Chapter 364
At that moment, I spotted the hose just hanging there. Suddenly, a risky idea popped into my head. "Quick, everyone, take off a piece of clothing! If you don't have any, tear your skirt, hurry!"
The group of women looked shocked, but Abigail caught on immediately and ripped the hem of her dress without a word.
With a tearing sound, her thigh was exposed. But I couldn't focus on that now.
I yanked off my suit and shirt, twisting them into a makeshift rope. The others got the idea and started handing over hems or clothes. Some even took off their bras.
I pulled down the hose; it was about 16 feet long, definitely flexible enough. I tied our makeshift rope securely to the hose.
"Alright, you go down first!" Without hesitation, I tied the rope around Abigail's waist.
Abigail shook her head. "No, I want to go down with you. Let them go first."
"Listen to me, now's not the time for modesty. I won't let anything happen to you."
The door was already on fire, and it was only a matter of time before it burned through.
While they poured water on the door, I picked up Abigail and sent her out the window. "Hold the rope for me! Lower it quickly!"
In just over twenty seconds, Abigail made it to the ground safely.
This method actually worked. There were nearly thirty people here; if we were quick, we could get everyone out in fifteen minutes.
"Come on, the lighter ones go first, the heavier ones wait." Normally, calling someone heavy would be a no-go, but in a life-and-death situation, nobody cared.
"I'll go, I only weigh 95 pounds!" A slender woman stepped forward.
I said, "Alright, you're up."
The rope quickly descended, and another person made it to the ground. Then the third, fourth, fifth...
By the fifteenth person, my hands were shaking. By the twentieth, they were bleeding.
"Hurry, next!" I had inhaled so much toxic smoke that I felt dizzy and awful. But I kept going.
By now, the bathroom door was almost giving way. Thick smoke was seeping through the cracks, the temperature was rising, and the floor was scorching hot.
"Now it's my turn," a plump woman said.
She was the last one. Being tall and plump, I guessed she weighed at least 130 pounds.
Normally, it wouldn't be a problem, but I was almost out of strength. Plus, I'd been drinking and inhaling toxic smoke; I could barely lift my hands.
I gritted my teeth. "Go."
The woman gave me a deep look. "Thank you, you're a hero."
With that, she started to slide down. And I used up the last bit of my strength.
The door had burned through, and flames were shooting out of the hole. I knew if I didn't leave now, I wouldn't make it out.
I fixed the hose to a mop handle, then secured it. After making sure it was stable, I used all my strength to climb onto the windowsill.
As the wind blew, I felt dizzy and heard a woman's scream from below. "John!"
That scream snapped me back to reality. I grabbed the window frame and realized half my body was already leaning out, breaking into a cold sweat. If I fell straight down, I might die.
I took a deep breath and shouted to Abigail, "I'm okay!"
I vaguely heard Abigail crying, and at that moment, Quinlan and the others arrived, shouting at me, "John, be careful!"
"Don't move, the fire department is almost here!"
By now, the bathroom door was fully ablaze, the ceiling was on fire too, with sparks from burning wires, and thick black smoke was suffocating me.
I felt worse and worse. If I waited any longer, I would definitely be poisoned. "Everyone move aside."
I wrapped the rope around my waist three times, took a deep breath, and started to descend bit by bit. But I was so weak, making it hard to hold onto the hose.
The skin on my hands had long been worn off, bloody and raw. The pain was excruciating, putting me in a semi-conscious state. If it weren't for my strong will, I would have let go.
I inched down bit by bit. I cheered myself on, "Come on, you're halfway down, just a bit more and you'll make it."
Even so, my vision kept going black, and just before I passed out, I heard everyone's exclamations.
When I woke up again, I was in a hospital, surrounded by people, including Abigail with swollen eyes from crying, and the women I had saved.
Quinlan, Richard, and the others were all there. My hands were bandaged.
"He's awake!" Everyone's faces lit up with joy.
I wanted to move, but my whole body was sore, there wasn't a single spot that didn't hurt.
"John!" Abigail threw herself into my arms, tears streaming down.
I was stunned; this was too awkward in front of so many people. I looked at Quinlan, seeing no strange expression on his face, I sighed in relief.
Quinlan said, "John, I've never admired anyone in my life, but you, you're amazing. You went into a burning building alone and saved everyone, I admire you."
Hearing this, the others chimed in.
At this moment, Richard led a woman over. "John, thank you so much, from now on, you're my benefactor!"
I was stunned, then remembered, I did save a woman in a dress , but I didn't expect her to be Richard's fiancée, Angelica!
Angelica said, "Thank you, I fainted in the living room while calling for help, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be standing here now."
She looked shaken.
I shook my head. "No need to thank me. I'm glad you are fine."
Richard said, "John, you're a hero, everyone's hero, I admire you!"
"I admire you!"
"Me too."
Voices of admiration filled the room, the women also spoke up, "From now on, you're my savior, anyone who dares to hurt you will have to answer to me!"
"And me!"
"Me too!"
I smiled, it seemed good deeds did get rewarded.
At this moment, Abigail lifted her head. "Do you know how dangerous it was just now? My heart almost stopped when you fell."
I smiled wryly. "Can you tell me what happened next?"
"I'll tell you!" The speaker was the plump woman, Connie Wilson, the last one to go down.
Honestly, I hadn't looked closely before, but now I saw she was really quite beautiful.
Then I understood what had happened. I had passed out from exhaustion, and when I fell, the rope snapped. Luckily, I was already halfway down, otherwise, I would have been done for.
I was secretly relieved, glad I didn't lose my life being a hero.
"Thanks to you, if we had relied on them, we'd be dead!" Connie snorted, her beautiful eyes sweeping over everyone, making the rich kids hang their heads.
"Sis!" Richard smiled wryly. "It's my fault, blame me if you want!"
"Of course, I'll blame you, you almost brought disaster to our family, do you know that?"
Richard was scolded into silence, and I realized Connie was Richard's sister. No wonder he was so desperate during the rescue.
It made sense, everyone here came from wealthy families, if something happened, they would be in big trouble.
Luckily, only a villa was burned down. To others, a villa was valuable, but to them, burning many such villas wouldn't matter.
"Look at these hands, it was with these hands that he sent us down one by one," Connie spoke firmly, looking at me with admiration, I even saw a hint of worship in her eyes, "I'm Connie Wilson, thank you for saving me. From today on, you are my hero!"
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