The short version: there was a fire.
I hadn't slept well last night to begin with, only three hours, so I figured I'd get up and start working.
Then, just now, I smelled acrid smoke in the apartment. The air quality had been bad lately, with people burning fields all the time, so I didn't think much of it.
While I was on the toilet, someone suddenly started pounding desperately on the door, saying there was a fire downstairs and to run.
I didn't even have time to put on socks. I threw on pants and a down jacket, grabbed my cat, and started running down the fire stairs from the twenty-fifth floor. The farther I ran, the thicker the smoke got, until I couldn't breathe at all.
By the last five floors, I was almost suffocating. My cat couldn't breathe either and kept crying. I gritted my teeth and charged down the rest in one go.
When I got down, the door at the end of the stairwell was still locked and could only be pushed open a crack. An old lady, a property management worker, and I stood there in the thick smoke, shouting for the firefighters.
We only got out after a firefighter cut the lock. My cat and I had both inhaled a ton of smoke. It kept crying, I kept coughing, and my face and clothes were covered in soot.
I'm waiting downstairs now, with no idea what's going on. The power is still out, and I won't be able to go back up anytime soon. Luckily, I have chapters saved up for today, so I'll finish posting this batch first, then go get both myself and my cat checked out.
If it turns out I can't work today, I might have to take tomorrow