Duskwood: Unrecognisable

Part 47

It took me a while to realise Jake not only stopped moving, he stopped breathing as stared at the fire wide-eyed, his face as white as a ghost, body trembling. He was so caught up in attacking Cyan that he hadn't even noticed the fire, but now that Cyan laid dead underneath him, there was nothing to distract him from our situation. I called out to him several times, but he was unresponsive. I staggered getting up and ran over to nudge him forcefully, but it had no effect on him. If we were going to get out of there, it would have to be up to me. Jake had gone into shock and wasn't going to be of any help.

Clumsily I moved closer to the fire and turned towards the flames. I tried to balance the distance from the flames so I was close enough to weaken the plastic zip tie, but far enough so I wasn't absolutely scorching myself. Still, every now and then the flames would kiss my bare skin as they danced around. I had to bite my lip to keep myself from screaming in anguish. I remembered Jake's stunt with the lighter and couldn't help but think how pathetic it felt compared to now. Who would've thought that I would actually be put into a situation where I would have to literally burn for him? Well here I was, and I was determined to break this zip tie. I strained again against the plastic. It still wouldn't budge.

Suddenly Jake collapsed onto the floor. Adrenaline swept over my body and kicked it into high gear. With a grunt, I shifted backwards to place my wrists directly into the flames to speed up the process. It was weird, I expected excruciating pain as my forearms burned, but in that moment, I felt nothing. My mind was too focused on one thing – survival.

"Break, damnit!" I screamed just as the plastic finally snapped, freeing my hands.

Not wasting a single moment, I ran over to Jake and grabbed his arm to lift him off the floor. He was barely conscious so I draped his arm over my shoulder and dragged him out of there. The smoke was getting so thick, it was hard to breathe. My muscles felt sluggish and my lung burned while I struggled to support Jake's weight. I could feel my mind starting to fade as we went through the door way. It was getting harder to stay focused, but I would not give in. This would not be our end.

I had hoped for some relief in the hallway, but the fire had spread far ahead of us now. The air quality was just as bad as it was in the bedroom. As I kept dragging Jake, my eyes searched for a quick exit out of the building. However, all I could see around me was fire. More and more fire around us. Endless fire. How did it get so bad from a few candles? The world started to spin and I stumbled onto my knees. I coughed so hard that I had to let go of Jake. Fear flooded my mind. We weren't going to get out of this with me dragging Jake, but there was no way I was leaving him behind. This fire I started would be our undoing. If only I had ignored that email. If only I hadn't got on that plane. If only I hadn't searched that abandoned building. If only I had left him at the train station. If only I hadn't so selfishly pushed for us to go to that stupid rave. If only I hadn't sought to strike Cyan first to make a statement. If only I had trusted Jake. If only I had stopped trying to play hero when I was as weak as I am. Tears streamed down my face.

"Jake, please!" my voice strained between coughs. "Wake up!"

I shook him harshly in desperation. His head turned slightly to look at me. There was barely any life left in his eyes, which only made the sobbing worse.

"What the hell have you done!?" a voice shouted.

Ahead of us, two silhouettes stood with assault rifles trained on us at the end of the hallway. As if our situation wasn't dire enough, they would ensure we didn't escape, like hellhounds to our own personal hell. Meanwhile, parts of the ceiling started to fall around us. Time was running out.

"Go back and help Cyan or else!" the man ordered.

How could he expect us to help anyone in the condition we were in, even if Cyan was still alive? At this point, we couldn't get ourselves out, nevermind helping anyone. Somehow the guns they were carrying didn't even faze me anymore.