Transformers ( Bayverse ) - I Bleed Into Darkness

17 - Burning Up

        ~~~

        The heavy musk of smoke burned Fay's nose. The smell clouded her first few conscious moments.

        It was more than just the smell. The dirty gray air was suffocating as it descended over her bed, filling her lungs with a heated sting. She immediately gasped, choking as the tainted air smothered her lungs and skin.

        Fay tumbled off the bed, lying face down on the floor, her insides alight. It felt like she lived in a fire.

        No. It was like a fire was festering inside of her. It ate her insides as fuel and burned her, burning and burning until nothing was left.

        And she was going to be consumed if she didn't get away.

        Fay stumbled towards the door, placing her hand over the sturdy wood. Warm, but not hot. She flung it open, finding the air outside her room to be a bit clearer, lighter, than that of the air inside. With a groan, Fay began sprinting down the hall, with every intention to get anywhere that wasn't here.

        She could hear the screams as she ran past the rooms of people. People who might be burning alive. People who might be trapped in their rooms, smelling the inevitable doom that was coming for them.

        Unfortunately, that message hardly registered in Fay's mind. She just kept running, heaving as she went, the heavy, stinging air ripping her lungs from the inside. She couldn't believe how incredibly painful it really was. It was terrible.

        But this was not her fate. This was not her last stop. After all she'd been through she would not die in a fire. Not like this. 'Not today.' Her feet hit the floor harder as she attempted to move faster and faster, bypassing door after door. She didn't even know where she was running, only that she had to run. That she had to get out of here.

        A familiar shriek managed to shatter her thoughts of escape, of living to see another day. Fay actually pulled to a stop, pausing for a few moments, listening, even as the crackle of flames licking the walls sounded much too close for the comfort. Fay waited, frozen in place despite the heat, despite the inevitable flames that would be coming for her.

        The scream came again, hitting her ears with too much clarity for her own comfort.

        She stood outside Carrie's door.

        Carrie. The same girl she'd threatened with her life so that she wouldn't reveal Fay's secret.

        A chance for redemption or pure coincidence?

        Fay didn't know, but when the strangled, cracking scream struck her eardrums again, Fay didn't wait to strike her shoulder against Carrie's locked door, throwing all her weight into the motion. She was rejected by the sturdy lock and fell back against the floor, her shoulder an aching bundle of bone and muscle, mixed with wires and energon. She was still getting used to the thought of the latter.

        "Ow! Dammit Carrie! If I die trying to save you, I'll kill you!" Fay squinted, forcing herself up again, frowning when she didn't hear any response from the ginger girl. "Carrie? Carrie!" With a frown, Fay threw herself against the door again, wincing as another jolt of pain shot through her arm.

        Fortunately, this time the door gave. A hole had burned through the wall where Carrie's bed lay. Flames sat atop her mattress, a silent challenge for the brunette girl with hair that would be too easily singed and burned, it's length tempting to the almost living fire.