In The Shadows

Chapter Five

"Amber!" Irine shrieked my name from the other side of the bedroom we shared. My eyelashes fluttered open from a deep sleep and that's when I saw it.

Smoke. Intruding and invasive. Slipping in under the door jam. Swirling and rising to the ceiling. Slowly becoming heavy and thick in my lungs. Blocking oxygen. Stinging my eyes. All in a matter of seconds.

"What happened?" I cried out, whipping back the thin sheets. Irine rushed over to the window and pulled back the curtains, revealing the dark night. "Why is there a fire?"

"No, no, no, no, no." Irine stumbled back from the window, covering her hand with her mouth and shaking her head violently. "This can't be happening."

I sprinted over to the window to find men in fatigues spread out in a circle that wrapped around the orphanage. Each stood with eyes trained to the building, guns ready. Three metal machines were parked off to the side on the edge of the woods. I could hear the rest of The Misfits yelling to each other as they discovered the smoke and fire.

One man from the line stepped forward and shouted, "Come out peacefully and you won't get hurt." Stiffly, he stepped backwards and resumed his place in the line.

They're trying to flush us out, giving us the choice to either join the army or die.

I tripped backwards. This couldn't be happening right now. It was probably because there were too many of us to just surrender peacefully. But no matter what the excuse was, no matter what the alternative was, we couldn't stay in here. We had to leave.

"Is this for real?" Irine asked behind me.

I nodded, "Yeah, now come on."

Irine cursed and followed me as I opened the door. Smoke stormed in and we dropped to our stomachs. The roar of the fire was louder beyond the door, but we still couldn't see its flames. James, Sam, and Lauren were already out in the hall, coughing and army crawling towards the stairs.

"You guys okay?" Irine cried out to them. "Where's Thomas and Kaylie?"

Sam practically pushed James down the stairs and shouted back, "I don't know."

Irine's body violently racked with a coughing fit and I yelled, "Go with them. I'll go check their room."

She nodded and scooched down the stairs behind Lauren. I scurried over to the bedroom Thomas and Kaylie shared, finding the door already open and Thomas kneeling over Kaylie's body.

"Thomas!"

He whirled around to face me with wide eyes. Panic was etched into his features and dented his forehead with worry lines.

"Go!"

"Kaylie-" His face was twisted with pain and fear dominated his innocent blue eyes.

"I got her! Go!" I shoved him out of the way and didn't waste the time to watch his figure disappear into the smoke. The fire didn't start too long ago but the old building was growing weaker by the second and I knew of the large possibility of it crashing down on Kaylie and I. Gently, I scooped Kaylie into my arms. Her blonde hair fell to the side and her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths.

I should have known. I should have known their bedroom would be the first one bombarded by the thick smoke, it wouldn't have been blocked by the door because Kaylie liked to keep it open. Just in case, she said. I should have known her lungs couldn't have taken the amount of smoke she breathed in like a bigger pair of lungs could. I should have gone straight to her rather than spent all of that time trying to understand our situation, and why. Instead, her body lay limp in my arms, more smoke than Kaylie at this point. My heart lurched into my throat and tears pricked my eyes at her helpless state as I scooched her over to the stairs, cradling her gently in my arms.