Page 27 of A Whisper of Cinders

I pick up my pace and know I am on the right path when the doors to the cafeteria come into sight. The pull inside of me gets even stronger and I have to restrain myself from running.

Hurry hurry hurry hurry.

The word is like a mantra inside of my head and as soon as I push open the doors and take my first step into the dining area, everything becomes eerily quiet.

The cafeteria is dark, the only light comes from a single emergency lamp. My heart pounds loudly in my ears and I take a few steps forward, not sure what to do now that I am here.

I try to turn on the light switch, but the cafeteria remains dark. Strange. There might be a malfunction or a storm passing by, but when I look outside of the windows, I don’t see any clouds that might harbor bad weather.

Another tug pulls me forward, I take a few careful steps and nearly slip on something on the floor. I manage to refind my balance and continue walking forward, but the glowing feeling inside of my chest goes ice cold. It returns when I take a couple of steps back.

After a couple of minutes of walking around like a mad person, I halt. I’m walking in circles. It’s a miracle I haven’t broken anything, because I still can’t see shit. The only thing I can see is —

My foot gets stuck on something and I stumble forward, losing balance for real this time and falling face first on the ground.

A soft grunt breaks the silence.

Not something, someone.

Shit.

“Hello?”

I move my hands in a waving motion on the floor until I touch what feels like the bottom of a shoe. I crawl closer to the person on the floor, moving my hand up the shin until I’m seated to what feels like the middle of the person's body. “Are you injured?”

I know it’s a stupid question since the person in front of me is lying in the dark and not responsive, but that way I can tell in what state they are. Sort of.

I lean to the left, my hand searching for the head. I feel short hair, a tiny nose and slightly damp skin. Whoever it is, they are unconscious. No way in hell would anyone allow themselves to be touched like this without reacting.

Continuing my path, I feel shoulders and notice the outline of a bra strap through the fabric of her tunic, knowing for certain that it is a she.

I follow the line of her waist, my fingers passing along wet fabric. I swallow audibly. Shit. I move my fingers a little higher, towards her ribs and feel the rough edges of her tunic and a sticky substance. As I touch bare skin, the girl under my fingertips gasps for air.

I jump up, nearly slipping on the wetness underneath my feet that I now know for sure is blood. “Hold on, I’ll call for help!”

I hurry over to where I think the phone must stand, bumping my knee into one of the tables. As a blessing from above, I find the phone instantly. I pick up the horn and press number one, Doctor Herbert's emergency line.

I wait for the beeping tone that signals a connection is being made, but the line remains eerily quiet.

Damn it!

I try the light switch multiple times, but to no avail. I rush back over to the phone and pick up the horn praying for a connection. But it doesn’t ring. Shit. Shit. Shit.

I leave the phone for what it is and search for the rack where they store all their towels, mops and dishcloths. Even though I can barely see a hand in front of me, I manage to find them and grab as many as I can hold.

Navigating back to the girl is a little trickier since my sense of direction seems a little off. Thankfully, she breathes heavily and I find her almost instantly.

I lean down next to her, searching for the place where the wound is located and apply pressure with one of the towels, hoping it will slow the bleeding. An ice cold, wet hand lands on top of mine, holding my fingers in an iron grip.

“It’s okay, I’m here. Help is on the way.”

A lie, or a thought that I hope will become reality. As my trousers become soaked with ice cold wetness, the girl next to me remains utterly quiet. My fingers find the pulse point in her neck. I wait for a couple of seconds. There is still a heartbeat, but faint. She doesn’t have much time left.

To my surprise, I hear the zooming of electricity above my head and the yellow lights around me come to life. I look back down, relieved to finally be able to see what I’m dealing with when —

Boom-boom.

Boom-boom.