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"Let's do this!" Coco shouted.

Then the building exploded.

They all died.

The End.

Or . . . it should've been. I'm not sure how . . . or what . . . but something . . . somehow, I woke up on top of all the rubble and ash. And it hurt.

Like a bitch.

I pushed myself onto my elbows, groaning. A few feet away, a blonde girl did the same.

I stared at her. Blue eyes. Kinda tall. And, truthfully, really pretty.

She glanced over and caught sight of me, and her eyes widened. She immediately stood, and I could tell she was even taller than I had thought.

"You . . ." The girl blinked a few times.

I didn't say anything, stunned.

"You're covered in dust," she said.

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurd statement.

"So are you," I pointed out. The girl's jaw dropped.

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused," I grinned. The girl flipped her hair over one shoulder and stood.

"Hmpf. I'll be leaving now."

I stood up. "Mhhm, you do that."

The blonde turned away. After a second, she turned back.

"Hey . . . I'm, uh, sorry if I sounded rude," she played with a strand of her hair. I smiled.

"I get it. I'm . . . yeah." I glanced away, suddenly dusted in blush. The girl noticed.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded quickly. "Yeah."

I stood and glanced around. "Wait . . . my boyfriend was right around here. Where is he?" I blinked. Then I started looking around. "Waitwaitwait! How are we not dead?"

The girl blinked. "Umm, can you repeat that?"

It took me a minute to realize I was speed talking again. It's a bad habit of mine.

"S-sorry. My, uh, my boyfriend is gone. And a 40-foot apartment building just collapsed with me inside of it and I'm not dea--" I suddenly keeled over, hit by a terrible thought and a wave of nausea. "Oh god . . . what if-- what if Graysen--"

"I'm sure he's fine," the girl assures me, rushing to offer me her hand. I gladly take it, even though I feel my cheeks heat up. "If you're okay, I'm sure he is." Then something seems to occur to her. "I'm Mayzie, by the way. Mayzie Anne Taylor."

"Coco Tate," I smile slightly, trying to ignore the morbid thoughts circling around in my brain. "But . . . where's Graysen?"

"Wait! Where's Lorei?" Mayzie asked, sounding panicked.

"Sorry-- who?" I asked.

"Lorei, my girlfriend," she replied. I could tell she was in the midst of calming herself down.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, already despairing.

"We could search," Mayzie suggested.

For someone who seemed aloof and rude, she's actually very sweet.

We split up to look around the rubble.

"Shattered window, Broken desk, another broken window," Mayzie said, keeping a running commentary of what she had found. "A Rubber . . . a Rubber duck?"

I couldn't help but giggle at the odd find. "A what?"

Mayzie held it up. "A rubber ducky!"

I shook my head. "Alright, then."

I shifted through a pile of debris. "I'm getting concerned . . . what if we don't find them?"

Mayzie bit her lip. "I'm sure we'll find Graysen, and Lorei-- OH MY GOD WHAT'S THAT?!?"

I flinched and ran towards her. "What? Huh?"

Mayzie just stumbled back from a pile of rocks, pointing at it in horror. "It's . . . it's . . ."

I gasped when I saw it. "Is that a--"