65-year-old Mr. Fairfax had retired from teaching. He was very interested in adventure. This time he made an adventure on a sparsely (稀少地) populated land. In the cold winter, he tried a new place and forgot to bring his cell phone, the only time on the trip. He trekked (艰苦跋涉) more than half an mile with two dogs to a harvested wheat field.

With his dark staring eyes at the horizon in expectation of another rabbit, Mr. Fairfax stepped on the thin snow on a canal. Suddenly, it collapsed (坍塌) and dropped him four feet to the bottom.

Realizing that he was in trouble and was going to hurt himself, Mr. Fairfax was suddenly picking up a lot of speed. His left leg hit first, and he lay on his side to reach for his shotgun, unloaded it and used it as a crutch (拐杖). He spent an hour and a half climbing the canal but slipped and slid back down when he was partly up. This time, one of his feet got fixed between two rocks. Mr. Fairfax told himself that if he didn’t get himself out of that canal, he wasn’t going to have a very good night.

Mr. Fairfax walked his foot free and climbed more slowly and cautiously out of the canal. He immediately realized the difficulty of the task before him. The accident occurred about 2 p.m., and it was nearing 5 p.m. with the road far away as the sun was setting.

Mr. Fairfax focused on crawling to safety. Even with his gun supporting him, hopping was impractical. Instead, he sat down and pushed himself backward less than 40 inches at a time with his good leg. He was determined and sure that he must hold on. He was in exhaustion and had more frequent breaks. Temperatures dropped overnight, and his gloves and boots got wet. His hands and feet soon were completely numb.

Mr. Fairfax’s dogs had been playing in the field and eventually came up to him.

However, gleams (微光) of daylight remained — Mr. Fairfax saw the sixth car.

Night terror

In the middle of the night, as most of the residents slept, much of a 12-story Florida building collapsed, killing lots of people and sending survivors escaping for their lives. In this darkest time, however, the warmth and sparkles of humanity stood out.

Alfredo Lopez and his wife, Marian, were asleep when the first thundering explosion made them awake at 1:14 am on Thursday, June 24. Moments later, a second boom, much louder than the first, shook the bed in their apartment on the fifth floor.

Alfredo rushed to waken his 20-year-old son, Michael, urging him to get dressed, before running to the balcony window. The swirling (旋动) dust and ash made it difficult to see only a few feet in any direction. “All I could see was just white dust, very thick. I could barely see the balcony,” he recalled. The lights cut out and the emergency alarm came on, warning the residents of the Champlain Towers South to move out. They rushed out and ran downstairs, as they realized before the world knew of the disaster, they were fighting to survive by themselves.

On the same fifth floor, in unit 111, a two-bedroom oceanfront apartment, Gabriel Nir, 7 years old and his 5-year-old sister, Chani, all heard the first thunderous noise. Their parents were out of town for some business, leaving their grandma, Garfinkel, who was asleep, to look after them. They panicked and confused, and after a while, they began to realize what had happened and try to make their grandma wake up. Together they walked to the door, only to find it jammed in the twisted doorframe. All measures taken, they had no choice but to shout, “Help! Help! The door won’t open.”, wishing people outside would hear and come to help.

“I heard people screaming. I have to go back to make sure everyone’s OK,” Michael yelled to his mother.

“I can’t make it. I’m 88. I’ve had a good life,” Garfinkel shouted, pointing at the walker (助行架).

John Hydes, who served as a firefighter for 15 years in New Zealand before moving to Australia, is not only new to the neighbourhood, he’s also new to the country.But that didn’t stop him becoming a local hero recently when he pulled two kids from a burning house.

“What he did was fantastic.It was a very brave act.Our family can thank him for our lives.”The moment the kids’mother saw what Mr.Hydes did for her family, tears started welling up in her eyes and falling down her cheeks.

However, Mr.Hydes, who settled here six months ago, said he wasn’t thinking when he saved his neighbour’s son, 5, and daughter, 7, from their PointCook home minutes before the roof fell.

It was said that the children’s mother and the grandfather was occupied in housework outside the gate when the house caught fire.As they saw the thick smoke, they were scared out, unable to say a word.In spite of the phone call, the fire engine could not arrive quickly.The two children were in the bedroom.Desperate and hopeless, the kids’mother knelt down, crying at the top of her voice.Because of excessive shock, the old grandfather was in the hospital for a long time.

“When there are kids in danger you haven’t got time to think, you’ve got to act, ”the father of three said. “I hadn’t met my new neighbours before coming to their help.It’s just a different way of meeting them, ”he laughed.Actually, it was nothing new for Mr.Hydes to jump into a burning building.This time, however, he did it without protective clothing.Later on he recalled the thrilling scene of his fighting the fire.

Mr.Hydes was in bed when he heard screaming before 9 p m.

“I was greeted(映…的眼帘)by two black and whitefaces screaming for help, ”he said.