Page 86

Chapter28

We Step Intothe waiting darkness. Jackie is line leader since she knows the building the best. We follow, each with a hand on the shoulder in front of us. The smell of smoke grows stronger once we’re in the hallway.

“It’s coming from the dorms!”

Ruthie is right. We shuffle in the opposite direction, toward the emergency exit.

I’m behind Jackie, Alma is next, then Agnes. Ruthie volunteered to be in the back.

“Did you recognize any of the voices?” Jackie asks quietly.

“Just one. Marshal Day Monterey.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Guys?” Ruthie calls from the back. I look toward her and see flames. Ruthie starts coughing. “We have to go faster,” I tell Jackie. But faster can’t outrun the smoke. It catches up to us in seconds. My lungs ache for oxygen.

Through my own coughing spasm, I manage to yell, “Crawl!”

We have to let go of each other to crawl. I feel the wound on my palm reopen.The pain isn’t as bad as the one in my lungs. I can’t see the others, but I can hear them.

Jackie reaches the door first. She stands to open it. Fresh air. I get to my feet and stumble out, falling back to my knees, and I roll onto my back gasping. Jackie is bent over, vomiting in the grass. I watch the door for the others. Alma comes next, and then I see Ruthie.

Seconds tick by with no Agnes. Stumbling to my feet, I make to go back inside to get her. Ruthie stands in my way, still coughing while holding out her hand to stop me.

“You…can’t…” she gasps. “She’s gone.” I don’t believe her. The fire is chewing its way down the hallway. I can hear it eating the lodge. Jackie, who has regained her wits, grabs a handful of my scrubs and yanks me back.

“You’re going to get yourself killed!”

I watch helplessly, a scream of denial building in my chest. We hear the snapping of beams followed by a crash as part of the roof caves in. We huddle together and watch in disbelief.

“Where is everyone?” Ruthie asks weakly.

“Hiding,” I say. We all look toward the woods.

“I’m scared,” Ruthie says. Alma takes her hand.

“We need to move,” I say. “If they come back…”

Jackie takes the lead again, turning away from the woods. With no moon to give us even a glimmer of light, we are forced to move slowly. The dark feels bottomless.

“Here… I think it’s here.” Jackie’s voice is strained. “Reach out with your left hands and you’ll feel it.”

I reach with my throbbing hand and feel cold metal.

“It’s the mower shed.” I hear the grate of metal as she yanks open the door. We pile in, our legs brushing up against the machines. It’s below thirty degrees, and none of us have jackets.

“Check your phone for service.” Jackie’s voice is hoarse. I nod though no one can see me. The screen gives us enough light to make out four lawnmowers.“Let’s get behind them.” We slide in the gap between the wall of the shed and the mowers.

“No service,” I whisper. Ruthie starts crying.

I check my phone, hoping for the impossible. My message to Poley did not send.

The message is trapped on the island with the rest of us. I stare at the unsent text, frustrated. My fingers are stiff from the cold.

Jackie pulls the tarp from one of the mowers and wraps it around Ruthie and Alma. She tells them to huddle together to keep warm before going to look for another. I scroll up to read the last text Poley sent me, the long one. I don’t understand what I’m reading.