Luck
#3 of Second Chances
It is seriously lacking here...
_ _ Luck
Josh ran. He ran as fast as he could, jumping roof to roof. Ducking to avoid a car that was tossed off a parking garage by the wind, he looked for her apartment. The old red brick building was in shambles, debris had broken all the windows, and the first floor was flooded. He panicked as he saw a fire on the seventh floor, her floor. He picked up his pace. He needed to get her out in time. Determination in his eyes, he jumped into one of the shattered windows on the second floor. The rooms were tattered, and the inhabitants of the apartment had apparently not gotten out in time. Josh made a gesture of respect to the bodies, before busting down a wall of trash. He hit it as hard as he could, and flew into the hallway. Holes in the building were letting water and rain in, and the floor would soon suffer as the first one had. Running out of time, he searched for the stairs. He flew down the hall, slipping and twisting his ankle as he turned down another corridor. But this would not slow him down. He ran, his ankle bleeding badly, to a door that led to the stairs. He opened it, and proceeded up. The signs on the wall indicated his level, and he limped up, reading each one. Three, four, five, six... He was finally at seven. He kicked the door open, and it fell right off its loose hinges. He ran out, turning left into the hall. He found her room, and kicked it open. Her apartment was luckily not on fire, so if she was still here, she would still hopefully be alive.
She let out a scream as a sail from a boat flew in her window, barely missing her. Where was he? Her terror filled eyes raced across her kitchen, franticly searching for a way out. That was when she heard a voice. It was muffled by the storm, but still audible. "Sal, where are you," it called, sounding strained. "I'm in here! The kitchen", she called back. A door by the back of the kitchen burst open and Josh rushed in. She saw his ankle and gasped. "Oh my! What happened?"
She bent down to see his ankle, but he stopped her. "Let's go," he yelled, his voice barely overcoming the storm. She nodded, and they both went out to the front door. "Shit," Sal yelled, seeing that the fire had blocked it. "This way," Josh said. They ran to where the sail had almost impaled Sal. Josh carefully inspected it, and said, "You know how you've always wanted to be on a zip line?" She gave him a serious look. "Josh," she said, "this is serious!" Josh was not smiling however. Instead, he said, "Take off your shirt." Sal was confused, but did as told. She handed it to him, and he hooked it around the bare pole. "Go!" He pushed her over to the makeshift zip line that would bring her over to a different building, a building that luckily had a rescue team in it. "What about you," She yelled back. "I'll be right behind you. Don't worry," he said, giving her a quick kiss.
She looked him in the eyes, nodded, and left. She went surprisingly fast, and landed in the building with minor scrapes. She turned up to Josh, who was about to go down. He looked around, and found a piece of the sail that was once on the pole, and prepared to jump. Just before he could make it, the building began to shake. Josh lost his balance, and fell. The bottom of the building had caught fire, and that building was famous for gas leaks. The whole rescue team assembled at the side of the building and began to rush Josh down. He stood up, and was about to try again, when the bottom of the building exploded.
Josh was once again thrown off his feet as the building collapsed, leaving a huge dust cloud. Sal screamed as she saw her boyfriend die in a horrible way. She burst into tears, as the rescue team tried to get her out of there, before her fate was the same. She screamed and fought them, insisting that they go down and look for him. Just as they subdued her, she saw Josh, screaming, impaled by a metal rod, surrounded by fire. She saw the look in his eyes, the fear, the anguish, the... love.
Sal awoke with a shrill scream. She was trembling, as always. This flashback plagued her, almost every night. It had been a year now, yet she still could not get over this. Sweating, she laid back down. A tear rolled down her eye as she recalled how they found him, dead, burnt to a crisp, unable to move due to the iron bar. More tears came as she remembered the ring they had found on him; he had planned to marry her. She was now fully crying, her muzzle buried in her pillow.
It was five in the morning, and Brock was up getting ready for work when he heard Sal crying again. Every time he heard that, he was hurt inside. To see such a good wolf in so much pain... It almost made him cry. He finished getting dressed, and went into her room. "Hey, it's okay," he said, giving her a hug. She didn't say a thing, but instead, continued crying. He patted her back, hoping that one day she would get over Josh's death. He knew what it felt like to lose someone close; his brother had died in a car wreck. But, in time, he had faith that she would find someone new. She would just have to stay strong.
She soon finished crying, and hugged him tighter. He had let her stay there after the storm, and he had been there for her. He was the reason she was able to go to the funeral. If he weren't there with her, she probably would have died. She was extremely grateful to him. "Alright, come on, I'll fix us some breakfast," Brock said, standing up. "Thanks," Sal said in a shaky voice. Brock smiled, and left. Sal stood up, and put a shirt on. She didn't mind being topless around Brock, mainly because he was gay. He was a really nice panda, though. She wiped off one last tear, then went out to the kitchen.
Brock had prepared some eggs, and set them down on a small circular table. His house was nice, a bit small, but he hadn't really expected to have a guest. Sal sat down, and began eating. "So, "she said between bites, "I found a nice apartment, and with my new job, I can afford to live there." Brock smiled and said, "Good for you. I'll miss having your company." "I'll miss you to, but it's just down the road. I think I can move in within a month or two," she said, taking another bite.
After breakfast, Sal cleaned the dishes and Brock left for work. She went into the living room and turned on the T.V. to watch the morning news. "Today, "it said, "Is the anniversary of hurricane Hope. Let us not forget those who died today." One reporter turned to the other and said, "Yes, it is a travesty. But we will rebuild. We have before, and we will again." Sal changed the channel.
At around noon, the doorbell rang. Sal answered the door, and found a small black box with a note attached to it, sitting on the welcome mat. She picked it up, and read the letter. It read, Would you have said yes? She quickly opened the box, and in it was a diamond engagement ring.