THE SOUND HIT HIM FIRST. The wailing, high-pitched beeping.
Z’s heart raced.
His mouth went dry.
A denial sprang to his lips as he jerked his head up and opened his eyes.
Where was he?
He’d expected to see nurses rushing in to answer the alarm. But he wasn’t in the hospital. His mother was gone. The siren wasn’t for her.
Desks.
Dust.
He squinted and pushed himself up to his knees. A chunk of something fell off his back as he looked up into the bright blue sky. He was at the school, and he shouldn’t be able to see the sky.
That’s when he remembered.
“Kaitlin!” He scrambled to his feet and shoved aside a desk. Where was she? “Kaitlin?”
Maybe she ran out. Maybe . . .
He saw Kaitlin’s hair first. Then he saw the massive gray-and-black steel air conditioner that had crashed through the roof and onto her.