Close Quarters

Chapter 3

Marcy

The world around me was hazy, the air thick with the acrid scent that clawed at my senses. I squinted against the dim light, my mind still swaddled in the remnants of a dream. My eyes stung, watering as I tried to make sense of my surrounding. The smell was intense, like a bonfire, but it was out of place. It was...inside.

I bolted upright, the fog of sleep evaporating instantly. My heart pounded in my chest like a wild drum, the smell now unmistakable—burning. Panic surged through me, adrenaline zapping my body into overdrive. I looked around wildly, my eyes darting to every corner of my bedroom. Smoke was beginning to fill the room, curling around the ceiling like a deadly serpent.

Kat.

My heart clenched at the thought of her, somewhere in this growing inferno. I stumbled out of bed, my bare feet hitting the cool floor. The contrast between the chill of the floor and the heat beginning to radiate around me was jarring.

I called Kat's name, my voice hoarse and choked with smoke.

"Kat!!" I coughed, my body instinctively hunching over as I tried to breath cleaner air closer to the floor.

The fire alarm began to shriek, its shrill cry piercing the smoky air. It was a terrifying sight. The crackle of the flames, the wailing of the alarm, and the pounding of my own heart in my ears.

I have to get out. I have to find Kat and get out.

This wasn't a dream. This was a real nightmare.. But I was awake now, and I had to act. I had to save us.

A scream ripped me from my thoughts at Kat's scream.

"Marcy?!" She yelled, her own voice choked with smoke as well.

My eyes darted quickly around the room, looking for her.

Her voice grew louder as I see her coming around the corner of the hallway, hunched over. I run quickly to her, making sure she's okay.

"Hurry! Grab your stuff we need to go now!" I say as I push her back towards her room to grab her stuff quickly.

I do the same, running back to mine, grabbing a bag and stuffing it rapidly. Grabbing everything I could possibly think about. I stuff it to the brim, and run out.

Kat reaches for the door but quickly yanks her hand back and screams at the burn.

"Shit! We need to go out the window!" I say and rush to the window, sliding it open and tossing my bag out of it, as well as Kat's. She holds her hand in pain and I quickly run back to my room to grab a sheet as I hear Kat's crying.

I run back and tie it to the heel of the couch, slinging it out the window, I see our neighbors racing outside and under the now swaying sheet, ready to help us break out fall.

"Go! Now Kat!" I say as I push her towards the window and help her climb over its ledge, she screams as she grabs the sheet from the searing pain of her burn before sliding down and crashing onto the ground.

I follow quickly behind her, taking one last glance at our home before grabbing the sheet and sliding down.

___________________________

My eyelids fluttered open, heavy and reluctant. The harsh glare of the fluorescent lights piercing my retinas, forcing me to squint. Slowly, my surrounding began to take shape—a sterile, white room, walls punctuated by medical equipment that beeped and hummed in a steady rhythm.

The air was cool and dry, a stark contrast to the heat and smoke that still seemed to linger. The smell was clinical, a mix of antiseptic and something metallic—a far cry from the acrid scent of burning that had filled my apartment.