Page 88 of The Rebel of Raleigh High

My lungs are burning. My legs are burning. I take the stairs three at a time, tripping, struggling to stay on my feet. There are footsteps behind me, screaming and shouting—

I take a turn in the stairwell, surging up the second flight of stairs.

“He’s coming. He’s fucking coming!” Alicia yells.

“Faster, Silver. Go faster!” Alex hollers.

There’s a skidding, a thud, but I keep going forward, keep trying to pull air into my lungs. The door to the first science lab crashes against the wall as I hurl myself through it. The lab is empty. Deserted. I run for the interconnecting door, flying through that, into the next lab and then through the next again.

My backpack snags on something. I rip it from my shoulders, dropping it, still running…

Out of the last science lab, I nearly fall down the stairs that lead toward the music rooms. Oh god, where’s Max? Where the fuck is my brother? Through the chaos whipping through my head, for a second I don’t even have the sense to realize that Max is at his school. He’s not here. He’s not here…

Everything is noise, and color, and panic.

Blood on my tongue.

My pulse racing in my ears.

I’m going to fucking throw up…

“Left! Left, Silver! Through the door!” Alex shoulders the music room door open, grabbing me and yanking me after him. Alicia and Sophia cling to each other as we race for the sound booth. A second later, Alex hasthatdoor open, and he's pushing us all inside.

His fingers dig painfully into my shoulders again. His face is ashen. “Close it after yourself. Lock the door. Do not open it for anyone, you hear me? I don’t care who it is. You lock that fucking door, andyou do not open it.”

“ALEX, NO!”

It's too late. He's ripped himself free, and he's elbowed me inside. The door slams closed, the sound ringing in my ears like yet another gunshot. “Lock it, Silver! Do it! Right fucking now!”

I don’t want to. I want him inside the booth, next to me, holding me in his arms, but I’m too numb. I do what he told me to. I lock the door.

“Good girl. Good girl,” Alex pants. “Stay inside. Stay safe. I’ll be back.”