Chapter 140: Disasters Are Cruel
In that instant, the chaos in the crowd escalated. Screams and cries could be heard all over the place.
The building had a total of 24 floors, each packed with residences. Fortunately, the fire was still confined to a small area, giving everyone ample time to escape. Even so, it was a terrifying sight for many of those involved.
Emerald Lake Court was only about one kilometer away from Hengdian Studios. Ye Lingchen had quickly arrived at the scene.
At that time, the ground floor of the residence was packed with people pointing fingers at the fire. Wave after wave of people rushed out from the building, grateful for making it out of the place alive. Some were holding on to their loved ones in tears, feeling the full brunt of the lingering fear.
“Everyone, please move aside. Don’t crowd in a single area and let the fire truck through! Every second is a race against time!” Several people were consoling the crowd, “Furthermore, can everyone please try to contact the tenants of this building to find out those that have yet to escape and their general location. We must contact them to ensure their safety!”
Under such circumstances, everyone was cooperative. Quite a number of people rushed over from nearby areas with buckets of water. However, due to the height of the fire, they were unable to do much.
Ye Lingchen was mixed in amongst the crowd. He was similarly looking up at the location of the fire. The roaring flames were shooting out from the rooms like the breath of a dragon, striking fear into those that witnessed it.
The sound of blaring sirens could be heard from a distance.
Very quickly, the red fire trucks were rushing over.
A total of three trucks!
More than 10 firefighters leaped off the truck. They looked at the flames and assessed the severity then began to set up the fire fighting equipment.
That was not the time to find out the source of the fire. Taking out the fire was their main priority.
“Is there anyone still within the premises?” asked the chief firefighter. He was a middle-aged person with a heavily tanned skin tone.
“That should be it. Today’s Saturday. They are either out shopping or staying at home. They’re all out.” Someone from the crowd explained.
The chief nodded. Although the fire was burning fiercely, it was relatively contained. The tenants from the other floors had more than enough time to escape.
“What’s the situation with the burning unit?” The Chief continued to question.
“I’ve called them up. The tenant is out of town and the unit is empty. The fire might have started from some faulty circuits,” explained someone from the management team.
“What about the neighboring unit?”
“They already got out.”
“That’s good.”
Everyone let out a sigh of relief. As long as the people were safe, that was already the best they could hope for.
However, right at that moment, a black sedan rushed over at breakneck speed. It hastily pulled over and a couple got out of the car.
Their expressions were lined with worry as they looked at the location of the fire. The woman’s face had lines of tears running down her cheeks, and the tears were still flowing.
At the same time, a slightly chubby middle-aged woman ran out of the building with a terrified look on her face.
“Aunt Huang, where are the kids? Where are my kids?!” The woman rushed over, holding onto Aunt Huang, screaming frantically at her face.
Aunt Huang avoided her gaze then said with a guilty look, “Miss, the fire came too quickly. Furthermore, it was right across our house. The heatwave rushed into the house, I… I didn’t have time to save the kids…”
What?!
Everyone was stunned. There were still kids up there!
“You left my two kids up there and escaped on your own?!” The woman almost went nuts. She wailed in despair while looking up at the burning fireball, feeling her heart being torn apart!
“I was very very scared at that time. I could only think of running away, I couldn’t…” Aunt Huang dared not make eye contact with the couple.
That woman went quiet for a moment, then suddenly put on a resolute expression and tried to run into the building.
“Calm down.” The man beside her acted quickly, pulling her back and hugging her as he consoled the woman, “Don’t be reckless. Our kids are lucky. They will be fine.”
His eyes were tearing up as well. His appearance seemed to have aged many years in that instant. He then looked over at the firefighters.
“Relax, we’ll save your kids,” The chief firefighter immediately assured him. “Everyone, get a move on! Give me your best speed! There are two kids trapped in that fire!”
“Please, I beg of you. You must save my kids,” The woman begged, grasping at straws.
The firefighters were working seriously, realizing time was not on their side.
“Come on, be quick! What are you waiting for? Start spraying water!” Some people within the crowd shouted out of worry.
“The fire truck is here to watch a show? It’s been five minutes and there’s not even a drop of water!”
“The location of the fire is on the 16th floor. That height is beyond what our first level of water pressure can reach. We need to adjust the water pressure to reach that height,” Explained the firefighters as they similarly sweat bullets from anxiety.
“How long will that take?! This just sounds too fishy!”
The complaints did not stop. Everyone looked up at the fire, their anxiety eating away at them.
“Look, it’s the kids!” Someone shouted suddenly and pointed at a window.
Everyone looked upwards and saw two kids appear by the window, a boy and a girl. The boy was around six to seven years old, while the girl was somewhere between four to five. Both kids were terrified, looking pale, and bawling their eyes out helplessly.
The boy was coughing as he pushed with all his might to open the window slowly, causing the black smoke to seep out of the opening.
In such a situation, even if the fire did not get them, the smoke would knock them out.
They were trapped between a steep fall and the fire with smoke coming from behind them. Both kids were trapped in a hopeless situation and it seemed like their fates were sealed.
“Little Yu, Little Tian!” The kids’ mother immediately screamed at the top of her lungs. Unfortunately, it was too far up and her voice could not be heard. Seeing her kids suffering in that situation, that woman dropped to her knees.
She then knelt there crying, “Dear heavens, who can save my kids?!”
The crowd was heartbroken. They could not bear to watch it anymore. The firefighters were all speechless, unable to help.
Within the unit, flames were roaring. Fortunately, the quality of the unit was decent and could hold back the flames for a while more, but only that little while more! Moreover, even if it could hold back the flames, it could not hold back the smoke!
The situation was hopeless!
“Sigh, disasters are cruel. This is a cruel end for those two kids.”
“That’s the nanny right? She’s just too irresponsible. Escaping on her own and ditching the kids.”
“Pity the parents. How would they overcome this trauma in the future?”
“Everyone let’s quickly think of a plan. The heavens would not leave us without a path. We will surely make it!”
Right then, a silhouette from the crowd dashed into the building and quickly ran up the stairs!
That silhouette was extremely quick. The crowd only felt their eyes blurred and it was gone in an instant.
“Just now…I thought I saw someone rushing inside?”
“I think I saw it too. Could it be a hallucination?”
“It can’t be. It’s too dangerous to rush inside at a time like this!”
“The fire has covered that entire floor. Even if he rushed in he won’t be able to save anyone!”
…