“What is that terrible noise?” exclaims Robert to Mary, the young statistician who had been hired to keep tabs on the bank’s finances. Robert is at the cocktail business party at the new bank where he has just landed a job.

 “I have no idea,”  Mary replies, “but I can hear it coming from the employee lounge.” 

Robert recognizes the noise - it is the fire alarm - but he can’t imagine that it is a real crisis. It must be a false alarm.

Just as Robert has these thoughts, he turns to see smoke rising from the stairway of the carpeted office suite in Beacon Hill. Suddenly, the room does not look as elaborate and well-constructed as the day before, when Robert was first introduced to it. 

Mary, the assistant clerk of the finance department shouts, “There’s an electrical fire in the building! I’ve been telling the CEO of the bank to fix this issue for months.” Everyone turned to see sparks coming out of the nearby light fixture. 

After a few seconds, Robert notices that the office manager, who is meeting the caterer in the office kitchen, has not returned from doing so. He asks Mary to come down with him to find James. James will know what to do.

Mary says, “We should take the stairs instead of the elevator due to the fire.” 

Robert replies, “That’s a good idea.” He follows Mary down the stairs, feeling both fear and motivation. Putting on his calm attitude, he looks to the guests and says, “Everyone, remain calm. We are getting help from downstairs.” Arriving on the first floor, they see a black, thick cloud of smoke.

“Get down! On your knees! There is too much smoke!” Robert exclaims to Mary as he stifles a cough. 

They swiftly crawl to the office kitchen only to see James sitting up against the sleek, laminate cabinets, wheezing loudly and clutching his throat. His eyes are wide open and sweat drips from his face, which is bright red.

 Without hesitation, Robert yells, “Let’s pull him out.”

“Ok,” Mary says quickly, with a serious tone to her voice. 

Mary and Robert quickly pull the James out of the room as he continues to wheeze loudly. Seeing the stairs in front of them, they quickly and forcefully carry him up the stairs while remaining low to the ground. After arriving at the top of the stairs, they find an area with less smoke and rest James’s body against the firm wall. When James understands where he was, he sputters in short breaths, “Where are we? Where are the guests? I’m going to die… here… oh my god!”

Robert and Mary stare at one another with puzzled looks on their faces. Then, Robert replies, “You are not going to die. As long as you follow us, you will be safe.”

Before James can utter another word, Mary puts her hand on James’s mouth, nodding to Robert before both of them drag James to the lobby of the bank. As James’s feet scrape against the ground, grayness follows them from behind. 

When Robert, Mary, and James return to the guests, Mary announces, “We found James downstairs in the midst of the smoke, but we were able to drag him out and carry him up here. While we are okay, the fire downstairs is growing quickly in size. So James, Robert, and I will take a group of people to the balcony upstairs to attract attention, while another group should turn off the electrical generator and use water to minimize the fire.” She adds, “The other group should use the emergency fire exit to escape. Who is comfortable leading this group?” 

For a moment, everyone stands in silence. Suddenly, one of the accountants says, “I am.”

Mary ponders whether the accountant was considerable for the job, but then remembers the donations and additional services that the employee provided.

Mary asks, “What is your name?”

The accountant replies, “My name is Jacob.”

“Do you know how to put out a fire?” Mary says, considering the fact that the fire could come to their floor at any moment. 

Robert braces himself for Jacob’s response, for he knows that it can make or break their plan. He begins to realize that without addressing the fire, he could lose the job that he had worked to find. Back in his other neighborhood, he had been unable to find a good job, and in Beacon Hill, he was rejected from several of the banks. If the bank was burned down, he knew that he would have very little money to support himself and would eventually have to sell his house. While he knows that most of the other workers have other jobs to turn to, he knew that he would be screwed if he lost the job. He picks up his phone and dials 911.

Back in the main discussion, Jacob replies, “I don’t know how to use an extinguisher, but I know where the electricity switch is and I can use the water from the bathroom to limit the fire.” 

“That would be great!” Mary replied, but she knew that without knowing how to extinguish the fire, they could only do so much to limit the fire. Seeing the instability of their plan, she begins to despair.

Meanwhile, the person who was speaking to Robert said, “911, what’s your emergency?”

Robert said, “Our office had an electrical fire during a cocktail party.”

The person speaking to Robert said, “Where is your office located?”

Robert replied, “It is located at 225 Bolton Road in Beacon Hill, Massachusetts.”

The other person asked, “What is your phone number?

Robert said, “It is 508-617-5234.”

The other person paused, comprehending the information, and then replied with “Don’t worry, help will be on the way.” Robert hung up the phone.

Seeing the fire advancing towards them, Mary, addressing the workers, states, “Ok. Let’s split up now. Everyone, make sure to remember your responsibilities.” 

Suddenly, the people in Jacob’s group begin searching for the electrical switch and water to extinguish the fire for when the electricity was removed. Meanwhile, Robert joins Mary, James, and the others to the next floor of the bank by following them up the stairs. As they approach the top of the stairs, a stampede-like sound can be heard throughout the building. When the group arrives at the top of the stairs, they scan the rooms to see if anyone is still in them. They see a person sitting on the ground, with a look of calmness on their face and loose muscles throughout their body. 

Robert, in a confused tone, says. “There’s a fire in the building! What are you doing?"

The person answers calmly, stating, “I know that the fire will come here at any moment, but I don’t see any point in escaping. I barely make any money from this job to support myself, so I wouldn’t mind dying within the building.”

Robert considers the amount of work that he went through to receive a job at this bank and the poverty that clouded his earlier lifestyle. However, he knew that it was discipline, hard work, and dedication that allowed him to arrive in Beacon Hill. From the stairway near them, they hear flames, which cause the walls near the stairs to collapse. He knew that if the worker didn’t follow him, the worker would not be able to enjoy the pleasures of life, such as communicating with others and having fun experiences from time to time.

Seeing the urgency in the situation, Robert pulls the worker out of the room, getting help from Mary. Robert sees the fire approach them, brightening the room and causing clouds of smoke to be released into the air. Meanwhile, Mary sees a balcony, and says, “We should run to the balcony to get help.”

Robert says, “That’s a good idea. Everyone else, follow Mary to the balcony.

Robert and Mary lead the worker that they met and the others towards the balcony. The fire that was once near the stairs now makes its way to the balcony. James begins to wheeze loudly and the others behind them, sensing their danger, begin to scream. Soon, as the black, omniscient clouds of smoke begin to approach, them, the rest of the workers begin to cough and choke. Suddenly, Robert begins to despair as he realizes that he may not make it out alive and even if he did, he would not have a job. Robert calls out, “Help!” but no one appears to come. The black clouds approach them and begin to fill the room. Robert croaks before he begins to pass out.

Suddenly, a loud siren wails in the distance with flashing red lights. Two firefighters walk out and place ladders to the building. The hoses that they use cause the flames to sizzle and dissipate until none can be seen in the room. One of the firefighters begins dragging the workers out of the room into the ambulance.

Robert wakes up later with Mary and James beside him. He sees a suction cup placed on top of his face.

“What happened?” Robert says as he wakes up.

The firefighter says slowly, “We found your bank and we were able to pull you and most of your workers out. If the fire had lasted for longer, the building would have been destroyed.” 

The firefighter adds, “You have mild smoke inhalation, so you should be able to return to work between 2 and 5 days.”

Robert feels a sense of gratefulness that he survived the fire and that he would be able to keep his job. By finding solutions in the face of a major problem, he limited the damage done to the bank and was able to save the lives of himself and others. By thinking rationally, he was able to improve the fire and help people within the bank, thus helping to serve others and himself in a time of desperation.