Just to give a little taste, here's a snippet:
For once in my crazy existence, I’d like to walk
away from a situation, instead of sprinting for my life. Clearly…not…gonna…happen…today…Charlie.
I ran down the hallway like fire already blazed behind
me. Thanks to someone acting before thinking, the whole
world of Mercy was about to come tumbling down any minute, and I had only seconds to get
freaking gone.
Fortunately,
I didn’t have Star. I’d sent her ahead,
knowing things could get ugly real fast, and sure enough, they were about to.
The
first explosion sounded behind me and I heard and felt the pieces of concrete
and glass flying through the air around me.
I stumbled forward as the force of the blast hit me from behind,
followed by a wave of intense heat that singed my exposed skin. My ears began ringing, but whether from the
sound of the detonation or from the stress of the situation, I wasn’t sure. Didn’t matter anyway. I needed to get through the door at the end
of the hallway before the next explosion discharged. It would trigger the rest of the ignitions
and everything would go the way of the dinosaur.
Just
as I felt the rumbling beginnings of the blast, I flung my grasp at the handle
of the door and barely noticed the warmth of the metal before swinging the door
wide and throwing myself through it, pulling it closed just in time to hear the
whole world explode in a fiery ball of destruction behind me.
I
didn’t pause to watch it long though. Instead
taking the stairs two at a time, flight after flight, until my chest ached with
each labored breath. I looked up to see
a large number three on the side of the wall next to the door, worn but still
clear. I yanked open the door and
sprinted down the darkened hall, picturing each turn I needed to take exactly
to get where I was going.
After
two right turns, I stopped in front of a large, steel door and rested both
hands on the cool surface as I hung my head and worked to catch my ragged
breaths. Each pull of air into my lungs
burned, but it wasn’t enough to stop me for long.
Movement
on the other side brought me back to reality.
Time was limited, and I wanted free of Mercy and all its horrors.
I
shook my head and worked the keys from my pocket. “Gretchen?
I’m here for you.”
“Charlie?”
“Yeah. I’ve got the key to get you out.”
Her
voice seemed so small and confused as she asked, “Why? Why did you come back for me? You don’t…you don’t even like me.”
Why did I come back for her? She might be a
first-class, pruny-faced beyotch, but leaving her had never been an
option. Not when there were no other
people in the world like us. It would be
like killing the only other unicorn in a mythical forest. “Don’t know.
Maybe I just can’t leave knowing you had the last word.”
