Daniel lay under the ruins of the two buildings in a half-conscious state, unaware of where he was. He saw nothing but darkness as his arms and legs were pinned under the debris. Still, as he was trapped under the mountain of concrete and metal, he could hear the sounds of the citizens’ distress. The screams of terror, crackling of collapsing buildings, and booming explosions slowly pulled him back to the waking world. Finally, as he fully regained consciousness, he began crawling across the ground and drawing his limbs free.

  However, as he started making progress, a group of firemen dug Daniel out of the rubble. It took his eyes a few moments to readjust to the light, but he quickly saw a fair-skinned woman, hair as red as fire, and a slender, curvy body, the fire chief Ginger Carlson. As stunning as the flames she fought, she gave Daniel a cold look. Over the past weeks of Daniel’s crusade, they had met each other several times, rescuing civilians from blazes. Daniel drew her irritation as his very presence violated firefighting protocols.

  "Knight, how many times do I have to say this? Freak or not, I don't want civilians putting themselves in harm's way playing hero."

  "Good thing I'm not a civilian nor playing a game."

  Ginger pinched her forehead, enduring a migraine as she heard Daniel. She opened her mouth for a tirade. But she noticed the destruction from the flames around her growing, choosing to focus on the disaster instead.

  “I’ll deal with you later.” Ginger signaled her men to come closer. "Okay, team, we're going to divide and conquer. But remember the rules of engagement. In together out together, am I clear?"

  “Yes, ma’am,” The firefighters shouted in unison.

  The firefighters got into position with incredible efficiency. Some quickly broke into teams of two or three and hurried to the burning buildings. Some got over to the fire trucks, getting the hoses to extinguish the flames. And some still hastily grabbed the spare hoses from the trucks, attaching them to the hydrants further battling the blaze.

  Daniel looked at them, whistling. "Wow."

  Daniel prepared to join in on fighting the blaze, but a crashing sound stopped him. Looking for the source, he spotted firefighters trying to get through thick stone rubble blocking the entrance to a building.

  "Come on, people are frying in there."

  "I'm doing my best."

  Daniel quickly approached the firefighters. Calling upon his training with Karen to channel his immense strength safely, weary of knocking the unstable building down. With a kick, he knocked away the rubble that was blocking the entrance. But as the path was clear, Daniel hurried to the other burning buildings while the firefighters looked at him astonished.

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  "Whoever you are, thank you."

  Daniel stopped moving as he heard the firefighter, a cold shiver running down his spine."Y-you're welcome."

  ***

  A fireman directed civilians down a staircase in an apartment building. The group of civilians that was over a hundred people included children, the elderly, and several disabled individuals. The trek was especially difficult for the elderly and disabled as they had to force their crumbling bodies to move faster than normal. The fireman and more able-bodied civilians helped as many of them as they could. Still, time was short as the air became harder to breathe and the temperature increased.

  “Everyone please hurry,” The fireman screamed.

  As they moved toward the exit, the ceiling above them collapsed. The fireman got hit by falling debris and stumbled into a door, opening it. However, seconds before the backdraft, Daniel knocked him away, taking the blast himself as the fireman watched, speechless. Still, Daniel emerged from the flames and extended his hand to help the fireman. Remembering the intense heat enveloping his body the moment the fireman drew his hand away in pain.

  “Sorry, man.” Daniel pointed his thumb at the civilians behind him. “Why don’t you let me finish your sweep here and you take care of them?”

  “Y-yes. Thank you.”

  The fireman hurried downstairs with the civilians. Daniel dashed through the building, looking for anyone in danger as he left. But zooming through it, the entire hallway behind him collapsed into fiery destruction.

  Daniel surrendered a slight laugh. “Oh, thank goodness, I cleared that section."

  Daniel continued laughing until he heard a child cry. He turned around to find the source. It was a young boy crying at the end of the hallway. But as he prepared to run over, he saw debris from the ceiling start to rain down. The entirety of the ceiling would soon follow suit.

  "Damn it," Daniel shouted.

  Daniel turned toward the boy like lightning as the building collapsed. As he ran towards him, the building around them crumbled apart, and they fell into a fiery pit. He caught his hand, wrapping himself around the child like a protective blanket, and together they got buried alive in the rubble.

  ***

  Several hours had passed since the beginning of the fire. But finally, the valiant efforts of Ginger and her firefighters bore fruit. The great infernos had been extinguished with minimal casualties, leaving behind nothing but black smoke and the suffocating scent of ash. Emergency workers canvassed the smoldering ruins of the neighborhood. Still, Daniel and the boy were nowhere to be seen.

  Soon a pile of rubble started to move upwards, and everyone got ready for trouble. The police on the scene immediately drew their weapons, aiming at it. The pile was several feet tall and weighed over a hundred tons. Whatever was underneath moving it surely wasn’t human. However, as it burst open, it revealed Daniel with the boy in his arms, drawing gasps from the crowd of over a thousand people.

  He quickly stumbled over to the EMTs, giving them the boy.

  "T-take care of this, would you?" Daniel asked, panting.

  ***

  Later, Daniel hurried away from the neighborhood as the emergency workers handled the situation. Ginger spotted him through the confusion and saw the boy he saved with the EMTs. And as she took a deep breath, she chased after him.

  "Knight, thanks for everything. You’re alright," Ginger said, her voice cracking.

  As Daniel heard her, he stopped, preparing to say something, but instead, he returned to running. And as she saw him leave, she hurried back to her firefighters.

  Both still had much to do.