Chapter 79

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Before I realize what I'm doing, I am already halfway through the parking lot. Apparently I'm going to run straight into the burning building in front of me. Great. Fantastic plan. Why am I even doing this though? My Maria is already gone. I shouldn't care about this Maria. Plus, I have Morgan now. She's totally enough, right?

Apparently my legs disagree, as I go charging through the first set of doors I find. I can vaguely hear Morgan and Alex screaming at me to come back, but I don't listen. All I want to do is find Maria and save her.

I guess my brain has automatically clicked back to my old life, where the only two people I ever cared about were Riley and Maria. I cannot let her die too. I love her too much to let her go, and I will do everything in my power to keep her alive.

I can feel the smoke instantly closing around my lungs, making it near impossible to breathe. I can barely see five feet ahead of me too, and on top of that, I feel like I'm getting cooked alive in an oven. Why the hell did I think it was a good idea to shoot that helicopter down?

At this point, I'm pretty sure I'm back in the area where I saw Maria last, but the roof is almost completely caved in, and the fire is spreading literally everywhere. I have no idea how the hell I'm going to make it to the other side where Maria will hopefully be, but I have got to at least try. I am not giving up on her. Or us.

I run into the room, and dodge as much debris as I can. Luckily, I'm on ground level, so it's not like I have to worry about falling through the floor this time. In fact, it's the other way around. I have to worry about the floor falling on me. I look up at what's left of the ceiling, and I feel a little uneasy. I am not sure at all that it's going to stay intact. I can't get distracted right now though. My only priority is to get Maria, who is hopefully still alive, to safety.

I come to a spot where I basically have to jump over a wall of fire, but I want to keep up my momentum, so I just keep running and try not to think about the fact that I'm probably about to barbecue my feet. I transfer over to a plank of wood that's conveniently laying there, then close my eyes and spring off the narrow ledge. To my relief, I land back on the ground, and have completely overshot the fire wall that really isn't that tall.

I don't take time to celebrate though. I need to find her before it's too late. I continue forward until I find that front desk area from before, and through the haze of smoke I can see a limp figure sprawled out across the ground beside the desk in the middle of the hall.

"Maria!" I call out, but the person doesn't respond.

I skid to the ground and kneel beside her head. I examine her face, and come to the conclusion that it is indeed Maria. She's still breathing, but very shallowly. I try and pick her up, but the moment I touch her she recoils back. Her eyes flicker open, but she doesn't move. She just gazes at me, as her breathing slows and her entire body seems to be draining of life.

"No no no!" I cry, reaching for her again. "Don't die, Maria. Please, don't die!"

This time, I manage to pull her into my lap. She lays against my chest, and I gently stroke her hair, knowing there's nothing I can do. I just don't want her to die alone. I love her so much, and I just can't leave her like this. I watch her face, as she blinks one last time, and lets out one last breath, then falls still against my body, and lets her eyes drift sightlessly to the side.

"No." I cry, tears sliding down my face.

Riley is dead, because of me.

DK is dead, because of me.

Now, Maria is dead. Because. Of. Me.

Who's next? Morgan? Alex? How many other people are going to die because of my mistakes? I kill EVERYONE. Anyone who gets close to me ends up DEAD. It is all my FAULT.

I sit here for a while, just crying into Maria's hair. My thoughts are all scattered, and I'm trying to think of a way to fix this. It's not possible though. You can't just bring someone back from the de-

I suddenly stiffen, as if a lightning bolt just struck me. Maybe I can bring Maria back. I gently lay her down, then awkwardly rummage around in her pockets. I feel a bit like I'm violating her, but there's something that I'm looking for, and I really hope she has it on her. Finally, I reach into her back pocket, and feel something that could be a computer chip sort of thing. I pull it out, and even through the haze, I know what this is.

It is my memory chip that Maria stored everything in a few days ago, and it might just be the key to bringing my first love back to life.

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