NeverSeen

I turned to Mr. D’Uno, yelling, “We have to help this guy!” I ran for the control panel to the burning man’s workstation. Mr. D’uno caught my elbow.

“No can do,” he said calmly, forcing me past me at the torched victim. “That’s not our job. The Guards will take care of it.”

“What Guards?” I demanded, wrenching my arm from his grip. “There aren’t any in here! How will anyone know to help him?”

D’Uno reached behind me and grabbed my neck. “That,” he hissed in my ear, “is none of your God-forsaken business!” He pushed me forward and followed behind the rest of the group, but he couldn’t have stopped me with a legion of faeries.

I casually dropped my notebook and turned around like I was going to get it. Instead I sprinted back down the passage to the man’s station. I reactivated the control panel and cut the power to his machine as D’Uno walked towards me, yelling for me to immediately halt what I was doing. The walls of the protective case slid upward as I took off my jacket and soaked it in a nearby bucket. I threw it over the burning man and a plume of smoke erupted from him. I yelled over the noise, “Stay here! I’ll get help!” just as Dunno-a-Dang-Thing reached me. He blurted something like “ho-wah,” and slumped against the wall, mouth open but nothing coming out. He glared at me as he slid down the wall. I turned to find the other wannabes gaping at me.

“What?” I asked as I ran up the stairs. “He got in the way of my fist.”