12

Ray

“This is such a bad idea,” said Liam for at least the fifth time as he and Ray climbed the stairs in Ray’s apartment building. Ray knew he was bending the terms of their bargain. First it was I just want to see the building and check that it’s still standing. Now it was I just want to see inside the apartment.

He knew Liam was right. From the outside, the building had looked fine. But with five stories, almost anything could go wrong at any minute.

Still, Ray couldn’t turn back without seeing inside his apartment. Like he’d told Sasha and Liam: he had to know. He needed to feel as if he was in control of something.

Because if Harper wasn’t at home, where was she? And if she was hurt—or worse—how was he going to live with that? How could he ever forgive himself for saying that Harper’s life wasn’t their responsibility?

He couldn’t do anything about that right now. What he could do was check out his apartment.

Ray and Liam reached the fifth floor and wheezed their way out of the stairwell. It wasn’t safe to try the elevator right after an earthquake. Even if the building’s power was working, the elevator could be damaged in other ways. And an elevator wasn’t exactly a prime place to be during an aftershock—which could hit at any moment.

Ray ran down the hallway to his door. He fumbled for the key ring in his pocket and let himself in.

The apartment looked as if someone had trashed it. Like those spy movies where the main character comes home and realizes his cover is blown because the bad guys have torn apart his whole pad. The freestanding mini-bookcase had fallen over. The doors of the game cabinet stood open, its contents spilled onto the floor. The walls—normally covered in framed photos—were almost bare. The photos had dropped down to join the rest of the clutter on the floor. Ray halfheartedly scanned the floor for his parents’ wedding picture, the one he often looked at to remind himself they’d been happy together once.

He picked his way through the mess to the kitchen. The fridge and freezer doors were open, spewing cold air. Cans and bottles had flown off the pantry shelves and smashed on the tile floor. Ray knelt down and started picking them up. He didn’t know what else to do.

“You don’t need to deal with all this right away, man,” said Liam quietly. “Let’s just go to the community center for now. You can worry about this when your parents get back.”

Ray shook his head, but he also stood up again. He felt completely at a loss.

Suddenly he lurched forward—so fast he almost lost his balance completely. Before he could steady himself, gravity seemed to change its mind, jerking him backward.

Over the rumble of the earth shaking, Liam shouted, “It’s an aftershock!”