Everybody in the set stumbled back in shock, panic and fear. It happened so suddenly that they remained frozen for several long moments. The fire caught the curtains, props and consumed everything that came in its way into his blazing orange ball. The flames swiftly rose higher and wider.
"What the hell...Run!!!" Somebody yelled. "We will be burned to death!"
Chaos riled up the moment everyone came back to their senses. It was a stampede when everybody rushed towards the exit at the same time.
"Out of my way!"
"Let me in!"
"Don't block the path!"
"Aaahh! The fire...it's reaching here!"
The cries for help sharply resounded in the air that was drowned into the crackle of the fire. Chyou watched the set slowly engulf into flames with disbelief. People were screaming and running for their lives.
The co-star acting as a villain shouted. "Let's go Chyou! There is an exit near us!"
"Yes!"
The co-star managed to squeeze his way out of the high platform deck, but when Chyou followed him to step down, a thin wooden burning pole that acted as a prop for the scene collapsed in front of her. It blocked her path from going any furtherm
The smoke emitted from everywhere made her cough hard. Her co-star gasped with shock, but he didn't have any time to reach out to her with the fire spreading everywhere.
"Chyou!"
"L-leave!" She screamed.
"What? B-But you are stuck. How will you get down?"
"I will get down somehow! Just leave or you will be caught in it too!"
Fuck!
He cursed and scrambled down.
--
On the other side, Cheng Yin was in a similar state of a panic. "What the hell happened here!?"
Amidst the smoke, Yating stared at him lost in his thoughts. But he quickly snapped out with the emergency in front of him.
"Shit, let's get out of here!"
Yating yelled. "Wait! Where is Zhu Chyou? She is still up at the platform!"
He tried to see her but because of the smoke, he couldn't get a clear view.
Cheng Yin widened his eyes. "Of course Chyou must have escaped! There is an exit at the back of the set which is near to the platform. She must have definitely went out through there!"
"How can you be so sure? What if she is still stuck?"
A crackle of fire threatened to reach Cheng Yin's ankle, and he stumbled back. "We don't have time! Let's go!"
Yating kept looking at the deck but not being able to see Chyou made him anxious. He took a deep breath. "You leave! I will confirm if she is there or not!"
"What!? Are you crazy? Going inside in this fire further is death sentence!"
"It would be a death sentence for Chyou if she is still stuck. I won't be at ease until I know she is not up there."
Before Cheng Yin could say anything again, Yating had already rushed off.
Waving the smoke away by his hands, he made his way forward. From afar, he kept hearing thudding sounds of props crashing down on the floor.
"Chyou? Chyou? Are you there?"
He heard no response.
"Chyou?"
He ran nearer and nearer towards the platform. As he raised his gaze to look up at the deck, he froze upon seeing Chyou coughing and battling to make her way down.
"Chyou!"
Startled, she looked back and was dumbfounded to see Yating standing below the platform. "Gu Yating? Wait, what are you doing here!? Get the hell out of here!"
Yating paid no heed to her and turned to climb up the stairs.
"Yating, are you deaf!? Can you not hear me?" She exclaimed.
"Are you blind!? Can you not see the fire around you!? He gritted his teeth.
He reached the spot where the pole had blocked the way for Chyou. He tried to kick the pole away, but it didn't budge.
Shit!
Yating quickly took a look left and right. At a distance, he saw a thick blanket still barely safe from the fire's grasp as many other props were covered atop it.
"Wait for me!"
"You should leave!"
"And how do you plan to escape from here then?"
"I will think-"
Yating was already gone to fetch the blanket.
Chyou felt the alarm and moreso fear for Yating's life.
He is crazy!
As he returned, Yating yelled. "Step back a little! I am moving this pole away."
She cautiously but restlessly took two steps back.
Yating spread the blanket on the rightmost corner of the pole where the fire hadn't reached yet. He gripped the pole with the blanket's support and lifted it. The flames from the other side began to touch his fingers and wrist, burning into his flesh. He shut his eyes, bearing the pain and with a sharp jerk, he threw the pole to the other side.
Chyou, whose emotions were at an edge all this time, finally released her breath.
"It's fine now!" Yating said, "Give me your hand!"
Chyou quickly nodded and stretched her arm to hold his hand when she heard a cracking sound from the deck. The front portion of the deck collapsed and with it Chyou fell too, but she barely managed to hang in the air by clutching onto the deck's railing.
"Chyou!!"
Yating pushed his way up and saw her struggling to maintain her balance.
"Ya-Yating! This damn deck broke!" She said, frustrated. Holding onto the railing with her right hand, she slowly lifted her left hand. "Can you pull me up please?"
Yating stared at her with his eyes slowly widening. He remained frozen on his spot with his head spinning and body trembling. His throat went dry, and he felt his focus losing.
"Yating? Yating? Can you hear me? Can you please pull me up?"
Her voice coincided with a distant memory ringing in his mind. He blinked his eyes rapidly which was blurring as something resurfaced in his heart.
"I..."
A drop of sweat trickled down his forehead. "I cannot...do this..."
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