Out of the Smoke
At last, the ground floor door burst open.
The crowd outside gasped as Aisha staggered out, clothes blackened, hair drenched in sweat—her baby clutched in one arm, Ethan clinging to the other.
For a heartbeat, the street fell silent.
Then chaos exploded—paramedics rushing, cameras flashing, firefighters stunned.
Richard broke past the barricade and caught his son in his arms. Ethan collapsed into him, sobbing.
Aisha clutched Layla tightly. “She’s fine—she’s fine,” she rasped. The baby coughed once, then wailed—alive. Only then did Aisha sink to the pavement, too weak to stand.
