𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍// 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟖

Thinking fast, Will grabbed a surgical mask and donned it, adjusting it to cover his nose and mouth, hoping to keep his smoke inhalation to a minimum.

He weaved through the halls, dodging patients and campers. Some turned as he passed, surprise and confusion in their expressions, no doubt wondering why he was running to the source of the smoke instead of away from it. He ignored them and continued forward, fighting the panic that rose in his chest, that screamed at him to turn around, that fought him every step of the way.

Will felt the fire before he saw it. The heat was intense. In no time, he could see orange light dancing off the walls of the hallway.

He turned-- and his knees threatened to buckle.

The hallway before him was in flames. The smoke made him dizzy. Will's hands were shaking, and his mouth was dry. It was an effort to put one foot in front of the other. With a deep breath, Will pulled the pin out of the extinguisher, aimed at the base of the fire, and sprayed. In a few minutes, the fire was gone.

Then he heard the screams.

"Help!" someone was yelling over the roar of the flames. "Help!"

Will rushed through the hallway, ash and foam splashing around his ankles. He rounded a corner--

And stopped, puzzled.

The hallway in front of him a ways was on fire. But the intersection he was standing at, where it split off into two different hallways... it was untouched.

How had the fire spread from that hallway to the next without obliterating this part between them? Had two separate fires been started in two separate locations?

Will heard a scream behind him. He whirled to the sound.

And as he watched, the hallway he had just taken a fire extinguisher to burst into flames.

There had been no patient to save. It had been something to lure him in.

This had been a trap. A trap set for him.

And he had walked right into it.

A low laugh from behind him. Will jumped-- and his blood turned to ice.

That laugh. The one that haunted his dreams...

Slowly, Will turned around one last time.

And saw General Blyden grinning at him from amongst the flames.