Forgotten

Chapter Seven: Suffocation

It was silent as we finished up our meal, though we weren't really that hungry. I think Brandon's speech had made me lose my appetite. I knew exactly what he was talking about. A memory flashed I my mind...

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"Ryan!" I could hear Lily yelling my name from somewhere in the masses. The air was spoiled, we didn't have much time left. People left and right were passing out from lack of clean oxygen, and I was starting to feel light-headed.

I looked around for my sister, but I couldn't find her. It was impossible to turn around, everyone was streaming towards the exit.

"Come on, Ryan, we have to go!" Avery clenched my hand and pulled me along the narrow tunnel I had come down for the first time barely two months ago.

"But Lily-"

"We can't go back for her. She'll make it out, we just have to keep moving."

I couldn't argue with her, the air was already too thin to waste by talking.

Black spots appeared in my vision, I was practically gasping for air. Something was banging, banging, banging up ahead but I could barely see. I almost tripped a few times but Avery helped me stay up.

Avery. The thought of her by my side made me stronger. I had to get her out, I had to make sure she was safe. The black spots faded and soon I was the one leading us as Avery was weakening and I could sense she was feeling light-headed.

I could see the door up ahead and a cluster of people trying to open it with week hands. No one spoke, no one cried out, though I'm sure they felt like screaming at the top of their lungs.

Air! Air! That's all that anyone wanted. It was right behind the closed vault. If we could just....

Finally, the men attempting to pry open the door collapsed. I silently screamed 'NO!' as I pushed my way through the crowd up to the cruel iron door. I banged my fist against the door, too weak to do much else.

I was suffocating. Somehow, the thought didn't terrify me. My mind was almost drifting, death seemed....peaceful. My lungs were screaming, my vision was turning black.....peace....

I felt Avery's hand slip out of mine and I snapped back into reality, the black cleared slightly from my vision and I saw Avery fall on her back, her eyes closed.

"Avery!" Somehow, I had enough oxygen to whisper her name. I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around a her. I couldn't feel her chest rise and fall, I couldn't hear her breath in my ear. Tears fell from my face. She couldn't be dead. She isn't dead!

I had no air, there was nothing left to take in from the atmosphere in the tunnel. It was all gone. I took in what oxygen I could, opened Avery's mouth, and with my last breath I tried to revive her with what little air I had.

'So, this is the end,' I thought as I ran out of breath. I lied down next to Avery, my hand in hers. My vision faded to black, my lungs screaming in my chest had turned to a soft, painful cry. Like a child who had gotten tired of throwing a temper tantrum but was still hoping to get what he wanted.

I heard something that was like metal against metal, but I didn't have time to register what was happening. Darker, darker, death was coming and I was powerless to stop it.

It was completely silent. What we thought would be a safe place, this vault, this place is now our tomb.

Suddenly, I saw a light and my lungs filled with oxygen. Something hard hit my leg but I didn't care about that. Is this heaven? I blinked my eyes a few times before they adjusted to the light. A figure leaned over me. I felt a pain in my chest. No, this is not heaven.