When All is Lost

Chapter 6

I could see the whites of Abby's eyes staring unblinkingly at me, probably in shock.

After some shuffling sounds on the other side of the doors, I said his name again. "Ian." This time he and his companions must have heard me because there was some urgent murmuring sounding from right outside the doors.

"Kate?" Ian's voice asked. "That you?"

"Yeah. It's me." I hesitated. "And a friend."

More murmurs. As we waited for a response, Abby grabbed my arm in the dark and squeezed. I squinted over at her and could only just make out that her head was tilted up. From where I was standing, I couldn't see anything, so I took a step closer to her. The air left my lungs.

Five floors up, flashlights were flicking around the elevator shaft. They were searching.

I shuffled back away from the small opening and went right up against the door. "Hey Ian," I called quietly. "Think you could help us get these doors open anytime soon?"

The light of a flashlight shone on the elevator floor through the opening.

"Today?" I begged, losing all patience.

"Okay," he said, likely hearing the fear in my voice. "Help if you can."

Abby was still holding my arm, making it easy for me to guide her back to the doors. I helped her grab her side before latching on to mine. "We're ready."

Just like that, I could feel the doors being pulled apart and I quickly started to help. In the back of my head, I was counting down until the people on the fifth floor made it down to investigate. We were running on borrowed time.

The doors finally gave way and the moment there was enough space for a person to shimmy through, I yanked Abby forward and shoved her towards the gap. She slipped right through and as she did, I took my screwdriver out of my pocket. With more maneuvering and a good deal less grace, I wiggled myself and my rucksack through the opening.

Ian stood with two men I'd never seen before just a few feet from us. I opened my mouth to thank him for the help but ended up gasping when, without warning, he reached out and snatched my wrist.

He nearly wrenched my arm out of its socket as he took off in a run with me in tow. I blindly followed for a few steps, too stunned to resist. Then I heard what sounded like the pounding of feet on stairs. Terrified, I no longer needed any further encouragement and sped up my pace as much as I possibly could to match his.

"Go, go, go!" One of Ian's companions urged, running right behind us with Abby and the other man.

Shouting started right as we got to the front door. I could feel a scream bubbling up in my throat as I heard the pursuers catching up, but I swallowed it down. Ian slammed his free hand into the door shoving it open. All the while, he made sure to keep a bruising grip on my wrist, never letting me fall behind.

I stumbled out onto the sidewalk behind Ian, bumping into him as one of his companions followed us outside. The air was frigid cold, almost instantly sending a shiver through my body as I took in the first fresh air since fall. For some unfathomable reason, Ian had stopped. His head snapped left, then right, then back again as if he was unsure of which direction to go.

I studied our environment, taking in the buildings that were illuminated only by the starry night sky. With the moon in the sky behind us, I could clearly see we were on a long, wide, flat road that stretched far into the distance in both directions. It was distinctly a main street, lined with buildings and only small lanes of grass, sidewalks, and the occasional driveway or parking lot between them. The next street to intersect with the one we were on seemed to be at least a full block away. People were screaming somewhere in the distance, but it was hard to pinpoint where. It then became clear why Ian had stopped.