Part 5

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I woke up with a gasp and jolted upright, coughing up water. All around me people were stirring. Others didn't get up. Groaning I pushed myself to my feet and stood on shaky legs, leaning on the bookcases for support. Soggy books were scattered across the ground, their covers torn. A few single pages were plastered to the walls in wet clumps and stuck to people's clothes.

Shivering I stumbled towards one of the limp forms lying on the wood floor. I recognized the wet mop of blonde hair and a small sob escaped me as I turned the girl around. Her glassy blue eyes stared past me into empty space.

As I looked around I saw similar motionless heaps throughout the library, amongst them the Asian girl. Her friend— the brown-haired boy— was kneeling next to her, crying quietly. An unsettling feeling settled in my stomach. Why weren't we all dead?

Then it struck me. The sixty minutes were up.
I ran out of the room, glancing one last time at the wasteland Fred had left in his wake. My stomach clenched at the sight and I quickly turned away. Why wasn't I helping them... I ran along the corridor and down a long flight of steps. Speeding around the corner I tripped over a fold in the carpet, landing on top of someone.

"Oh god I'm so sorry!" I apologized and quickly stood up. There was no reply. The girl who I had fallen on had long red hair and freckles that dotted her small nose. She was very petite and for a moment I thought I had knocked her out.

"Hey, can u hear me?" I kneeled next to her. She was on her stomach with her head turned towards me at an odd angle, and her hair stuck to her face with a dark red liquid. Was she bleeding? I started to panic as I reached out a hand to help the girl. Water dropped from my hair and clothes onto her as I gently rolled her over.

I screamed.

Deep gashes ran along her stomach, oozing blood. I hadn't noticed the puddle of dark liquid around her before because it was the same color as the carpet, but now it was all over my hands. Gagging I let go of her limp arm. She had been caught in the hallway.

I whirled around and ran away from the body, wiping the tears from my face with blood-covered fingers. How much time was left? Running down the corridor I spotted a door that was open a crack and came to a stumbling halt. I slipped through the opening and closed it behind me, breathing a shaky sigh of momentary relief.

I looked at my surroundings and it took me a second to realize that I had ended up in the kitchen. Unlike the library there were only two people here. A middle aged man stood behind the counter, aggressively cutting vegetables and a woman who seemed to be his wife stood next to the kitchen island. A glass of wine rested elegantly in her slender hand and I felt the bile rise in my throat at the dark color.

"Hello sweetie," the woman greeted me smiling. "How are you doing?" I stared at her in shock. I had just barged in dripping wet, covered in blood smears, and she was asking me how I was doing.

"G-great," I stuttered, the adrenaline leaving my body. The cold from my wet clothes had started to set in, causing me to shiver. "Um... do u have anything warm to drink?"

"Of course," she smiled again and went to a small teapot. "Earl Grey ok?" I nodded. She set her wine glass down and poured some hot water into a mug before adding the tea bag.

"It'll be ready in about three minutes." Again, all I could do was nod. Picking up her wine glass again she walked around the counter to face me as the bell echoed through the silent house.

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⏰ Last updated: Mar 02, 2018 ⏰

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