Alex Kraus's Story

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Smooth jazz echoed around her apartment, blocking away the mundane sounds of early evening New York City. The tall brunette's gaze was locked on the canvas before her, the paintbrush in her hand making swift, strong strokes. The image in her mind was slowly forming on the formerly blank piece. It wasn't her best work, but it was damn close. She stepped back to have one more look at her work and see what she needed to put for the finishing touches. She set down the palette on an open desk and blindly reached for her remarkably still warm cup of Starbucks.

That was when the loud blaring of what seemed to be the fire alarm filled the entire apartment building, causing Alex to drop the cup. Black liquid made their home in the floorboards, making the brunette groan out loud in frustration. Getting those stains out would be a pain, but she had more important problems at the time. Like the fact that there was a fire breaking out in their building.

Alex wasted no time in moving. She grabbed a briefcase, filled with important documents for easy carry at emergencies such as this, and ran out of the room. She offered one last look at her painting, the thought that perfectly good art would burn down twisting a knife in her stomach. She sighed, knowing that there was more important things that her art. She made her way down to the lobby, and straight outside. The New York chill caused goosebumps to erupt all over her body, as she settled to the side and prepared to give help if anyone needed it.

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Though it was only early evening, Mel was already clad in her pajamas, which consisted of loose blue bottoms that pooled at her feet because they were a few sizes to big, and a black sports bra. She was curled up on her couch, a book cradled in one hand and a bowl of popcorn next to her. She was more than ready for a quiet night in, she didn't have work tomorrow and she fully intended to enjoy her time off starting as soon as possible. She could already see a nice bubble bath in her near future to complement the handful of sci-fi books she was currently consuming. Her glasses were propped at the end of her nose, and her hair hung down around her face as she dived deeper into the novel.

And then she let out a remarkably loud yelp. The blare of the fire alarm cut straight to her core, filling her with the primal fear it had taught her when she was in public school. Few things are more terrifying than the sound of a fire alarm. Her first instinct was to walk right out of the room and down the stairs, she was on the top floor which meant that she had a longer descent than some others, but she knew she wasn't fit to go out. Hurriedly she stood, accidentally upturning her popcorn bowl, and rushed into her bedroom for something to put on over her pyjamas. She managed to grab a bathrobe and sling it over her shoulders, slip on a pair of flip flops by her door, and she was off, book still in hand and her glasses slipping down her nose.

Perhaps it was because the alarm had startled her, or because in school she'd never dealt with real fire and they'd always emphasized that one should leave everything behind, but Mel had no urge to save any of her things, aside from what was in her hands at the time, and that was only inadvertent. She had no inclination to rescue her computer or her Xbox , it didn't even cross her mind.

Out in the hall, Mel was surprised to see that she was the first one to leave her apartment room. For a moment she wondered if she should knock on the other doors, but she shrugged and just turned to the stairwell at the end of the hall. They could end for themselves. She knew everyone here was capable of getting out of the building before the fire consumed them, especially since she couldn't smell smoke or anything at all. And she didn't really want to deal with people, she was still recovering from being startled by the abrupt noise. She shuffled down the stairs and out into the cool early evening, hugging her robe close to her chest and curling her toes in her flip flops as she moved an adequate distance away from the building. She pushed her glasses up her nose and stared at the building, part of her waiting to see any sign of flames and the other part thinking that it was all just a false alarm.

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J had left a few hours earlier for his acting group that met once a week for dinner and then some improv. However, he'd worried about Fran, his pet snake, because she hadn't been eating with the same gusto that she once had, so he'd left early with profuse apology and the good luck wishes of all of his friends. As he drove, blasting music from his phone, he ran his fingers through his already messy hair, aimlessly contemplating things. He'd just recently gotten a job as a bartender at a local restaurant, which he was grateful for, but the hours were long and late, and it really messed up his internal clock. He was considering getting a new job, but he didn't want to quit so early on. It wouldn't look good on him, and he'd already made some really cool friends that he was loathe to give up just because his job was hard.

J was so lost in his thoughts that he barely noticed the people flooding out of his apartment complex until he'd pulled into a parking spot and taken his key out of the ignition. He jumped out of his car, looking around, slightly confused. He spotted Alex, who he liked even though he hadn't really talked to her because she was a fellow bartender. He felt like he had a connection to her. Also, maybe if he made friends with her she might be able to give him advice about his job, which would be super cool. J ran his hands through his hair, leaving even more fluffed and in a disarray than before. He hurried over to Alex, a friendly smile and a look of worry on his face in the same moment.

"What's going on?" He asked, her brows drawing together as he neared her. As he asked, however, the realization him. He hadn't noticed the soft sound of the alarm inside the building until just now. He put his hands over his mouth, no longer thinking about making friends. Fran was still inside! " Oh no! Fran is still inside, and there's a fire, isn't there." He said, more of a statement than a question. " What am I going to do? I can't just go in there, can I? But poor Fran, I can't leave her." He put his hands on top of his head in distress, casting his green eyes helplessly at Alex. He didn't expect her to do anything, but he felt a little better after just expressing his miniature panic attack over Fran's health.

Holly was curled up on her couch, wearing nothing but lacy underwear and a pink bathrobe, when a loud alarm sounded. She was very startled, and her DS crashed to the wooden floor below. The sound of an 8-bit fanfare, and the screams of enemy monsters were an accompaniment to Holly's thoughts as she tried to figure out what was going on. This was a fire alarm, right? She couldn't smell any smoke, and nowhere in her apartment was aflame. But there still could be imminent danger. She had to work fast. So, Holly lifted her DS and shoved it into her robe's deep pockets before running to her bedroom. Throughout her life, Holly had been told time and time again that, in the case of a fire, she should run and leave everything behind.

But she couldn't. Holly had to pack all of her stuffed animals up in a backpack first. They were so important to her, and she couldn't let them burn. She worked fast, shoving all of them inside. The zipper would barely close, but after a bit of a struggle, she was able to close it. Now, to find Felini. Felini was her cat, a playful Siamese kitten she loved a lot. She couldn't leave the poor thing to die in pain, although she didn't believe the fire would reach her apartment. He was sleeping underneath a couch, and she had to drag him out by force. His claws caught onto the carpet, and he meowed.

"Shhh, kitty kitty. You're gonna be alright", she whispered as she held him to her chest. Now, she had everything she needed. She ran towards the door, and was able to loosen one hand from restraining Felini to use to unlock her front door. Holly pushed it open with her hips, before running out into the hallway, down the stairs, and out the door. She looked around to see if she had any neighbors nearby. There were a few, but she didn't know any of them. And she was too shy to go and talk to any of them. So she just stood there, soothing Felini and watching the clouds cover the moon above.