Chapter 4 - The Smoke Signal
Nolan coughed violently as the harsh chemical smell filled the small shed.
Jordan panicked and started slamming his fists against the heavy wooden door.
The thick planks barely moved under his desperate, terrified blows.
Nolan grabbed a solid metal baseball bat from the dusty equipment rack.
He swung it with all his might against the rusted interior door hinges.
Sparks flew wildly, but the reinforced metal refused to break or bend.
Through the narrow cracks in the wood, they saw a bright, menacing orange glow.
Someone had ignited a massive fire directly outside the storage shed.
The aggressive flames began to lick the bottom of the wooden walls.
Toxic smoke rapidly filled the tight space, making it nearly impossible to breathe.
Nolan knew they only had a few precious minutes before the roof collapsed on them.
He looked up and spotted a small, plastic ventilation grate near the ceiling.
He dragged a heavy football tackling dummy to the wall and climbed on top.
He used the baseball bat to smash the brittle plastic grate into a dozen pieces.
He grabbed Jordan by the collar and hauled him up to the narrow opening.
Jordan squeezed through the tight gap and tumbled safely onto the damp grass outside.
Nolan followed right behind him just as the shed's interior walls caught fire.
They rolled away from the blazing inferno, gasping desperately for fresh, clean air.
The school's automated fire alarms finally began to blare in the distance.
Students and teachers poured out of the main building in a state of absolute panic.
Nolan and Jordan blended seamlessly into the chaotic crowd of fleeing teenagers.
They needed to find Principal Hale immediately and expose the two criminals.
They spotted him standing near the staff parking lot, directing the evacuation.
Nolan ran toward him, holding the red ledger high in the air for everyone to see.
He shouted at the top of his lungs that Kessler and Whitmore had started the fire to kill them.
Principal Hale turned around with a dark, terrifyingly calm smile on his face.
He reached into his tailored suit pocket and pulled out a heavy security walkie-talkie.
He ordered the campus police to arrest the two students for committing felony arson.
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Hale violently snatched the red ledger right out of Nolan's stunned hands.
He whispered closely in Nolan's ear that he was getting the biggest cut of the bribe money.
