The fire spread faster, devouring cocoons one after another as if the webs themselves were fuel.
Thick smoke poured through the corridor, burning Diane's lungs as she sprinted forward, abandoning any thought of the spider behind her.
Survival meant nothing now. Only one thing mattered.
Maria.
She slashed through flaming webs with reckless desperation, her hands shaking as sparks scorched her sleeves and ash rained down around her.
Every cocoon she passed felt like another second slipping away, another chance lost.
"No. No, no, no! She can't die!"
She tore open the nearest cocoon, ignoring the heat licking dangerously close to her face, only to find it empty. The interior had already collapsed into blackened ash, the body long gone.
"Shit!" she cursed, her voice raw.
Her mind felt like a burning wire, thoughts tangling and snapping at once. Where was the fire coming from?
