RILEY BRADY
"River's gonna die, Riley!" Luca's small voice trembles, half-cough, half-sob. He's right behind me, stumbling to keep up.
"Shut up, she's not gonna die!" I whisper-yell, clutching Liora's arm tighter. She's limp against me, gasping, her eyes rolling like she can't get air. My dagger's up in my other hand, useless against fire but I can't drop it.
I won't.
The hallway might seem free now, doesn't mean a shroud won't break through the gate and come after us.
I don't look back.
I'm too scared to look back.
"Run, Luca!" I bark, forcing my legs to move faster even though every step burns. My eyes stings, and smoke fills my lungs, but I keep shoving forward. "Stay on me! Don't stop no matter what!"
"Riley—" Luca wheezes, his hand catching the back of my shirt like he's scared I'll leave him behind.
"Just don't stop!"
Liora's wheezing so hard it's like her body's giving up.
But she walks.
There are two exits from the main hall. We round the corner, and the first one's already up in flames.
My stomach drops.
At least no shrouds are pushing through the opening yet, because if one did, with Liora and Luca at my side, I wouldn't stand a chance.
I know that.
Anne spent months forcing me to practice with this blade, saying I had to make it part of me. I thought she was being dramatic until that night in the supermarket. We'd stumbled on it by pure luck, dust choking the air, shelves rusted but still holding cans.
I didn't even hear the shrouds until I was trapped in the canned goods aisle, their claws scraping metal as they closed in.
I was shaking so bad I almost dropped the dagger. I swung anyway and somehow, I cut them down. Both of them. By the end I was on my knees, gasping, blood running hot down my stomach where one had slashed me.
The scar's still there, across my lower abdomen.
That was without the twins. Without anyone clinging to me, and screaming my name.
And it was still almost the end.
If one comes now, while I've got Liora and Luca… I can't. I can't even think about what that would look like.
I instantly drop to my knees, choking on the smoke as I hook my arm under Liora's tiny frame. Her head lolls against my shoulder.
My other arm screams from the weight, but I haul her up anyway, clutching her tight.
Her chest barely rises.
"Stay with me, baby," I whisper, though I don't know if she hears. My dagger stays clenched in my other hand, moist with sweat.
"Luca—" I whip around to him, "You have to be brave now. Like Jonah's been teaching you. You hear me? YOU RUN!"
He shakes his head, coughing hard, his hand still knotted in my shirt.
"You run!" I bark again, swallowing lumps. "You don't stop till I tell you."
His chin trembles, but he nods.
I stagger forward, my left arm is on fire from carrying Liora.
The hall forks left, and I take it, praying I remember right. This path should lead to the west side. The air's no better, smoke everywhere, unbearable heat, but at least no fire yet.
Luca's feet slap the tiles behind me, keeping up.
The hall narrows, turns again.
My vision swims, lungs screaming for air.
I bite down on panic and push through.
And then, I see it.
The exit. Iron door, shut tight. No flames, and no smoke filtering through.
I freeze, heart pounding.
It looks almost like a trap waiting for us.
But Liora wheezes in my arms, limp and Luca's doubled over by my side, coughing so hard he can't even say my name again.
I don't have a choice.
They need air.
They need out.
I ease Liora down and shove them back toward the wall, away from the direction of the door. Luca drops to his knees beside her, both of them gasping.
"Stay here," I manage to say through the burns of my throat.
My eyes stings and I can barely see.
And all I can think about is them. Four years old, both of them, fighting to breathe in smoke thicker than the dark.
I think about Liora's smile when I brought her a half-crushed pack of Oreos from the ruins of a store. How she broke them in half to share with Luca, chocolate smeared on her face like it was the best feast she had ever seen.
I think about her little blue eyes, always wide and bright. The dimples that she and Luca both carry, showing up even in the smallest grin.
I hear Liora's little voice asking me when she'll be big enough to go on food raids with the "grown ups," like I'm one of them. Like I'm not just fourteen, trying to keep up.
Now all I can hear are my little siblings choking on their breaths, and I can't stop it.
The sobs wreck through me as I remember River's green eyes and the panic in Luca's voice when he says she's going to die.
My heart feels like it is splitting open and the tears in my eyes stings more than the smoke.
I reach for the door, blinded.
It rattles but I don't care.
The knob burns against my palm but I don't let go.
The next second, fire explodes.
The blast hurls me back, slamming me across the hallway. My skull slams the tiles and a ringing instantly goes off in my ears. Yet, I hear Luca screaming my name, I hear Liora gasping for me.
Yet, I clutch my stupid dagger in my hand.
I can't get my body to move right with the whole world spinning.
Fire roars, eating the door, spilling heat down the hall.
For a second I think this is hell. Maybe we already died and this is where we ended up.
I push myself up, staggering halfway to my feet before the dizziness drags me back down.
The last thing I see before it all goes black is a man walking straight through the flames, and the twins kneeling beside me, tears shining in their eyes.
But the only thing I always remember is half of an Oreo, split between two little hands.