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Chapter Thirty-Four
Grace
Besides the fire alarm blaring, I notice the air has gotten really thick.In the back of my mind, I know what it means: smoke.The smoke was getting thicker—darker—and I could smell it.“We have to get out of here,” I say as we round the corner.She and I are headed toward the common room when Elizabeth looks at me, a flash of fear passing over her features.“We need to get to the cafeteria.There’s a window there.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The window.We’re going to jump.”
“We’re going to jump?”
“I think it’s our only chance.”
“This sounds like a terrible idea,” I say, but Elizabeth is already moving down the hall.She reaches the cafeteria doors, and she has her hand on the knob, but it only turns part way before it gets stuck.She pulls again and again, but it won’t budge.She looks at me in surprise.“It’s locked.”
“I think it’s a sign we should stick with the original plan,” I say.
“Fine,” she huffs.“Then we have to get the stuff.”
Under the sofa cushion in the common room is a bag with everything Elizabeth says we need.There’s cash, maps, keys to a car she says is parked three blocks away, two knives, and a pistol.
While she’s taking stock of it all, the smoke goes from a light haze to a choking cloud.We stop and cover our mouths with our shirts, and Elizabeth takes a couple of deep breaths.“We have to move quickly,” she says.“I'm going to die like my mother did.”
I can hear footsteps behind me, and then they disappear.Maybe she’s gone back to her room, or maybe she’s just stopped to see what’s going on.
“Stop!”a voice is yelling.
I stop.I look back.Joy is standing there.She’s standing.Her wheelchair is nowhere in sight.
Elizabeth looks at me and shakes her head.“Grace.No.We have to go.”
“You have to take me,” Joy cries.“Please.Don’t leave me.”
My feet feel like lead weights.I can't make them move, no matter how hard I try.
"Grace," Elizabeth says, tugging at my wrist."We have to get the fuck out of here."
“I can’t leave her.Not like this.The smoke—”
“Brad said it’s not a real fire.No one’s going to die.She’ll only slow us down.”
“What do you mean, it’s not a real fire?Just look around.”
“He promised me no one would get hurt.”
“He lied to you.”
Elizabeth pulls the pistol out of the bag.She points it at Joy.I start to feel afraid.More afraid than I thought I would feel when I agreed to this plan that is turning out to be not at all the plan I agreed to.The fear is subtle, growing slowly.It is brought on by the sight of the gun, the thought of using it, the thought of using it on someone who is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.I am afraid of what was to come next.
“Go back to your room, Joy.”
I watch as Joy’s eyes grow wide, as a sense of betrayal passes across her features.
Elizabeth trains the gun on her.“I said,go back to your room.”
Joy retreats, stumbling backward.
I am being pulled in two.Elizabeth is strong.She takes my hand and pulls me toward the stairs.“It’s going to be okay,” she says.“You’re going to be okay.”
