.

"You're being hypersensitive," Lizzie replied. The two had just entered the chapel for the evening service. Lizzie hadn't been able to sleep the night before, after Kate overheard Sal talking about perishing and fire.

Lizzie and Kate took two spots in the back pew.

"Lizzie," Kate whispered, but before she could say anything else, Sal began his sermon.

"Lately, we've been discussing the end times. Now, what will happen to those who aren't saved? Jude one verse seven says, 'In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding town gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.' Now, by eternal fire, Jude is talking about hell, of course, but what about the rest of us? All of us here have been saved. The fire we experience will not be eternal, because after the flames of the earth have destroyed us, we will have heaven."

Lizzie wasn't even guessing anymore. She was convinced that everybody at Lamb of God was going to burn, and, suddenly, Lizzie realized that the gas Kate had smelled earlier wasn't a figment of her imagination. She nudged Kate, and the second Lizzie saw Kate's face, she knew she wasn't the only one who had figured out what was going to happen. Lizzie quietly stood up and Kate followed. She tried to subtly leave out of the main doors, but Sal's voice stopped her.

"God commands you to stay!" his voice boomed. Sal was looking directly at Lizzie and Kate.

Lizzie saw a large man starting to run for the door that Kate and her were about to escape out of. He was holding a chain with a lock attached to it in his hands. Lizzie immediately noticed that all of the other doors in the chapel had been locked. "RUN!" Lizzie screamed. She and Kate bolted for the exit. Now they were in a race for their lives. Lizzie heard Sal's voice boom, "This is the fire that will consume us. We must suffer like Jesus did on the cross so that we may live."

Lizzie glanced at Sal just quick enough to see a lit match in his hand. He was about to kill every person in the chapel.

Kate and Lizzie made it to the door, but not faster than the big man with the chain.

"You're wrong Sal," Lizzie screamed, as she and Kate attacked the man. "Jesus suffered so that we don't have to!"

Sal glared at Lizzie. "May you burn in hell for all the chaos you have caused," he hissed. After a brief pause, Sal added, "In the name of God the father." It was like hearing a pin drop, but the match hit the floor with the power of a hurricane.

"Let us go!" Kate screamed at the man blocking her and Lizzie from their escape. She was biting his arm, so he couldn't lock the chain around the door. It looked like a loosing battle.

Lizzie could hear the flame following the trail of gasoline that surrounded the congregation. She could feel herself kicking and punching the man, and she could see Kate doing the same.

Suddenly, the door flung open, and Lizzie and Kate stumbled out. As they ran, they could hear Sal's voice from within yell, "If you don't perish today, you will surely perish in hell for eternity!"

"We have to help them," Kate choked, tired from battling her way out.

"The car," Lizzie choked back.

Lizzie and Kate sprinted for the garage.

Inside, Kate grabbed a wooden beam sitting on the ground, and smashed the window of the wan. She unlocked the door and opened it. Quickly, Kate grabbed some wires and put the together, and the car started.

"How did you do that?" Lizzie asked, amazed.

"I have no idea," Kate replied, equally amazed. Lizzie hopped into the passenger side and quickly buckled her seatbelt as Kate slammed on the gas. The car barreled through the garage door, and across the lawn, towards the burning chapel, gaining speed the whole way until it crashed into the doors that Kate and Lizzie had just escaped out of. The force of the collision snapped Lizzie forward, but her seatbelt held her in place.

"Kate, we need to get out of here," Lizzie said, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Kate?" Lizzie looked over at Kate. Her head was resting limply on the steering wheel, and Lizzie thought she saw blood on Kate's forehead. "KATE!" Lizzie screamed.

Lizzie could feel the heat of the fire burning all around her as she got out of the van and ran over to Kate's side. She noticed the people escaping the flames through the hole that the van had created. Lizzie opened Kate's door and tried to grab Kate and get her out, but she was stuck fast. The sweat on Lizzie forehead was evaporating in the heat. "HELP!" Lizzie screamed. "Somebody help me," Lizzie choked as a cloud of smoke took her breath away and burned her lungs. Lizzie kept on tugging on Kate as the fire grew hotter. The glass in the chapel started loudly shattering in the heat. She knew that the car could blow up at any second. It was hot, and there was gas in the tank, but just as Lizzie was about to give up, a voice said, "You grab her feet. I'll get her arms. Good. Now, pull on three. One, two, three."

Lizzie pulled with all of the strength that she had left, and Kate came free. "Grab my arm," the voice commanded. "I've got Kate."

Lizzie grabbed his arm, and the three ran. Once they were in the lawn, Lizzie turned about just in time to see the van explode. Seconds later, the ceiling of the chapel collapsed and crashed to the ground.

Lizzie cried and fell to the ground. She was hysterical. What had just happened? And who was that man?

About an hour later, Lizzie was huddled in a blanket and was given some oxygen. The last hour had been a complete blur. The firemen came and did what they could to put out the flames, but the chapel was obviously beyond repair. The only part left was the exterior stone wall, which was now blackened from the fire.

The firemen and a few paramedics that had arrived in ambulances had gone around treating various people for burns and smoke inhalation while policemen went around asking various people questions. Lizzie's eyebrows had been singed, and it hurt to breath deeply, but she didn't need to go to the hospital.

Kate had a cut on her forehead from the blow she took by crashing the van into the chapel. She had a concussion, too, but she would be okay. Kate was standing next to Lizzie with a white bandage on her head and a blanket around her shoulders. "That sure was kind of Derek to help you save me like that," Kate said.

"That was Derek?" Lizzie asked, astonished.

"Yeah. And I just want to tell you that I owe you my life. I wouldn't be standing here right now if it weren't for you."

"Kate, I'm sure that you would have done the same for me," Lizzie replied, modestly. "I mean, you're the one who saved everybody."

"Everybody but one," Kate replied, sadly.

"Sal didn't want to be saved," Lizzie replied. "I know that you have a history with him, and I'm sorry, Kate. I'm sorry that any of this had to happen."

Kate sighed and the two were silent. A few seconds into their silence, Lizzie felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around. "Derek."

"Lizzie," his gruff voice replied. "I- I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"You know, that I brought you here and all. It seemed like the right thing to do. I was so stupid. Why did I ever listen to Sal?"
"Derek, Sal was a very manipulative person. It's not your fault." Lizzie paused. "And I was to thank you for helping me get Kate. You saved her life. That means the world to her and me."

"I would have done it for anyone."

"Maybe, but you did it for me, and I want to thank you."

"Well, you're welcome," Sal replied. He took a breath and continued. "I know that things here didn't exactly go as planned, but is there a possibility that I could see you again back in California?"

"Derek, the feelings I had for you were real, but I need to get away from this part of my life. I can't. Not after everything that's happened."

"But Lizzie, I love you," Derek whispered. He kissed Lizzie on the lips. It was a soft, lingering kiss, and Lizzie didn't pull back. "I can't loose you," he whispered into her hear.

"I'll miss you, Derek," Lizzie replied. Fresh tears were now streaming down her face. "I can't stay with you, though. I just want to go home."
Derek's sad eyes ripped Lizzie's heart apart, but she couldn't be with him. She knew that there was too much in their past that needed to be forgotten. Lizzie wouldn't be able to move on past Lamb of God if she stayed with Derek. "I'll miss you," he said as he turned around and walked away.

A/N: Okay, now I know that you have something to say about this chapter. I'm expecting reviews from everybody who reads it! I'm especially interested in what you thought of my action sequence because I have never done one before. Was I descriptive enough? Did it move too fast or too slow? Let me know! Also, just one more chapter to go, and I'm not gonna update until I get a decent amount of reviews.