Chapter Twenty-Four

 

 

 

Shane

 

“Really, Laura. Sunglasses?” I say, shaking my head as she climbs into the Jeep’s passenger seat. Her disregard for her own safety is actually beginning to concern me.

“What? There are lots of girls in Karkonia who are pale with long black hair. No one’s going to recognize me.” She shrugs, buckling her seat belt. Even though I don’t think she’s being safe, I pull the Jeep out of the rebel parking lot and onto the road. Alicia has invited us to her house to discuss our plan of action following the Emperor’s speech, and we need to get going or we’re going to be late.

“You were on national television yesterday. Your father wants you captured, dead or alive. Somehow, I don’t think slapping on a pair of sunglasses is an appropriate disguise.”

“I dare any imbecile trying to please my father to come try to kill me. I’ll tear them apart.”

“I feel like I need to remind you that you were shot two weeks ago.”

“And?”

“And you’re still recovering?”

“Then whoever comes after me will look all the more pathetic when I destroy them.”

“Whatever you say, Laura,” I say, giving up. Some fights you just can’t win.

“Whatever I say is right. Are we almost at Alicia’s?” she asks, yawning and leaning her head back against the seat.

“Yeah, it’s just down this street,” I say as we turn the corner.

“Oh my…” Laura whispers, putting her hand over her mouth. “Shane, look.”

“At what?” I ask.

That’s when I see the flames.

“Stop the car, Shane,” Laura says, opening the passenger door. Quickly, I bring the Jeep to a halt and put it in park. Before I can even unbuckle my seat belt, Laura is out and staring in shock at Alicia’s burning house. I can tell she’s stunned, but I know her well enough to know what she will do as soon as she snaps out of her initial reaction.

“Laura, wait!” I shout, climbing out of the driver’s seat then grabbing her arm, just as she starts to bolt toward the house.

“Let me go!” she shouts, tugging herself free from my grasp.

“No. I’ll go inside and find everyone. You stay out here and call for help. Take the Jeep and get Ryan if you have to. You’re still healing. It isn’t safe for you to do this.”

“It isn’t safe for you either!”

“Okay, Laura, I think it can be assumed that running into a burning building isn’t really safe for anyone. But I’m not recovering from a severe injury, and you are. I don’t want to have to watch over you and attempt to locate multiple people. Stay here.”

Surprisingly she nods and gives me a quick hug. I place my cell phone in her hand and turn to face Alicia’s house.

“If you’re not back out of there in ten minutes, I’m coming in after you,” she says.

“Okay. Not a moment sooner. Call Ryan,” I reply, then take off for the door. Every step I take toward the house leaves me feeling warmer, until I have reached the door and the heat is nearly unbearable. The smoke is thick, and I cough as I knock it down with a strong kick.

The living room greets me in its normal state, as the fire hasn’t spread here yet. Yet is the key word. Quickly, the fire begins creeping toward the doorway, and I hurry into the hallway, hoping to find Alicia there.

“Alicia! Mira!” I shout, crouching so that I breathe in less smoke. “Hello?”

I hear a faint sound coming from Mira’s bedroom, and I kick open the door. Flames have engulfed half of the room and I feel the heat on my face as soon as I walk in.

“Help,” I hear a weak voice whisper, and I turn to find Alicia huddling in a corner with Mira wrapped tightly in her arms.

“Okay, okay. I’m here. I’m going to help,” I say, taking Mira from Alicia. The little girl’s eyes are closed and she’s covered in blood, but she’s still alive. The flames move closer to us, and I take Alicia’s hand and raise her to a standing position. “Put your arm around me and I’m going to help you guys get out of here.”

Alicia nods and leans on me for support. When we exit the room, flames dot the hallway, and it has become like a maze to escape this fire. Carrying Mira and most of Alicia’s weight, I stumble through the smoke and flames, coughing as I fight my way to the front door. I don’t stop until we’ve reached the neighboring yard. Alicia collapses into the grass, and I carefully place Mira next to her before I fall onto my hands and knees, coughing.

“Shane!” Laura shouts, running toward me. “Shane, are you okay? Medics are here—”

“Alicia and Mira need them. I’ll be fine.” I cough.

“There are enough for all of you,” Laura says, sitting down next to me. “You need help too.”

