Johny Lee was afraid of death...really afraid.
In the past, even with a gun to his head, he wouldn't have rushed inside; that was pure suicide!
But now Johny was different. He held the ultimate trump card: "BACK." In other words, he had one more life than anyone else on earth.
Facing danger, he could use "BACK" and emerge unscathed. With it, self-preservation was no longer paramount in his mind. He'd already died once, what was one more death? It wasn't real anyway. What he needed now was achievement, merit, and the leadership's trust.
So, Johny plunged into the sea of flames without hesitation!
Waves of heat billowed; fire blazed on every side.
Johny couldn't see a thing inside the room. Black smoke and flames filled the air. He coughed, quickly pressed his soaked shirt over his mouth, squinted his stinging, tear-filled eyes, and groped forward through the smoke.
It was scorching; his skin felt ready to ignite.
Only seconds after entering, Johny could barely stand it. Dodging a pile of fire at his feet, he clenched his teeth and pushed onward.
Shouts came from the hallway behind him.
"Johny, don't do anything stupid!" Section Chief Lee yelled. "If the documents are gone, they're gone, don't get yourself killed!"
Director Zane also shouted, "Johny, get back here! That's an order...come back!"
"Johny, are you crazy? Get out! The fire's spreading!" Tammy and the others cried.
Johny knew the files were probably ash by now; his true aim wasn't necessarily to find them but to look heroic, to show he could solve crises for his leaders.
Ignoring the shouts, he dashed to the half-open inner door, kicked the burning wood aside, and was about to enter when a thunderous crash came from behind.
Bang! Something heavy hit the floor, shaking the concrete.
He spun around to see that a burning bookcase by the entrance had toppled, wedging itself across the door and sealing the exit tight!
Crap! Johny jumped back.
"This is bad!"
"Ahh! Johny can't get out!"
"Save him! Quick, save him!"
Outside, people panicked. Fire extinguishers hissed against the blazing bookcase; heavy objects thudded against the wood as they tried to batter open an escape route. If they didn't, even if the flames didn't kill Johny, the smoke surely would.
Gritting his teeth, Johny hesitated for a split second, then spun around and rushed deeper into the inner room.
Bang! A desk on his left suddenly collapsed. Its burning top and a heavy leg slammed onto his trousers, instantly melting a hole and searing his skin.
Johny screamed, cold sweat bursting from his pores. He slapped frantically at the flames, pain fueling his desperate resolve. Glaring through the thick smoke, he limped toward the corner of the room, toward the desk Section Chief Lee had mentioned!
Crack! The ceiling light exploded overhead from the intense heat. Shards of glass flew like shrapnel; two pieces lodged into the back of his neck and hand. Blood gushed from the wounds.
Johny cursed inwardly, fighting the dizzying effects of smoke inhalation, and forced himself onward.
Closer now, he could make out the desk—like everything else, it was wreathed in flames. Yet, incredibly, the row of drawers on the left had only half-burned, not yet devoured by the inferno.
His mind blazed. He yanked at the second drawer..ouch! The hot metal handle seared his fingers. He kicked the locked drawer instead.
Thud! Thud! One kick, two kicks.
With a sharp crack, the scorched drawer split wide open, revealing two thick kraft-paper folders inside.
The documents were actually still there!!
Johny was elated.
Ignoring his burned hand, he plunged it into the flames and snatched the two slightly charred folders.
Coughing violently, he covered his mouth, crouched low, and fought his way back to the outer room. But the heavy bookcase blocking the door had only been shifted a fraction by the people outside; the exit wasn't clear yet.
Hurry up..let me out! His head grew heavier, his thoughts fogging over. He tried to stagger toward the exit, but the toxic smoke had left his brain and body unresponsive. His vision blurring into darkness, Johny crashed to the floor.
The moment the folders hit the ground, they caught fire. Burning debris fell from the ceiling, searing him and wringing agonizing screams from his throat.
He was dying!
He was really going to die!
With his last ounce of strength, the barely-conscious Johny shouted in his mind, "BACK!"
