.Inertia

My eyes widened when I saw the building's condition firsthand.

This... this was a truly massive fire. Flames raged fiercely, licking the night sky with wild red blazes. The smoke was so thick it made anyone nearby cough and struggle to breathe. Even from this distance, I could still feel its scorching heat.

The scene at the location was utterly chaotic. Residents spilled onto the streets, shouldering one another as they tried to put out the fire. They must have just been woken from their sleep, but in this chaotic state—with screams and the brightly burning flames—anyone would surely be roused.

People ran to and fro—some colliding and slipping in their panic.

Amidst that panic, I scanned my surroundings. Until my eyes landed on something—an old well, slightly hidden behind a bush, not far from where I stood.

Without much thought, I immediately grabbed a few empty buckets lying nearby. I carried them towards the well with quick steps, my breath still uneven.

For some reason, not a single one of these people had thought to use the well. Everyone was busy relying on the taps—whose water pressure was very low, and certainly not enough to fight a fire this big.

I began drawing water from the old well. One by one, I lifted the empty buckets, then filled them to the brim with water.

Once they were all full, I stood up and tried to get the residents attention. Using every bit of strength in my voice, I shouted—trying to cut through the roar of the fire and the frantic noise of people running everywhere.

"Sir... Sir! Here, use the water in these buckets!" my voice was nearly swallowed by the blaze and the chorus of panicked screams.

Fortunately, a few people heard me. They turned their heads and quickly rushed toward me.

“Y-You stay here, alright? Just focus on drawing water. We’ll take care of carrying it!” said one middle-aged man, his breath ragged, his shirt soaked in sweat.

"Later, when the buckets have been used, bring them right back here. Let this guy fill them up again!" he continued, now in a louder tone, informing the others.

Sure enough, more and more residents came in turns. They handed me the empty buckets, and I filled them again, one after another.

I kept drawing water with all my might. Moving as fast as I could to refill every bucket. At one point, I staggered, breathless from the strain. My body was drenched in sweat, my throat parched. I was thirsty, exhausted, and nearly out of strength.

For a moment, I gazed at the flames with blurry eyes. It felt impossible. A fire this massive… how could it be put out with just a chain of buckets passing from hand to hand? Without the help of firefighters, all of this seemed like a futile effort.

The lower part of the building was almost completely engulfed, the blaze beginning to creep up to the higher floors, quickly licking at both its left and right sides.

"Sir, has anyone called the fire department?" I asked hurriedly to a man standing in front of me, waiting for his bucket to be filled.

“They have, son. They’re on their way. Should be here in about fifteen minutes,” he replied, panting, his face still thick with worry.

Without wasting time, the man quickly carried away the full bucket. But his steps suddenly halted when a woman pulled his arm.

“P-Please, sir… please… my baby is still up there…” she cried, her voice breaking under the weight of her sobs. She clung tightly to the man’s arm, trembling.

“J-Just a little longer, ma’am… the firefighters will be here soon,” he replied, his voice shaking with uncertainty and panic.

“P-Please, sir… if we wait for them, my baby might not make it out alive!” she wept, her cries growing louder, more desperate.

“I-If the fire’s already that big… none of us can go in, ma’am,” he said quietly, almost in a whisper, stammering with fear. “Without proper gear… there’s no way we can get through the flames.”

Then, without another word, the man slowly released the woman's grip, turned, and went back to the line of residents busy putting out the fire on the building's exterior. He left her sobbing in helplessness.

Seeing and hearing that, I shifted my gaze back to the building still being devoured by flames. My eyes followed the path of the blaze, observing where the fire was spreading, quickly calculating the speed of the flames, fanned by the rather strong night wind.

By my rough estimate, fifteen minutes was not a short time. For a fire of this size, that much time was more than enough to engulf the upper floors—and in the worst-case scenario, it could cause the entire building structure to collapse before the firefighters arrived.

I approached the woman—the woman who was now sitting weakly on the ground, her body trembling helplessly. She continued to cry, her mouth ceaselessly pleading for her baby to be saved from the increasingly wild blaze.

"Which floor is the baby on, ma'am?" I asked, my voice nervous and my breath held.

Slowly, she turned towards me. Her hand trembled as she tried to wipe away the tears that continued to stream from her eyes.

"O-On the fourth floor, sir... P-Please... please save my child..." she stammered, then lowered her head, gripping my leg tightly. Half of her body bowed in an almost kneeling position.

And somehow, for the first time that night, my heart and mind felt aligned. As if they were speaking in the same frequency. Something stirred within me—releasing the inertia that had kept me heavy and restrained all this time.

Unlike when I was curled up at the edge of the bridge, swallowed whole by fear…

Without another thought, I immediately set into motion a plan that had just flashed through my mind.

"Excuse me, ma'am... may I borrow your jacket?" I asked, crouching down, looking at the thick cotton jacket she was wearing.

"H-Here, sir..." she replied quickly, immediately taking off the jacket and handing it to me.

Without wasting any time, I submerged the jacket into a bucket of water until it was completely soaked. I poured the remaining water from the bucket all over my body; wetting my hair, face, clothes, until my skin shivered. Amidst the panic, I also took a small sip of the water, to quell the thirst that was becoming increasingly piercing.

I draped the jacket over my shoulders, then immediately put it on without waiting for the water to stop dripping. Without a hint of hesitation, I ran through the partially open building door—charging into the wild flames raging inside.

Some people tried to stop me...

They shouted...

“Hey, don’t go in, sir—!”

“D-Don’t be reckless, it’s d-dangerous—!”

But I pushed through anyway...