Straining, every movement made harder by people leaning against him or pushing past him, nearly being knocked over to crush the girl in front of him on three occasions, he rose to his feet. For what seemed like a minute, it was all he could do to hold his position.

He looked back, and there was only smoke, people pushing toward the exit. He looked toward the exit sign, and there was only the press, people crammed together until they were chest-to-back, shoulder-to-shoulder.

He looked around, at the trash cans, at the signs that were built into the wall, frames sticking an inch or two out, locked plexiglass doors protecting the contents from vandalism. He looked up, and he saw the windows and the glass ceiling above the corridor that led out of the mall. There were high windows that let the light in, and there were latches on those windows.

He reached down, and the young girl shied away.

“Up!” he said. He seized her arm, and as he leaned down, someone bumped into him. He nearly fell on her. Only his grip on the side of one of the sign-frames kept him from falling.

He drove an elbow back, striking at the person who had pushed him. With more energy, desperation, he reached down to seize the girl’s arm, lifted her bodily into the air, and shifted his grip, grabbing her body to lift her.

“Grab on and climb!” he called out. “Get to the window!”

She tried. Sneakers slid against the plexiglass. Fingers gripped the ledge, and even with him boosting her, she couldn’t get up. She wasn’t even looking at what she was doing, as she turned her face down and away from the thicker smoke.

Further down the hallway, a group of people fell like dominoes. For those who wanted to get away, get to the exit, people who couldn’t necessarily see past the smoke or the people immediately in front of them, it was an opening, a way to get forward. The mob moved forward. A woman screamed, a multi-note sound.

Seizing the opportunity, only seeing the gap, people pushed past him, bumped into him. He was holding the girl as he stumbled, and he dropped her. He doubled over, coughing, trying to keep from getting dragged forward. He was a big guy and the movement of the crowd was such that his feet left the ground at points, when people pressed closer.

The girl, too, coughed. She looked at him, wide-eyed, until the smoke forced her to close her eyes, and then she ran for the exit, slipping from his reaching fingers, dodging into a gap of bodies, toward the press, where people were barely able to move. People were panicking in places, voices reaching high pitches.

“No!” he bellowed at the girl. His voice was lost in the chaos.

She nearly fell to the ground amid trampling feet as someone stumbled into her. Then she was gone.