Chapter 326: Fire

Chapter 326: Chapter 326: Fire

Vivian Dunn walked over, a worried expression on her face. She couldn’t help but ask again, "Is there a problem with Captain Keller’s mission?"

As soon as she said this, the already tense atmosphere grew even heavier.

Officer Lee’s hand rested on the communication button, as if waiting for just a nod from Zoe Sawyer to immediately contact Evan Keller and the others and tell them to halt the operation.

Zoe Sawyer shook her head, a hint of distress in her voice. "I don’t know either. I just have this inexplicable sense of unease, like something is about to happen.

But I’m holding the doorknob now, and the door isn’t giving me any response. Even when I think about Evan Keller’s team and their situation, there’s nothing."

Hearing this, Vivian Dunn first let out a sigh of relief.

In this situation, no response was actually the best news.

"I’ll try again." Zoe Sawyer shook her head, clearing it of all the chaotic thoughts.

She then took a deep breath, gripped the doorknob tightly, and closed her eyes to sense what was on the other side of the door.

After a moment of thought, Officer Lee decided to send a message to Evan Keller’s team anyway, telling them to be extra careful during the arrest.

Zoe Sawyer focused on sensing, and soon, a familiar feeling washed over her.

’It’s here!’

Zoe Sawyer opened her eyes and opened the door.

The next second, the sight of flames rushing toward her made her heart pound. ’Could the drug dealers have realized something was wrong and decided to take everyone down with them by starting a fire?’

Before Zoe Sawyer could make sense of it, the scene on the other side of the door made her relax slightly.

The time on the other side of the door was daytime.

A building with its exterior covered in scaffolding and green netting appeared before her.

And the fire had started on the bamboo scaffolding of the outer wall.

At first, it was just a tiny flame. If any of the construction workers nearby had seen it, they could have gone over and put it out, and that would have been the end of it.

But Zoe Sawyer knew it wasn’t that simple.

’Something that could make her so uneasy and even trigger a warning from the door definitely wasn’t just a small flame!’

Zoe Sawyer subconsciously manipulated the door to look around and found that there was no one on the surrounding scaffolding.

Through the green netting, Zoe Sawyer also saw many sealed-off windows. Several neighboring buildings had the same setup.

’Is this a large-scale renovation of a residential complex? Or just a refurbishment?’

Before Zoe Sawyer could figure it out, a gust of wind blew past.

The small flame from before instantly caught onto the surrounding green netting, and the fire suddenly grew larger.

The fire spread upward at a speed of several meters per second. Soon, the entire building was ablaze from top to bottom.

Zoe Sawyer gasped. ’An entire building caught fire in less than a few minutes... What about the residents inside? Did they notice the problem and escape in time?’

Before Zoe Sawyer could process this, the wind began to pick up, accelerating the fire’s spread to the adjacent building.

To Zoe Sawyer’s horror, the neighboring building was also completely engulfed in flames in less than ten minutes.

The distance between the buildings was too small; the slightest breeze carried embers across.

Just then, the sound of an explosion drew Zoe Sawyer’s attention.

Zoe Sawyer looked in the direction of the sound and saw that it came from the first few floors that had caught fire. ’Did the white panels on the exterior wall melt from the intense heat and ignite the interior?’

The glass, which had been covered, also exploded from the extreme heat, and flames poured inside.

Through the glare of the fire, Zoe Sawyer saw a considerable number of residents collapsing on their escape routes, clutching their noses.

Zoe Sawyer noticed that the moment the fire started, cries of alarm from pedestrians below had echoed out.

About ten minutes later, fire trucks had already arrived nearby but were slow to enter the area.

’Did something unexpected happen?’

Filled with worry, Zoe Sawyer manipulated the door, shifting the view from the upper floors down to the street level.

"Where are the firefighters? Why aren’t they here yet? My mother-in-law and my aunt are still at home!" a woman cried, her voice trembling as she frantically made phone calls and looked outside.

"They’ve been here for a while, but the roads are too congested. The fire trucks can’t get in at all, and the aerial ladder isn’t high enough.

The only way now is for them to go in on foot, carrying the equipment on their backs to save people," a man nearby chimed in, clutching his phone tightly. He also looked toward the intersection with a worried expression.

Zoe Sawyer followed their gaze and, sure enough, saw several fully-equipped firefighters running toward the fire as fast as they could.

"It’s too late. The fire’s too big," the man’s voice was filled with despair. "The entire building is burning now. Not one apartment, not one floor, but the whole building."

The blaze was so intense that you could even see from the outside that the building was nearly burned through.

And it wasn’t just this one building; several adjacent ones had also caught fire because they were too close and the wind was too strong.

Zoe Sawyer watched as more and more people fled from the nearby buildings that had just caught fire.

But from the first two buildings that caught fire, apart from those who ran out at the very beginning, there were only a handful of survivors brought out by the search and rescue firefighters.

The massive fire burned for several hours without being extinguished. The time on the other side of the door even turned from day to night.

More and more people gathered at the scene.

Zoe Sawyer saw many people with anxious faces, constantly asking those around them if they had seen their families.

They would stop from time to time to make a phone call.

Some people searched for hours without finding their family members, finally squatting down in despair and sobbing uncontrollably.

Gradually, the sound of crying rose and fell throughout the crowd. Zoe Sawyer also saw many reporters from various media outlets reporting from the scene.

Zoe Sawyer moved closer, overhearing the current time from their conversations. Just as she was trying to listen for any other clues, the door ejected her.

The moment she was thrown back, Zoe Sawyer’s body involuntarily stumbled backward.

"Careful!" Heath Hale strode forward and caught Zoe Sawyer.

"I’m fine..." Zoe Sawyer waved her hand dismissively, but as soon as she said she was fine, she noticed it was Heath Hale holding her, and her expression turned dazed. "Huh? Weren’t you out arresting someone?"

’Didn’t he just leave to make the arrest? How is he back already?’

’Could it be that the drug dealers were too alert and escaped before they got there?’

Perhaps the confused look on Zoe Sawyer’s face was too obvious. Heath Hale rubbed his temples and said, "We already caught them and brought them back. It’s been four hours since we left for the arrest!

We got back an hour ago and saw you standing here, completely still. We were afraid to disturb you, so no one made a sound."

After speaking, Heath Hale gestured to the surrounding area.

Zoe Sawyer followed his gaze and saw several people lying around the office in disarray.

Evan Keller and Sean Hughes were sitting on chairs not far away. Although their faces showed a trace of fatigue, their spirits seemed decent.

Beau was slumped over a nearby desk, fast asleep.

"In other words, you were watching for over three hours," Vivian Dunn said, placing a glass of water in front of Zoe Sawyer.

"Heath, something terrible has happened."