She sat next to him as he flipped to the first book in the New Testament and began scouring the pages until he found the 22nd chapter. She didn't miss the slight fingershake as he located the 14th verse.
"Matthew 22:14," he read aloud, "For many are...
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"It's open!"
The slab that had served as a door had sunk back down into the wall. The dust clouded my vision for a moment as more light flooded into the tunnel. Star stood near the entrance, looking almost as surprised as me. "It worked."
"How did you do that?"
"Reed found the verse."
"Thanks," I said with feeling. Reed nodded and looked straight up at the ceiling. The small shakes were starting to become a little more aggressive. "We don't have a lot of time," he answered. "That door on the other side came open, correct?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Then we need to go. Now. Before everything starts collapsing."
The blood drained from my face. He was right.
"If you'd move out of the way, the rest of us can get in," Star snapped.
I was too scared to be offended by her tone. Plus, she kinda had a point. I nodded, determined, and slid the lamp and the book beside me. I twisted until I was facing the other direction and then slid the items ahead of me to start crawling and pushing them at the same time. For the last time, I reminded myself. The thought almost made me smile. But only almost.
Because right then the entire tunnel and room began violently shaking, and something large crashed down behind me, plunging us into further darkness.
"Everyone okay?" I called back.
"Yeah," Jack answered, coughing.
"Some lamps got crushed but we're fine. Go, Nyla," Star ordered.
My breathing was worsening, I needed to get out and out now. I started the crawl, hoping and praying the others would follow me very, very soon. I kept pushing the lamp and going, no matter how many shards bit into my skin, no matter how gritty my eyes felt. No matter how much trouble my dumb heart gave me.
I made it to the other side and shoved on the wooden square, revealing an incredibly bright room that blinded me for a second. It was pretty high off the ground. I tried to shove things to the side and flipped again to go down feet first.
"Ah!" I cried out in surprise.
The floor had been slippery from the loose dust, and with the shaking, there was no good way to hold on. My fingers slipped and I fell, landing on the hard ground with an oof.
"Nyla?" Star had been behind me, apparently.
"I'm fine," I answered weakly. "Just fell. It's safe."
My hearing was starting a wane, one of those fun signs that let me know I was getting close to having my heart go out of whack. I closed my eyes and forced myself to take air in and out, but it was so full of dust that I choked.
"Nyla, c'mon pull it together. I need you to take these."
Her voice was kind of getting fuzzy. Using the wall, I forced myself to stand up and reach up to grab the book and the lamp she was handing down. Pain throbbed through the entirety of my body, but I managed to get a hold of them safely. I moved out of the way and Star hopped down expertly, Taylor right behind her. She didn't get down as smoothly as Star but still, she made it.
Next came one of the new boys. He too hopped down smoother than I had. We all looked up at the tunnel expectantly, but neither Jack nor Reed showed.
"Reed?" Star called. "Jack? Where are you guys?"
"Reed was helping everyone up, do you think he got stuck?" Taylor asked on the verge of tears.
"We got it–" Jack started to call back and was cut off by a horrible craaaaaaaack that rang out, right before the sound of hundreds of pounds of rock smashing into the floor reverberated down the tunnel.
"REED!"
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