The Pull

Chapter 27

The sound was unbelievably loud, even if this obviously wasn't happening on the same floor as we were on. The entire world seemed to shake, like an earthquake. Windows exploded, and the panic I felt watching the lift I had been moments from entering shake and suddenly drop several feet was something I hadn't felt in a long time. Not even when Mark attacked me. Big puffs of dust flew at us from the lift area, pushed by some force so strong it got them through the narrow space between the walls of the elevator shaft and the actual elevator box. The ceiling crumbled and several big squares of it fell to the floor. Walls cracked. Dust making the air foggy.

But the sound.

First, a loud bang that made my eardrums pop. After that a deafening rumble. Then, the screams. Horrible screams. People screaming in fear, screaming names, screaming for help. So many screams. It took me a while to realise Ben had pulled me into his arms, shielding me from debris falling around us. I looked out from his embrace to the others behind us. Shiloh, crouching over Tyrone on the floor. Bleeding from a gap in his head, fear and confusion in his eyes. Lane, helping Lareina to her feet. Marko. Not moving on the floor, trapped under a door that had fallen on top of him, no one yet to help him but Will just about to turn to him. I stared up at Ben and read shock – and something else – on his face. He met my stare.

"We need to move, Puck. Can you do that? Get the others and move. We got to get out of here now."

"What the fuck is happening," was all I could get out of me. I couldn't think properly.

"The building's being attacked in some kind of way. And I doubt this was the last of it. We need to get everybody to the stairs." Ben released me and instead grabbed my hand, started pulling me, getting me to move. I snapped out of the initial shock and turned to Lane and the others.

"Is everyone ok? Can you move?" Eyes filled with terror stared at me. Dust in their faces and hair made them look grey and colourless. I realised I must look the same to them.

"Not Marko," I could hear Will say, and turned to him. He had gotten the door off Marko who was clearly still unconscious.

"We need to carry him." Ben squeezed my hand and then let go. He met my gaze and said with a low voice: "I'm right here." Then he kneeled beside Marko to quickly check if there was some obvious signs we shouldn't be moving him – not that it mattered. We would be anyway. He nodded towards Will and they both lifted Marko holding him under the arms and knees, as carefully as possible. And we started to move. Lareina led the way to the fire stairs, through a corridor that looked nothing like it had a moment ago. People were running past us, being able to move faster than we were having to carry Marko. No one said anything. We just kept going.

A second explosion hit.

This time we all instinctively crouched to the floor, Ben trying to cover Markos head with his own body. It felt like the building was about to crumble. A wall further down the corridor came crashing in, more windows exploding somewhere. Lane screamed. Maybe I did too. We didn't wait for the dust to settle, we just made sure no one else was hurt and then continued towards the stairs. I realised I smelled smoke, and the fear finally hit in full. After explosions like that obviously there had to be fires, I just hadn't thought that far. The building was burning, and we didn't know if it was above us or below us. There was no way of knowing is we were trapped. How high up were we? How many floors to get down? I couldn't remember. It didn't matter. We had to keep going. I pushed past Shiloh and Lane to hold the door up for Ben, Will, and Marko hanging between them. The stairs were even more chaotic than the office corridors. People were strangely silent, some running down the stairs while others barely putting one foot in front of the other. People sitting on the floor, unable to continue or in need of a break to gather strength. Quiet sobbing.