Carrion (The Bren Watts Diaries #1)

Chapter 87

I snuck into the school ten minutes into the massacre, securing my backpack behind me.

The gunfire inside had died down to a crawl, occasionally hearing a pop or two, but then they were followed by the screams. I didn't know how many of the Alphas had died, hopefully, most of them, so that I only had to pick out the stragglers, including the vectors. There were plenty of dead along the front entrance and by the lobby—vectors and Alphas alike—but I did have to put down two vectors still left alive; their kneecaps had been blown off, crawling on the floor toward the noise. I hadn't seen Bean or Porter's bodies yet, and though I feared they were still kicking, I wished they weren't for long.

One strike, kill swift. Leave no loose ends.

It surprised me to find that there was electricity in the building. Emergency floodlights illuminated the halls, but the Alphas had already cut the line to the fire's sprinkler system to stop attracting more vectors with the shrilling alarms. That had been an idiotic mistake. The fire hadn't spread on this part of the school yet, but it soon would be, and I was running out of time.

I found a map by the entrance, took it off the corkboard, and followed it to the cafeteria. I had to start from the source, my heart hammering at the sight of them surrounded by the blaze. I wished they were not there.

Blood smeared the walls, passing an occasional body face-down on the floor. I crouched over one man, grabbing the pistol from his grip. It was the same model as Betty, and I stole the magazine off it but found it empty. Cursing, I threw the magazine to the side and continued forward.

They got to be here somewhere, ran away to safety, I thought. No. I can't take that chance.

The further I went, the thicker the smoke filled the halls. The white wooden walls groaned and creaked, the paint bubbling like boils. Patches blackened until they burst into tiny flames, spreading quickly along the surface. Rooms behind those walls were under the blazing heat, places I could not enter, and yet I still tried to peer through the tiny windows and get a glimpse of anyone who was trapped inside.

Guys, where are you? Don't be dead.

Breathing became more challenging, and there came a moment where I could no longer push further. I still fought against my senses, and I cried out for Miguel's name. Logan's. Yousef's. No one answered except for the crackling behind the walls, buckling under the heat.

Keep running. Keep moving.

A beam fell at the end of the hall, trapping a screaming vector. An Alpha chopped a vector with an ax; bite marks littered his arms and legs. He saw me, but instead of attacking, he ran into a corner.

It took a second before he screamed, and a small explosion engulfed that section. I swept behind a pillar just as debris rained around me.

A strange, sulfuric odor persisted, and I looked at the map, realizing the man had gone into a chemistry lab where the chemicals would be stored.

"Um. Okay then," I found myself saying, and ran the opposite, covering my mouth and hoping I hadn't inhaled any noxious gas.

The fires spread out faster, seemingly thrilled by its renewed source of fuel. The smoke bothered my lungs more, coughing, and hacking until I reached the door leading to the courtyard. I pushed on the panic bars, and fresh air entered my lungs.

"Fuck!" I said, clutching my chest and massaged it, but it didn't help lessen the prickling burn, but my eyes still stung from all the smoke. "Aw, shit. I shouldn't have gone there."

Water. Water would help wash the sting off my face. I grabbed the bottle in my bag, but it was lighter than usual; I hadn't refilled it once.