The Man Who Refused To Take His Gorilla Mask Off Part 7

Steve enters the burning home, looking frantically for any sign of the children and the kitty. The mask feels hot against his face. He looks around to get his bearings and sees smoke billowing up the staircase toward the back of the kitchen in the west side of the house. The living room he stands in is reasonably untouched, but the hallway in front of him is full of smoke. He takes a deep breath and runs into the haze. He hears a small child crying at his left. On his right, a bedroom is full of flames. Steve veers left and enters a child's bedroom. A boy of five or six is curled up in a ball on the bed, crying. A crib sits on the other side of the room. Steve looks in and sees an infant and a kitten, sleeping gently. He scoops the baby and the kitten up in his arms. The baby begins to cry and the kitten claws at the mask and squirms in Steve's arms. He walks over to the boy.
"Come on," Steve says. "I'm going to get you out of here."
The boy looks up and cries even harder.
"My hands are full," Steve says. "You'll have to walk right in front of me. I'll be behind you all the way, and we'll get you out of here and back to your mom outside, okay?"
The boy continues to cry. He tries to talk, but his crying is too intense and his chin shakes.
"W-w-w-w-w-wh-what in the crap?" the boy finally manages to say.
"It's alright," Steve says. "I'm a friendly apeman and I'm going to get you out of here. Get off the bed, keep low, which shouldn't be hard since you're so short, and I'll be right behind you. Ready?"
"I'm n-not so sh-short," the boy burbles.
"Okay," Steve says. "On the count of three, we're going to get the hell out of here. Ready? One. Two. Three."
The boy jumps off the bed and runs out the front door, Steve and the baby/kitty combination closely behind. The boy runs into the arms of his crying mother, who cries even harder. She hugs the boy, the baby, the kitten, and Steve.

Steve sits on his couch, the remote control on his lap, watching the evening news. Timmy sits next to him, a plate of nachos on the coffeetable in front of them.
"Gee whiz, Steve," Timmy says. "Why are we watching the dumb old news? Let's watch 'The Matrix'."
"Just wait," Steve says. "You'll find out."
Timmy fidgets impatiently and eats more nachos.
"Oh!" Steve shouts, turning up the television. "Here it is!"

A newscaster for NBC affiliate KZYL, Jim Tompkins, smiles and begins to speak. A graphic of an ape mask appears in the upper right hand side of the television screen.
Tompkins: And now for our Oddly Enough segment. An apeman became an ape hero earlier today when he rescued a small child, an infant, and a kitten from a burning home. The woman, 35-year-old Tina Smucklers, woke up from an afternoon nap to find her bedroom in flames. Disoriented, Smucklers ran out of the house, forgetting that her two children, Buster and Donny, and her kitten, Mr. Poopers, were still inside. Steve Smithers, a recently unemployed proofreader wearing a gorilla mask, happened to be passing by when he heard Smucklers' screams. He ran into the burning home, picked up Donny and Mr. Poopers, and convinced Buster to follow him outside. The family were successfully reunited moments later.
Footage of the burning home is shown, followed by a KZYL reporter interviewing young Buster in front of the fire.
Reporter: What did you think when you saw the fire?
Buster: I was really scared. I started to cry. It was really hot. I saw some fire. Then I saw a gorilla man and I got even more scared. But he told me he was going to help me, so I stopped being scared. He's a nice gorilla man, not a scary gorilla man.
Tompkins is shown at his desk again. The camera pans back to show him and his co-host, Linda Teagel.
Tompkins: The 30-year-old Smithers says he's worn the gorilla mask since Halloween. He says he feels like himself in it and has no immediate plans to remove it. Fire marshals aren't sure what started the blaze in the Smucklers' home, but have ruled out arson. What a story, Linda.
Teagel: Amazing. Ha ha.
Tompkins: What a weirdo.
Teagel: He sure is a weirdo, but a weirdo with a heart of gold.
Tompkins: You said it, Linda. Well, that's all for tonight. Join us tomorrow when we look at the latest in designer cheese graters. We'll tell you which ones are hot and which ones to avoid. And join us tomorrow morning at six for the early show with Pete and Angie. Goodnight.
Teagel: Goodnight.

"Holy cow, Steve," Timmy says, eyes wide. "You're a hero."
"I couldn't let those kids burn," Steve says. "I did what I had to do."
"Gee whiz," Timmy says. "I can't believe it."
"I can't either, Timmy," Steve says. "I can't either."

Next week: Steve gets the key to the city!