Page 95 of Up In Smoke

He looks at me a second, then runs off.

Ouch.

But then I hear a yelp, and he bounds back into the living room before running back into the bedroom. This time I follow him, and when I get inside the room, he nudges my phone with his nose.

“Oh my god, I’m so stupid,” I mutter as I lunge for it, pulling the charging cable out before quickly dialing 911. “Guter Junge,” I tell Klaus as I wait for it to connect. My heart is pounding, but I think the shock is wearing off as reality sinks in.

The building is on fire.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“There’s a fire in the hallway of my apartment building!” I blurt out to the dispatcher and rattle off the address. “It’s like there was a line of fire right down the middle of the corridor,” I explain to her.

It’s weird. It kind of reminded me of when the special effects guys would set a pyro stunt on the show. Through the lens itwould look like a normal fire, but in real life it was a carefully controlled strip of accelerant that could easily be put out.

It didn’t seem very controlled out in the hallway just now. And I don’t think anyone’s putting it out easily.

“Okay, Jesse,” the dispatcher says. “My name is Venessa and I’m going to get you through this. Help is on the way.”

“Thank you,” I utter, trying not to let panic get the better of me. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Can you make it down the stairs or out of the window?” Vanessa asks.

“We’re on the fourth floor,” I tell her. “And my dog is with me, so the window’s probably not an option. But I can see if we can get to the stairs.”

“Okay, Jesse,” Vanessa says, her voice steady and soothing. “Stay on the line and tell me what you see. I’m looking at the building schematics right now and it says there’s the main stairwell to your left and an emergency exit to your right. Donotattempt to use the elevator. And be sure and check if the door is hot before you open it.”

“Okay, understood,” I tell her, feeling a tiny bit calmer. I’m always better with instructions to follow.

Wedging the phone between my ear and neck means I have both hands free to grab Klaus’s leash like I was going to before I smelled the smoke. He’s incredibly well trained, but I don’t want us to get separated if anything goes wrong out there. I connect it and he whimpers as we head back toward the door.

“It’s all right, boy,” I say to try and soothe him. I don’t know the German for ‘The building is on fire but I’m going to do everything I can to protect us.’ But he can probably feel my stress a mile off, regardless.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that a god damned fire started outside my door while I was sleeping.Howdid it start? I keep going back to that neat line of flames. MaybeI’ve watched too many movies, but I can’t help but think that it looked like a trail of gasoline someone had set alight.

If this was my crummy apartment back in LA, then that would seem more likely. I know there were drug dealers in that building because I fucking bought from them. But this isRedwood Bay.I doubt they have gang wars going on around here.

“The door’s warm but not, like, insanely hot,” I tell Vanessa. “Do you reckon I’m safe to open it.”

“We have to see if there’s an exit for you, Jesse,” she says with grim determination. “So proceed with caution. But I think you should be okay to take a peek.”

With my heart in my mouth, I ease the door ajar. When a fireball doesn’t erupt in my face, I risk sticking my head out.

“The fire’s worse,” I tell her over the blaring alarm. It might have been in a neat line previously, but now it’s spread farther across the carpet and in some places, it’s creeping up the walls.

“Can you make it to the stairwell?” Vanessa asks me.

I peer through the flames, coughing on the smoke. “Shit. I think the fire’s comingfromthe stairwell.”

I look down the other end of the corridor. There are only three apartments per level and ours is in the middle, so the fire escape isn’t that much farther away. Unfortunately, through the slim windowpane on the door—the fire door—I can see more flames.

“Holy shit,” I say, terror welling up inside me. “The fire’s at both ends. I’m trapped!”

“Okay, Jesse,” Vanessa says, her voice steady and firm. “I want you to get back inside your apartment right now and wait for help. If you can, I want you to find some towels, get them wet, then line them along the bottom of the doors to keep the smoke out, all right.”

I cough and press the inside of my elbow against my mouth so the material from the hoodie can filter the air a little bit for me. “Okay, will do,” I tell her, hurrying back with Klaus.

“Do you want me to stay on the line?” she asks.