As the people were being loaded into the rescue helicopter, Guardian began to sense another presence in the building. He focused in closely on the presence and asks, “Exactly, how many of you were in there?”
“There were eleven of us,” the man said.
“How come I only found ten of you?” Guardian asked puzzled.
The man gasps and realizes who the last person was that could still be inside, “The little girl. Oh god, she’s still inside.”
“Alright, I’ll go back for her,” said Guardian. Then he walks around to the pilot. “There’s still one more person inside. I’m going back for them.”
“You want us to wait here?” asked the pilot.
“No, you get these people out of here. And tell the fire marshal that he needs to get everyone as far away from the building as he can.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“The fire’s weakened the structure of the building. It could fall at any moment.”
“Alright, I’ll tell him. You just be careful, ok,” the pilot said showing concern for Guardian.
The rescue helicopter takes off as Guardian rushes back inside the building to save the little girl trapped inside. He hops over the railing of the stairs that he led the other people up and flies back down toward the burning floors. He slows his descent near the 11th floor and begins to focus once again to try to sense where the girl is. He floats down to the tenth floor but he is still unable to feel a strong presence. “Come on, where are you?” Guardian said with concern as he approaches the ninth floor. “No, it can’t be.” He finally sensed as strong presence of the little girl on the eighth floor. The fire on the floor was more intense than before; the heat was incredibly unbearable, but Guardian knew he had to get this girl to safety. And he was the only one who could do it. He flies into the fiery floor and begins searching for the trapped girl. The flaming eighth floor glowed in a brightly intense orange-red as the fire intensified. During his search, parts of the ceiling begin to fall as the structure becomes weaker from the intense heat. Guardian is running out of time and he must hasten his search. He floats around the floor a little quicker checking behind every door and in every closet until he heard soft whimpering coming from an apartment across the hall from to one he was in. He flies over to the apartment where he heard the whimpering and opened the closet to find the girl clutching a doll tightly. “Hey, it’s ok, sweetie. I’m gonna get you out of here,” Guardian said calmly.
The girl looks up at him. “You…you’re the Guardian, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, that’s me. And I’m getting you out of here,” he said with smile as he scooped the girl up in his arms. “It’s getting a little hot in this kitchen. Let’s get outta here.” With the little girl safely in his arms, Guardian dashes out into the hallway and flies quickly toward the stairs. The girl clutches Guardian tightly as he flies through the flames to the stairs. Once he enters the stairwell, he ascends quickly toward the roof. Guardian exits at the top of the stair with the girl still in tow and heads to the roof’s edge. The building trembles a bit as the fire continues to eat away at its structure. The channel 8 news copter is still in the air recording the fire and Noah is still reporting. “For those of you just tuning in, a fire started in the Buckingham-Royals apartments over a half hour ago and, just ten minutes ago, the Guardian rescued ten people who were trapped on the twelfth floor of the building. And now it appears that he has rescued another person from the burning building. I have to tell you; this is truly amazing. He risked his life by going back inside and rescuing a little girl who was still trapped on one of the floors. He now has her in his arms and they are standing on the roof, possibly waiting for the rescue chopper to come back up.”
As Guardian stands on the edge of the roof, the building trembles again, prompting the possibility of it collapsing. “Dammit, there’s no time to wait on that helicopter. This building’s going to collapse any minute,” said Guardian. Then he looks the girl and says, “Listen, sweetie, I need you to do me a favor. I want you to hold on to me tight, ok.”
“What are you gonna do, Mr. Guardian?” asked the girl.
“We’re just gonna take a quicker way down, ok. Don’t worry; you’ll be safe. I’ve got you,” Guardian said kindly with a smile. The little girl smiles back and holds on to Guardian tight. “Now shut your eyes. Ready?” he asked. The girl nodded her head and buried it in Guardian’s chest with her eyes closed. “Alright, here we go.” Then he leaps off the roof and holds the girl tightly as they rocket toward the ground.
Inside the news copter, Noah was surprised by Guardian’s leap from the roof, “I don’t believe it. The Guardian, instead of waiting for the rescue chopper, leapt of the roof of the Buckingham-Royals with the girl still in his arms. They are now free falling toward the ground.”
With the ground approaching quickly, Guardian begins to slow his descent. Everyone on the ground below watches as he floats to the ground slowly with the little girl still in his arms. Guardian lands softly and tells the girl, “Hey, we made it.” The girl lifts her head from his chest and looks around at the firefighters, police, and the other residents who were saved by Guardian.
