The Emerald Key - By Christopher Dinsdale Page 0,54

that had been knocked over by the earlier rampaging crowd. As Beth landed hard into Jamie’s chest, the careening couple sent volumes of statistical reports flying in all directions.

For a moment, the two of them lay stunned on the floor. Ignoring the fiery pain from his shoulder and with the wind still knocked out of him, Jamie managed to roll awkwardly onto his hands and knees. Beth lay beside him. She wasn’t moving. He crossed himself, said a prayer to the Virgin Mary for help and, with a shaking hand, touched her face. Just then, a massive explosion shook the entire building. Bits of plaster fell from the ceiling like a violent summer hailstorm. Jamie threw himself over Beth to protect her from the crashing debris. His back was pelted with chunks of plaster. In the remaining dust cloud, he pulled himself off and checked her again. He sighed in relief when she moaned and her eyes fluttered to life.

“Beth! Thank God! Are you all right?”

Beth looked around, confused. “What happened? Where am I?”

“You fell through the hatch and now you’re in the library with me! This whole place is about to blow up! We have to get out of here!”

She sat bolt upright, remembering, then flinched in pain. She grabbed her shoulder, her eyes wide. “Someone took your bag from me, then threw me down the hatch! Jamie, he tried to kill me!”

He took her hand and helped her to her feet.

“The rope …” she looked up.

“It’s gone. We can’t go back up. We’ll have to find another way out. Come on!”

A second, closer explosion ripped through the air. They crashed hard into a bookshelf but kept their feet and made it to the library entrance. They stared down the hallways, dismayed at the growing inferno. The tongues of flame seemed to be coming at them from all directions.

“Which is the fastest way out of here?” he muttered.

“Is that the main entrance down there?” she pointed.

“Good!” Jamie agreed. “Let’s go!”

Together they ran hand in hand through the burning hallway. They coughed as the heat and smoke burned their lungs. The main entrance still seemed impossibly far away when a third, larger explosion ripped through the building. A giant fireball hurtled out of a door halfway between them and the main entrance. Huge sections of the upper floor collapsed like an avalanche into the hall. Beth screamed as Jamie pulled her sideways through an open doorway. As he landed, he kicked the door closed with his feet. A sudden whoosh of heat and light sizzled past the glass door. They gasped for breath on the relatively cool floor of the darkened office.

“It’s the gas lines,” coughed Jamie. “The fire is igniting each one as it moves through the building. We don’t have much time before the gas lines at this end of the building ignite as well.”

“Can we make it to the entrance?”

“I don’t think so. We need to move back toward the library and find an office with a window. We’ll smash it and hope the fire crews can get us down.”

They staggered to their feet. Jamie felt the door. It was warm but they had no choice. He once again took her hand. Beth was scared, but Jamie admired the look of determination on her face.

“Are you ready?”

She nodded. He pulled the door open, and they both gasped at the heat that smacked them as they crawled into the collapsed hallway. They backtracked toward the library and Jamie grabbed the first handle they came to. He yelped in pain.

“Can’t go in there. Keep moving!”

He tried a door on the other side of the hallway. The handle was just as hot. Beth tugged on his shirt. Through the glass, they could see that all of the offices were aflame.

“The stairs!” she cried.

Jamie and Beth sprinted for the staircase. They descended as fast as their legs could carry them through the thickening smoke. When they reached the ground level, they were horrified to see it was even worse than upstairs. Beautifully carved wood panelling glowed with tongues of fire. Flames licked at the crumbling ceiling. Smouldering plaster rained down onto the floor.

Beth yanked on his arm. “Keep going down!”

“But that’s the basement!” Jamie protested. “There’s no way out!”

She squeezed his hand. “I have an idea! It might be our only chance!”

Left with no choice, Jamie followed her down into the darkened basement. The air was slightly cooler and much less smoky. They were both drenched in sweat and soot. Jamie