Nick
Nick
It can’t be happening.
He’s imagined this situation so many times – him fleeing from a fire. But in his imagination, it’s always been from his mother’s house, back home in Woking.
Jean next door once told him that their place was a death trap. He was only eight. The memory has haunted him ever since.
‘It’s lethal,’ she’d said, shaking her head in smug disapproval. ‘All those papers, stacked up. With the summers we get these days, it’s just a tinder box, waiting to go up in flames. You mark my words. Your mother’s life is disgusting. And it’s not fair on you. It’s not fair of her to put you at risk. You ought to be taken away from her for your own safety.’
‘Bog off!’ he’d shouted.
She’d never spoken to him again after that. But her words had stayed with him. He went through a period of horrendous nightmares, imagining this exact scenario playing out, his mother trapped behind a wall of burning newspapers, with him on the other side, unable to rescue her.
But this? Here, now? How can it be happening?
Everyone is transfixed, staring up at the fire. The site manager is trying to get some sense of order, but no one is listening. They are all too consumed with staring at the building, at the hideous, incessant flames.
Someone is screaming that they can’t find their friend.
He might be trying to do a roll call but how can they? No one knows how many people are in the building at any one time. Despite the swipe cards, there’s no checking in or checking out. People come and go as they like; they have visitors to stay if they want and there’s no official record.
But surely everyone is out now. They must be.
He blinks and behind his eye he sees the image of Anna’s face at the window. She would have to have made her way past the kitchen in order to get to the stairwell. And how can she have done, when the whole thing was burning?
The entire top two floors of the building are now on fire. How can it have spread so quickly? It doesn’t make any sense.
He grips Beth’s hand. He should have gone back in. He should have gone back in and got Anna out.
‘They’ll be OK,’ Beth says, staring at him. ‘We just have to find them. Don’t worry, they’ll be here somewhere.’
But she’s trying to convince herself, not him.
He should have gone in. He was a coward. He’s always been a coward.
‘They’ll be fine,’ she says. ‘I’m sure of it. They’ll have got out and they’ll be fine.’
He doesn’t know how to reply, so he just shakes his head.
The police are now telling people to move away from the car park, and he watches as they form lines, walking towards the campus.
‘Right, everyone, listen! Make your way to the union,’ one of the police is saying. ‘All students to go to the union building!’
Nick drops Beth’s hand as they approach a policewoman.
‘It was our flat that was on fire…’ He pauses, can’t bear to look at Beth. ‘Our flatmates. Rosa and Anna. We can’t find them. We don’t know where they’ve gone. If they’re safe.’
The policewoman stares. It’s clear she has no idea what to say to him. She’s never been in this situation before.
‘I’m sure they’re safe,’ she says. ‘If you make your way to the union, we’ll be taking everyone’s details there. Try not to worry pet, the fire brigade is used to dealing with this kind of thing.’
But that’s a lie. Of course it is. He glances back at the Asylum. It’s a barefaced lie because how often do devastating fires like this happen? Not often. This is a once-in-a-decade event. He knows it. It’ll be all over the news tomorrow.
They continue the slow march, surrounded by other students. He looks around as he goes, thinking for a second that he spots Anna, but it’s just another girl with similar hair.
And then, as they turn to leave the car park, he hears a shrill scream in his ear.
Someone tugs on his arm.
He turns. The scream came from Beth. Her mouth is wide open. She’s pointing at something.
Even before he turns to look, he knows what he’s about to see will change his life forever.
It seems to unfold in slow motion, flicker-frames that knit together before his eyes, revealing one horrifying picture.
Beth’s face, a mask of terror.
The building, still leaping with flames.
And then a firefighter, a body slumped over his shoulder, exiting the building and racing towards the paramedics.