Save Us From Their Long Run

Run

Rose watches in terror as the blackened ceiling collapses. The alarm deafens their ears, paralyzing the student body desperately trying to evade the burning and ruthless fiery tendrils that erupt. Avery and Alex are somewhere behind that chaos, her mind supplies. Something's gone wrong, and now Erasure has to start. But her hard-trained reactions still don't help the gnawing worry that starts to eat at her stomach. Her friends are behind that fire.

Breanna is hyperventilating at her side, holding the small screen of her handheld to her nose. Her lungs are terrible. "Tell me if I'm about to die," she says, and types as fast as she can. 

A loud banging snatches their attention. They're bottle-necked at the staircase, and just below them, students are screaming. Loud incessant pops jar the silence, and suddenly the students are attacking the doors, trying to get back in. Cries and shouts echo in the stairwell. For a moment, Rose and Breanna are scared for whoever is downstairs. Then they remember that if those sounds are what they think they are, they have to be more worried about getting away.

Reciting the plan in her head, Rose mentally tallies their tasks. Breanna is focused on Mrs. Mathers, the teacher helping student's unlock a door, because she keeps dropping her keys and everyone's panicked and fed up. Smacking her hand to her forehead, Rose throws her hand in the air and signals that she'll be starting Erasure. Breanna's the only one paying attention amidst the chaos, so as soon as she nods in approval Rose is elbowing her way through the crowd. In her back pocket her pager is buzzing, and it's distracting.

"Go," she huffs when she fishes the pager out. It's much quieter in this empty stairwell, hidden in the nearby locker rooms that give her full access to the server rooms. Breanna is still stuck, so Rose waits with Breanna in full view. The static squeals in her ears before Alex's voice does.

"Avery and I made it outside, this wasn't an accident," he reports. Rose is relieved when their lines show to be active. "But, uh--bad news. Caroline Mathers is a croak."

Freezing, Rose looks up to find Bree again. "...Caroline Mathers?" she confirms, stock-still and staring at Bree. The image of a full-bodied but dainty-natured unassuming girl she remembers Cara to be conflicts with every croak Rose and her team have ever gotten endangered by. Rose remembers the men that tried to hurt her and the girl that kicked Avery off the bridge and the stranger that kidnapped and drugged the whole lot of them. Cara Mathers had big brown eyes that stared brightly at new information in class and had crinkles at the corner of her eyes when she smiled and always picked up Rose's pens from the floor.

The classroom doors crack under the pressure of steady kicks. Dozens of students pour into the rooms, and distantly, the glass windows crash to the cement outside. A harrowing crack resounds before the roar of burning vinyl collapses somewhere too far to see. A shadow crawls from the rubble and stumbles into view.  Mrs. Mathers gasps as her niece trembles with the effort of her steps toward them. Cara Mathers looks like she desperately needs help, but Alex doesn't lie.

This is their chance, so Rose grabs the key that fell at her feet and whips it at Cara, deciding to spare her. Then she ducks into the chaos just long enough to yank Breanna into the stairwell and down into the eerily empty hallways of the basement.

"Are you listening to your comms?" Rose asks a little too harshly. Breanna starts a bit.

"I was a little too busy to listen in, jeez."

Rose looks a little sorry when she says, "Ave and Alex phoned. I guess Cara is a croak."

Breanna pauses in stunned silence, and that's why they hear the click of a door that scares them into action. They make a mad dash to the nearest bathroom, knowing nothing but humans can block the door. Throwing themselves against it with their collective strength, they barrel whoever is trying to keep them out and brace themselves to open their eyes.