Chapter 44
“What?!” How is that possible? How did that happen?” Alpha
Marcus asked him, with eyes wide open in shock.
“I have no idea, Alpha.” The guard responded, as he finally
gained balance.
“What could have caused this? Who could be behind this?”
Alpha Marcus asked, turning to Beta Richard, who was also in
shock,
“I have no idea, Alpha. I’m as confused as you are.” Beta Richard
answered him.
Right then, Beta Richard’s phone rang and he immediately
pulled it out of his pocket and answered the call.
“Yes?” He said and he answered.
“Oh, really?” He asked the caller and continued, “I’ll be right
there.” He said and the call ended.
“What is going on?” Alpha Marcus asked him, “Who was that?”
“I just got a call from Lily. She is at the site of the fire.” He answered and put his phone away.
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“And?” Alpha Marcus pressed urgently. “Does she have any
information yet? Anything at all about what started the fire or if
there are any casualties?” He asked impatiently, his voice laced with concern and his tone, sharp with urgency.
As he spoke, he paced back and forth, his eyes fixed intently on his Beta’s face as he waited for his response.
“She didn’t say anything about that, but she said some
eyewitnesses said that the fire was sudden and so, they do not
know what caused it yet.” He replied.
“I’m going there right away so that investigations can be carried
out. If there are also casualties, they’ll be attended to and taken
to the hospital immediately.” He said, his phone in his hand to
alert the emergency team, while he waited for orders from
Alpha Marcus.
“Good, go immediately. Ensure you update me as things go.” Alpha Marcus ordered and Beta Richard immediately left with
the guard who had brought news to them.
Arriving at the scene of the fire shortly after, Beta Richard was met with a chaotic sight. Flames engulfed the building, shooting high into the air as firefighters battled to contain the blaze. Emergency vehicles also surrounded the area, while the guards helped to contain the crowd, who were wailing at the sight
before them.
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Mothers, crying for their missing children and children, crying for their parents whom they can’t seem to find. Siblings cried as they searched for their other siblings who were nowhere in sight. Even the store owners cried as they watched their stalls being razed by fire, yet they could not do anything to save their
means of livelihood.
“Oh my goodness!” Beta Richard exclaimed. “No one told me that
it was this bad.” He said to himself in shock as he turned off the
ignition of the car.
He jumped out of his car, not waiting for the guard who he came
with, and rushed towards the Beta Lily who had already alerted the emergency team and was with the incident commander. As
he looked around his heart raced with concern for possible
casualties.
“Lily.” He called as he rushed towards them, his eyes scanning
the scene with a mix of confusion and alarm.
“Any updates yet?” He asked, anticipating a positive response.
“Yes, we’ve been able to get the majority of those who were in
the ground floor and first floor out, but unfortunately, some of
them sustained burns and others are still trapped inside. The
first responders are still trying to get to where they are.” She
answered him.
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“What exactly is going on? How did this even happen?” He asked her, his face contorted in distress, his hands gesturing helplessly.
“Sincerely, I don’t know,” She replied, shaking her head and biting her lip, her eyes filled with concern. “The responders are
trying their best but we can’t seem to find the source of the fire, which is making it so difficult to quench the fire quickly.” She
added, concerned.
“So, what do we do?” He asked. He then continued, “We can’t just
sit back and watch as the whole place is about to burn to the-”
They suddenly heard the loud sound of shattering glass and
crumbling wood filling the air, accompanied by the acrid smell
of smoke and burning debris. Everyone at the scene, including
the people who stood far off, shook in fear and shouted in shock.
The smell of burning fabrics and papers also filled the air, which
hinted that the fabric stores and bookshops were already
burning.
One of the emergency responders hurriedly ran to the incident
commander,
“Sir, a part of the second floor just caved in. It will be difficult to
get to the third floor at this rate.” He said urgently, his face
stained with soot and sweat, his voice cracking with concern as
his face locked intensely on the commander as he waited for
orders on what to do next.
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“We’re going to go with plan B then, we have no choice.” The
commander said to him and he nodded.
“Huh? What is the plan B you’re talking about?” Beta Richard
couldn’t help but ask.
“Since we are unable to reach the top floors from the ground
because of the fire. We’ll have to go in from the last floor, up
high. A ladder will be passed from the top and some of the firefighters will have to go in from the top.” The commander explained to him but he couldn’t believe his ears.
“What?” Beta Richard asked in shock as he and Beta Lily
exchanged shocked glances.
“Isn’t that too dangerous?” He asked, still shocked. “Can’t we find another way to get in? Is water not working? Is nothing else
working?”
“Yes, it is dangerous but nothing else can work at the moment. We really do not have any other choice now. It’s either this is done or we lose everything and everyone remaining in there.”
He answered.
“And since this market is the biggest one in the southern part,
there are still a lot of people trapped in there and if something is not done immediately, the fire will spread to the other areas and we do not want that to happen.” He added, stressing the fact that
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something has to be done quick and fast.
“Damn!” Beta Richard muttered, frustrated at the way things
were turning.
Truly, the market was the biggest in the southern part and it consisted of numerous stores owned by numerous members of the pack. It had about seven floors which was why it had a
whole lot of occupants and many members of the pack were
always there, especially those who had a lot of things to buy
because the other markets weren’t as big as it was.
Suddenly a man was heard from the crowd, screaming for
access to Bets Richard and the others. They all turned back but
they saw the guards holding the man back and so they paid no
attention to him.
“They have to be careful!” He kept shouting from a distance. “It is
extremely dangerous. Hearing me out. Let me talk to them.” He
shouted again as he struggled with the guards.
“What is going on there? What is wrong with him?” Beta
Richard asked the guards.
“He keeps saying it is too dangerous and the responders need to
be careful. I think he has a store in the market too, I guess he is
concerned about his business.” One of the guards answered and
Beta Richard looked away but the man didn’t stop yelling and
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screaming his heart out, until Beta Richard had no choice but to
hear him out.
“Let’s hear what he has to say.” He said and the guards stopped
struggling with the man.
“Flammable chemicals! Highly flammable chemicals.” The man
shouted out loud. “They need to be careful! There are chemicals
in my stall.” He screamed to the shock of Beta Richard and all
who stood. “It might explode.” He screamed.
