Maddie stared up at Victor from the bottom of a huge pit. Nothing but dirt all around her and no way to climb out. Desperation clawed her chest.
Eric’s pasty face appeared over the edge of the hole as he stood beside Victor.
“Bury her alive.” Victor’s mouth twisted with a cruel smile.
The sound of a spade scooping dirt, and then earth rained down on her. She sputtered and coughed as Eric shoveled load after load into the hole. The soil filled her mouth and nostrils.
Lucky barked in the distance. Oh no. She had to get out. Her lungs burned as she breathed in clay dust that smelled like ashes. Clawing with renewed vigor, she dug her fingernails into the walls to try to climb out. The dog’s barking grew louder and more insistent.
Victor’s deep laugh crackled through the air and then changed to an ear-piercing screech.
Something wet and warm swiped her cheek. She opened her eyes. Lucky, front paws on the edge of her bed, barked in her face and tugged on the sleeve of her gown.
A nightmare.
She coughed and sat up. Smoke filled the room as the fire alarm screeched. Oh God. A real, live nightmare. Adrenaline spiked through her body. She sprang out of bed.
A glance at the door, and her insides quaked. Black smoke entered the hall between the kitchen and her bedroom. She’d have to pass through it to get to the front door or the fire escape in the living room. Shouldn’t the sprinkler system have gone off?
Lucky whimpered and barked frantically at her feet. She dropped to her hands and knees. That’s what she was supposed to do. Stop, drop, and roll. Only she shouldn’t roll. Not until her clothes caught on fire.
Her brain must have frozen. She was thinking crazy shit when she needed to get the hell out.
She crawled to the bathroom and yanked a hand towel off the rack. More coughs wracked her lungs as she turned on the faucet, wet the cloth, and held it over her nose and mouth. No freaking idea if that was what she was supposed to do, but she’d seen it once on a TV show she and Scott had watched together.
Scott…she might never see him again. Pain sliced her heart.
Sweat dripped into her already blurry eyes. Lucky yapped and cried by her side as she made her way to the open bedroom door. A wave of nausea rolled up from her stomach. Pitch-black smoke filled the hall. She’d have to go into it blind, even on all fours.
When she moved toward the hall, Lucky backed away, whining, but she grabbed his collar and yanked him along with her, dropping the wet rag in the process. “Don’t fight me. I have to get us out.”
Her nightshirt kept catching under her knees as she tried to hurry. It stuck to her sweaty body. She dug her fingers into the shag carpet fibers to pull herself along. The smoke got thicker, and bits of lacy, red ash flew around. Tiny pricks of pain stabbed at her back and neck as embers burned through her nightshirt. At any second the fabric could ignite and burn her alive.
If she died right here, she’d never see Scott again. Never get to tell him how godawful sorry she was for everything she’d said. And that she loved him. Always had, and always would, no matter what he did to push her away.
Someone whimpered.
Had to be her.
Lucky stiffened his front legs and tried to back out of his collar. She clenched tighter and threaded her fingers through his fur. If she let go, he’d run away and never make it out. “Come on, boy. I got you.”
Her high-pitched voice had to make the dog think she had no control.
Almost to the living room.
A round of coughs stopped her in place. She yanked her nightshirt over her nose while attempting a deep breath. She couldn’t get enough air into her lungs. The smell of burnt hair mixed with the noxious fumes from the carpet and wood.
She shot a glance at Lucky. The fur on his back was smoldering. No! She spit on the spot as best she could with a dry, parched throat. She smothered the embers, blistering her palm. “I’m sorry. Stay with me, boy. Stay with me.”
A crash sounded, and flames shot from the kitchen. A gasp escaped, followed by more coughing. Her gaze went to the bright yellow streaks licking the wall as they climbed to the ceiling. The roof could cave. She had to hurry. Alarms blared in the neighboring apartments, but still no sign of help.
With the kitchen table ablaze, she couldn’t get to the front door. She gulped. The fire escape was her only way out.
Another coughing fit kept her from moving. Precious time she didn’t have ticked away as face against the floor, she wheezed and fought for air. Pushing back up to her knees, she scrambled and dragged Lucky with her. He buried his nose against her nightshirt and let her lead him.
As she approached the couch, a section of burning ceiling tile fell. She cried out and yanked the dog back. The afghan caught fire and flames spread along the sofa.
Lucky bucked and yelped, pulling hard against the collar to be free.
“No, Lucky. Come. You have to come with me. I won’t lose you. I promise. We’re in this together.” She had to shout over the din of the flames devouring her apartment.
Hurry. She had to hurry.
Through the narrow passageway between the couch and the kitchen, she kept the dog close to her side and muscled her way past the blazing sofa. Her skin warmed, and her unruly curls wavered in front of her face, moved by the wind from the fire. If her hair caught, would she die fast or bubble and melt like a marshmallow on a stick?
No time for these thoughts. She had to keep moving.
Around the corner, with the window in sight, hope fought with hysteria.
If Scott were there, he’d tell her to focus. He always kept his cool under pressure. Never panicked.
Her heart jackhammered. Almost there. Three more feet and she’d be at the escape window. The raging heat from the kitchen seared her bare legs.
Lucky barked in absolute panic. His eyes bulged, and she had to double-lock her fingers through his collar to keep him close. “I got you. I got you.”
She sucked another cough-laden breath of heavy smoke into her lungs as they threatened to give out. She gripped him tighter, lunged for the window, and tried to yank it up.
Didn’t budge.
She had to release the dog to use two hands and fight with the window. With the inferno closing in on them, he’d stay by her side.
Unlocked, it still wouldn’t open.
Lucky whined and clawed at the glass. She let out a whine of her own and wrenched the frame up with all her weight.
Nothing.
She’d have to break it.
With a frantic glance over her shoulder, she gasped. The fire had spread across the carpet, growing stronger as it consumed the floor and walls.
She grabbed her desk chair, the only thing within reach.