I look over to where Alicia lies and find that a medic is already loading her onto a stretcher, putting an oxygen mask over her nose. Beside me, someone is giving CPR to little Mira.

“Okay. I need help too,” I agree. Within a few moments, a medic has brought me an oxygen mask matching Alicia’s. Finally, my breath returns to me, and I lay my head on Laura’s shoulder for a moment.

“We’re transporting Alicia and Mira back to base immediately,” I hear one of the medics say to Laura, whose arm is now protectively around me. “They’re both in critical condition. You two should drive the Jeep back and just meet us there.” I can already hear sirens in the distance, so calling in the fire is unnecessary.

“Got it,” I say, sitting back up. Hurriedly, he rushes into the back of the medic van and takes off toward the base.

“Do you think Alicia and Mira will be okay?” Laura asks, eyebrows furrowed with concern.

“I don’t know, Laura. Let’s hurry back and we can che—” I begin, but am cut off by the sound of someone’s frantic cries.

It only takes me a second to recognize the sound of the panicked voice. Isaac runs toward us, his red eyes wide with worry. “Laura! Shane! What happened? Where’s Alicia? And Mira—”

“They’re both being rushed back to base for treatment. We don’t know what happened. The fire started before we got here,” I say. “You can ride with us in the Jeep.”

Izzy blinks away tears and runs his fingers through his hair. “I just got them back. I can’t lose them again. I can’t.”

“It’s gonna be okay,” Laura says with a voice like honey, putting a hand on Izzy’s shoulder. “Let’s just hurry back and we can see what’s going on.”

Izzy nods, and the three of us hastily pile back into the Jeep. Since I am still feeling a bit out of breath, Laura drives. Giving her the keys was a bad decision. We arrive back at the base faster than I thought humanly possible, but not before jumping the curb, running seven red lights, and nearly driving into a tree.

We park the car behind the business complex and hurry to the elevator that will carry us to the twenty-ninth floor. Izzy taps his fingers against the wall nervously the whole way up, and Laura stares at nothing but her feet. When the elevator dings, both of them rush into the hallway, which is filled with more medics than usual.

Izzy rushes to one of the medics and grabs them by the sleeve. “Where are Alicia and Mira? Are they okay? I want to see them.”

The medic takes a deep breath and puts her hand on Izzy’s shoulder. “You need to stay calm.”

“Stay calm? Stay calm? No, I won’t stay calm! Tell me what the hell is going on!”

“Mira is in very critical condition right now. We aren’t sure that she’ll survive,” the medic says quietly. Izzy’s eyes widen and he shakes his head, unbelieving.

“H-How is Alicia?” he asks, his voice lowered to a whisper.

“Currently, she’s comatose. But we have high hopes that she’ll come out of it,” she says. “I’m sorry. The best thing that you can do for the both of them right now is stay calm and pray. We’re going to do everything we can to save both of them. Don’t lose hope.”

Izzy sinks to the ground, tears streaming down his pale cheeks and pounding his fists into the cold, tile floor. Beside me, Laura clasps my hand tightly and shakes her head. “This can’t be happening. It can’t.”

Instead of saying anything, I pull her into an embrace and don’t let her go. She doesn’t cry. She has shed a sea of tears in the past few weeks and I don’t think she has any left. But still, she is shaking and upset, so I run my fingers through her hair, attempting to comfort her.

Suddenly, the elevator doors ding again and Ryan steps into the chaos of the medic floor, interrupting the little moment that we were having. Laura pulls away from my embrace and gives me a small smile, a look lost to Ryan.

“Can I speak with you two for a moment?” he says, nodding for us to step back into the elevator with him. Laura and I follow him, and he quickly presses the button for the twenty-fifth floor.

“What’s going on?” Laura asks as the elevator carries us downward.

“The fire at Alicia’s house was no accident. Listen to this,” Ryan says, pulling a cell phone from his pocket.

At the press of a button, the Emperor’s voice fills the air. “Alicia was the first person to betray me, so she will be the first person I kill. As I speak, members of the guard are planting a bomb in her house. By the time you get this message, it will be too late to save her. Be warned, Ryan. Your betrayal will have consequences. This is just the beginning.”

And with everything in me, I know that this is true. The Emperor won’t stop until we’re all dead.

This is only the beginning of our certain demise.