I stood in the open doorway for about thirty seconds before turning around and rushing back the way I came, dodging boxes as I did. For the first time all night, my fear took a backseat to other, lighter emotions. Yes, Samantha was still out there, but Dan and Al were gone and the way out was finally more than a distant maybe. I forced back all negative thoughts threatening to sprout and concentrated on the good. The door had been found. We would see our families again. We were going home.
"It's here!" I yelled as I reached the trap doorway. "The door! It's down here!"
"Really?"
I watched as Rosalie appeared in the gap, her eyes wide and watery. The smile I couldn't possibly contain widened. "Yes!" I exclaimed. "We're going home!"
"Coden!" Rosalie squealed. As she turned to face Coden, she disappeared from my line of sight, but I didn't have to see her face to know that she had a bright, excited smile on her face. "Coden, Serenity found the door!"
Coden's response was too soft for me to hear. I tossed a quick glance behind me, scanning the rows of boxes, before looking up at the trap door's opening again. "Rosalie, can you please help Coden?" I asked, biting down nervously on my lip. The negative thoughts were growing stronger now. Would Coden be able to make this jump? He'd been shot in the leg, after all, and if I almost lost my balance...
No. We'd be okay. Coden would have a hard time with this, but we'd get him to a hospital and then everything would be fine.
A few moments later, Coden's face appeared over the edge. He was obviously in pain, but his eyes were triumphant as they stared down at me. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to-we were going home. We were going home.
"How can I help you?" I asked, angling the flashlight so that it wasn't in his face, but so that I could see him properly. My eyebrows creased. I didn't see what I could do to help him. I wasn't exactly strong enough to catch him, and, other than that, there weren't really any options.
"You can't, but that's not your fault." Coden gave me comforting smile and then looked at Rosalie. "You go first."
Rosalie didn't argue. She complied without question, sitting down with her legs swaying in the empty space. Like me, she took a moment to brace herself before dropping to the floor -but instead of sticking the landing, she tripped and fell on her knees, letting out a small cry of surprise. Before I could even begin to ask if she was all right, though, she was standing, muttering a quick, "I'm okay!"
I cast a worried glance above, nervous that Rosalie's cry had been loud enough to hear. But, then again, even if it had been the door was locked and Samantha wouldn't be able to enter.
...And neither would any of the other kids.
"Shit," I hissed. "Should we unlock the door? The other kids-"
Coden cursed under his breath and peeked over his shoulder. The question weighed down on us for what was probably only a few seconds but felt like an eternity. We had a choice: we could leave the door locked and keep the predator out-along with all the others who were trapped here-or we could unlock the door and risk being caught.
A moment later, Coden's face disappeared, and I knew what choice he'd made. Whether it was the smart choice, I didn't know, but I knew that it was the right one. Whatever happened, we could at least say that we didn't lock the other kids away from their salvation.
Coden returned and grasped the rim of the trap door in his hand as he settled, breathing hard. I bit my lip, my anxiety spiking. Would he be able to handle the trip to safety? I had no doubt we were in the middle of nowhere, otherwise the police would have been called in a long time ago. How far was it to civilization? Oh god.
