The Fall of Us

Chapter 11

Iris

11:59 am

An earthquake. Nobody was expecting a freakin' earthquake. The trembling had stopped and the whole gym was chaotic with some students screaming, and others crying. The shaking stopped and nothing seemed to have fallen

"I don't want to be here, I don't want to be here, I don't want to be here..." I keep hearing those words being repeated behind me to my right. When I look back to see who it is, I notice that it's that girl I bumped into earlier in the hallway.

Cameron was it?

I try to calm her down. "Hey, it's gonna be okay." I reach my hand out to place it on her knee, but unable to when she stands and makes her way down the bleachers.

"No, no, no, no, no, no." I hear her repeat as she rushes out the gym. The teachers were too occupied to notice.

Should I follow her?

I need to make sure she's okay. I turn to Skai, "Hey, I'm going to check up on her."

"And leave me in this madness? No thanks, I'm coming with you." She replies.

Skai and I quickly head out of the gym, hoping to catch up to Cameron. We see a glimpse of her as she turns the corner on top of the stairs to the lobby. She must be on her way to the restrooms in the lobby. When me and Skai reach the top of the stairs and turn the corner, we spot Cameron standing a couple feet away from a huge pile of debris, that was also known as the ceiling, that has fallen from the floor above us, leaving a hole in the ceiling and the bathroom destroyed. Dusty clouds filling the hall from the debris, we had to cough until we could catch our breath.

"Hey." I say to Cameron, "Are you okay?"

Cameron points to the used to be bathroom in front of her and says, "There's someone in there."

We turn to the bathroom to hear any kind of noise and finally hear a few cries.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?!" I yell to the other side of the debris.

"Help me! I can't move!" We hear the girl cry from inside.

I was so shocked that anyone could even survive that. I mean seriously, the whole bathroom was caved in, this girl is really strong.

"Oh my God, what do we do?" Skai asks me, as she looks back and forth between me and the door.

"Um..." I'm frozen in shock. I'm not sure what to do.

"We need to get help. Now." Cameron says in a demanding voice, making it seem like her breakdown never happened. But also breaking me out of my trance. She turns to head back towards the gym, until we see Jesse round the corner, along with Owen. Oh thank goodness.

"Jesse!" I say.

Jesse and Owen turn to us, just noticing we were standing there. It's hard to see when it's just the red lights and windows illuminating the room

"Hey, you guys alright?" Jesse asks us.

"Owen?!" The girl yells from the other side of the debris.

Owen recognizes her voice right away. "Avery!?" Owen runs to the doorway, trying to peek through the rocks. "Oh my God, Avery are you okay?!"

Avery?

His sister.

"Owen get me out of here!" Avery cries. "Please, it hurts!"

"Hang on Avery, it's gonna be alright, we're gonna get you out of here." Owen looks back at Jesse. "Jess come on." Jesse crouches down beside Owen as Owen starts to move the rocks, and we all join him, but everyone stops when Avery cries out in pain.