... Flash! Everything was burning.
Two kraft-paper envelopes lay quietly in the cracked drawer, the exact scene from the moment Johny had kicked it open.
Time had rolled back!
Johny's mind reeled; sensation returned to his entire body. His head still throbbed and felt heavy from the heat, yet his mind was far clearer than when he'd been on the verge of death.
He knew the smoke was toxic; he had no time left. The main door was blocked. Even if he grabbed the files, he wouldn't leave this office alive through the front entrance.
Without daring to waste a single second, he snatched the two documents.
Instead of taking the hallway path that meant certain death, he sprinted, while he still had feeling in his legs, toward the inner room's window. He scooped up an intact porcelain teacup from a side table and hurled it at the glass.
CRACK! It shattered into pieces.
This was the second floor; jumping carried a huge risk, but it beat dying in the smoke.
Johny felt his consciousness fading again. He sucked in a lungful of the less-concentrated air at the broken window, glanced down at the bicycle-shed canopy below, and felt a flicker of relief.
Clutching the files tightly to his chest, he wobbled out onto the ledge. He dug a fingernail into his temple to trigger a jolt of pain to stay conscious, then sprang outward.
Four meters… three… two…
THUD! Pain flared through his left shoulder as he slammed into the blue translucent plastic roof of the shed. It broke his fall, but he rolled, lost his balance, and crashed onto the concrete below, barely missing a row of parked bicycles.
The air he gulped in was suddenly cool and fresh.
Gazing up at the blue sky, Johny felt his racing heart finally settle.
He wasn't dead!
He was alive!!
Three minutes later... scattered footsteps approached from afar.
The fire-fighting group had circled around to the back of the building. The first to arrive were the leaders and clerks from the General Office
"Johny! Johny!"
"Johny, are you all right? Are you hurt?"
Burned, scalded, and sprained, Johny couldn't stand. He only managed a painful, soot-stained smile.
Tammy, Samson, Jane, and the others rushed over. At the sight of Johny lying in a pool of blood and ash, they gasped.
"Call an ambulance..now!" Samson, closest to him, shouted in a panic and moved to help him up.
Section Chief Lee knelt beside him, deeply moved. "Johny, the files were already burned. Why did you risk your life..."
Johny exhaled a ragged breath. "The files didn't burn."
"What!?" Lee and Director Zane stared at him.
Johny shifted, wincing in agony, and pulled two kraft-paper envelopes from beneath his chest. "Are these what you need?"
"You found them?!" Lee and Zane could hardly believe their eyes; tears of relief nearly fell.
Lee clutched the slightly blood-stained envelopes with trembling hands. "Yes! This is it!" He was too moved to speak clearly. "Johny… well done. My god, well done!"
Everyone was stunned...this kid was a force of nature.
Jack and Paul exchanged incredulous looks, their faces pale. In that inferno, escaping with his life had seemed miracle enough, yet Johny had also managed to rescue the critical documents.
Director Zane shot a cold glance at the dumbstruck Jack and Paul. So much for calling Johny rash and immature.
Where had these two veterans been when it counted? They had run away. At crunch time, only Johny could be relied on to deliver.
Director Yancy, arriving right behind them, was equally shaken. He took the files from Lee, checking their integrity, and barked, "Your resignation letters can wait, but disciplinary action is still mandatory. Get me a formal self-criticism report by tomorrow morning!"
"Yes, sir. Thank you, Director Yancy."
"Thank you, Director Yancy," Director Zane added quickly. Both men were elated to have escaped absolute disaster.
"Don't thank me," Director Yancy said gruffly, his eyes softening as he looked at Johny bleeding on the ground. "Thank him. You two have one hell of a subordinate."
Section Chief Lee and Director Zane nodded emphatically, truer words were never spoken. A subordinate willing to fight this hard and risk his life for his superiors? There wasn't another like him in the entire West City Branch Bureau!!
From that moment on, everyone's view of Johny Lee completely flipped. This guy was flat-out fearless!!
Authors Note:-
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