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"I can't move my leg!" the driver screamed, when Adam had
opened the door.
"Come, I'll help you," urged Adam, putting her arm around his neck. Jumping
down the embankment was one thing. Climbing back up with an injured girl was another.
He slowly worked his way up, each step painfully slow. Sometimes his feet slid a
little, but he always moved upward. As they neared the top, Adam realized the girl
was frantically trying to tell him something. Her speech was so panicked that he
could barely understand her. Then, in one big breath, she screamed,
"My sister! She's still in the car!" Adam looked back at the car. He could
just make out the terrified screams of a young woman. Taking a deep breath, he jumped
back down the embankment and made his way to the passenger side of the car, which
was no small thing, for everything sloped downward. The passenger side was blocked
by the trunk of the tree, which was now catching fire also.
"Help me, please!" cried the girl still inside the car.
"Try to climb out the driver side!" shouted Adam.
"I can't!" she cried, "the seat belt is stuck!" The flames were
spreading and growing more intense with every second. The precious time he had spent
getting the driver out of harms way, should the car explode, was working against
the second girl. As Adam climbed to the driver's side, the girl let out a shriek
of terror. The flames were starting to come up through the floor of the car. Adam
put his hand on the door handle, but quickly jerked it away, for the car was heating
up like a furnace. Suddenly, Adam heard four loud explosions. The tires had exploded
because of the intense heat.
"God, don't let her die!" prayed Adam, tearing off his jacket and wrapping
it around his hand. Using this protection, the door opened. Adam could see the girl
sobbing frantically, tugging at her seat belt. He tried the buckle, but it had melted
shut. "I need something sharp to cut the belt with!" shouted Adam.
"I don't have anything!" screamed the girl. Just then, flames shot up between
Adam and the girl. The seat was on fire! Adam tried to beat the flames back with
his jacket. He could hear the driver at the top of the embankment, still shrieking
at the top of her lungs. Fight as he could, the flames were approaching him. Suddenly,
he felt something hot on his leg. He turned around to find his pant leg was on fire.
Adam glanced back at the girl. Their eyes locked. She was strangely silent. Adam
quickly jumped from the car, rolling down the embankment to put out his pant leg.
Just as he cleared the car, he felt a tremendous explosion.
When his roll came to a complete stop, he looked up at the car. It was completely
engulfed in flames. There was no sign of the girl. Except for the sound of the flames
and the screaming sister who had been watching the whole time, the night was quiet.
Adam let his head drop to the ground.
"Why, Lord?" he asked. "Why couldn't I save her?" The horror
stricken shrieks of the driver interrupted his thoughts. Adam climbed back up the
embankment. The young driver was lying on the ground, screaming incoherently. Then,
as if the moment was too much for her senses to bear, she passed out.
The approaching sound of wailing sirens made Adam turn around. A fire truck appeared
from the dark and parked beside them. Firefighter Dan, who had known Adam for a number
of years, looked at his friend in wonderment. Adam's face was black with soot; his
clothes were singed from the intense heat; and the fire had burned a hole through
his right pant leg, revealing a red patch of skin. "I couldn't save her,"
said Adam, in a stunned voice.
"Save who?" asked Dan, while the other fighters ran to the burning car.
Adam told Dan everything that had happened. |
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