The blazing building contrasted starkly with the pitch blackness of night as flames licked up to the very top floor. Sirens pierced the air as a team of sooty-faced fireman grimly sprayed the building down with water and did their best to evacuate the building. There was no hope for the structure itself; in mere minutes it would collapse into a heap of smoldering, white-hot ash. A throng of thrilled onlookers swarmed the area, gaping at the flames.
Fire Chief Manley barked out orders to his men, who were busily ushering the gasping survivors from the blackened shell of an apartment building. “Is that everyone? I want everyone out of there now!” he shouted amidst the deafening crackle of the gluttonous inferno. No sooner had he said that than the building shuddered slightly, and a loud snapping of wood rang out.
A rasping fireman stumbled from the burning doorway and called to Chief Manley, “This thing is coming down! We gotta get out!” The chief wiped his sweaty brow and debated with himself. Chances were very good that everyone was out, and he wanted to take every precaution to ensure the safety of his men. Yet if one life was lost because of him . . .
He finally nodded and bellowed, “Okay, everyone out! Let’s go, move it!” The firemen reluctantly yet swiftly exited the trembling building and backed away from the blaze. Suddenly, there was a cry from inside the building. Glancing up, Manley saw the form of a man leaning from the third floor window, waving his arms wildly.
“Help!” the man screamed, his voice crazed with panic. “I’m trapped in here! Somebody help me!” A young lady in the crowd screamed in a shrill tone and fainted theatrically into the arms of her boyfriend, as the rest of the crowd gasped and murmured among themselves.
The chief grunted, and grabbed an ax. “Chief, no! You’ll be killed!” another fireman cried after him, grabbing his arm.
“Then so be it. I have to try,” he growled, shaking the arm off roughly and heading for the building. Suddenly a man in an expensively-tailored suit shoved his way through the crowd and walked up to the chief. He ran his manicured fingers through his hair and spoke earnestly to the chief.
“I know that guy, Chief, and I won’t let you be killed saving him!” he cried, his bright white teeth gleaming as he spoke. “His safety is extremely important to me. This is my duty!” Without another word he laid down his briefcase and sprinted for the burning building, heedless to the chief’s sharp command to return.
The well-groomed man felled the door with a mighty kick and entered the oven-like lobby. A sea of fire stood between him and the stairway. With gargantuan strength the man ripped the door from its hinges and threw it across the floor, covering the flames. Then he nimbly tiptoed across it, leaping from it to the rickety stairway. Fire was consuming the steps themselves, so he threw himself over the side and pulled himself hand-over-hand up the railing. After miraculously reaching the third story, the man hurled himself over the rails and into the hallway. With a burst of speed he shot through the flames to the room where the man was huddled in a corner. “Give me your hand, pal,” the rescuer called to the victim, the building groaning in complaint. “Hurry, do it!” he screamed.
The trembling man obeyed, and the businessman lifted the bulk of the man over his head and again raced through the flames. By this time the hero’s clothes were nearly blazing as much as the room around him, yet he grit his teeth and continued to the stairs. With a feat of absolute superhuman strength, the man flung the both of them over the railing and hung on with one hand. With veins popping from his neck and sweat pouring from his face, he torturously maneuvered his hand and feet to haul the both of them down the shuddering rail. After what seemed like an eternity of agony, they reached the ground floor.
This time the champion of all he-men flipped a searing-hot table over the flames and carried the two of them over it. Finally, they emerged outside, scorched, bleeding, and alive. The rescued man smiled at his fiery friend and said. “No mortal man could do what you just did. Are you my guardian angel?”
The sooty-faced aristocrat smacked at his burning clothes and laughed as the building collapsed behind them in a roar of flames. “Heck, no, I’m an AIG executive. You have a pretty considerable life insurance policy with us, and frankly, we don’t wanna pay.”
