SILVER EYES (GXG)

Chapter 48: Seeing No Walls

I felt the smoke clinging to my face. Darkness. A familiar voice was calling me. What the hell had happened? Everything was going fine, and suddenly...

"Grace!" It was Heather's voice. Oh, now I remembered. Someone chased us, we crashed, we flipped and now we were all trapped in that fucking SUV. Great start for the mission. Just great.

"Grace!" I turned, struggling to keep my eyes open. A flickering light blinded me. She was right beside me, disoriented but moving, clutching a little flashlight.

"Grace, are you okay?" she asked, reaching out for me.

I looked around, trying to make sense of the chaos. Beverly was strapped in her seatbelt, hanging upside down and unconscious, her red curls obscuring her face. Stella was frantically trying to unfasten her. Smoke was seeping in from the hood, making it hard to breathe.

"Grace, look at me." Heather gently touched my face, and I tried to focus on her. Her skin was smeared with soot, her left cheek marred by a few cuts. Her eyes were red and watering.

"Can you move?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think so." I answered, trying to steady my breathing. "My neck's killing me, but the rest seems alright."

"Okay, listen up. You see that crack in your window? I need you to kick it, hard. We gotta get out of here."

I nodded, turning to the window. My leg drew back, then slammed into the crack with all my strength. It spiderwebbed further but didn't break.

Fuck. The smoke made my limbs feel like weak threads.

"Try again, you can do it!" Heather said.

I kicked again. This time, the window shattered, sending shards of glass raining down.

"Well done! Let's get out." She said.

I wriggled through the broken window, careful not to cut myself on the jagged edges. As soon as I was out, I turned to help Heather. She was already halfway through, but moving slowly, shakily.

"Careful." I said, holding her steady as she stood.

"Girls, I need help over here! This damn belt is stuck!" Stella shouted. "I need something to cut it."

Heather and I quickly scanned the wreckage, searching for anything that could help. "There!" I exclaimed, pointing to a shard of metal debris lying just a few feet away. "Try using that!" I grabbed the metal and passed it to Stella through the window.

Stella wasted no time and began sawing at the seatbelt. After a few moments, the belt finally gave way, and Beverly slumped forward. Stella caught her and eased her down.

"We need to get her out of here," Stella said, glancing nervously at us. "They won't be far behind."

Heather kicked the driver's door open and helped Stella lift Beverly, who was slowly regaining consciousness.

"What the hell is going on?" Beverly muttered, her voice groggy.

"Thank God, Bev," I said, relief flooding through me. "Drink this." I handed her my water canteen while we propped her against a tree.

"This better be alcohol, girl." she said, taking the canteen.

Her sense of humor was intact; a good sign. But a large, swollen bruise marked her forehead and right eye. She'd taken quite a hit; we'd have to keep an eye on her.

Stella came over, her left arm covered in scratches. "Bev, can you walk? We need to get the hell out of here," she said, kneeling next to her.

"No problem, I'm fine." Beverly stood and took a couple of shaky steps before collapsing to the right. Luckily, Heather caught her.