"It reacts to fire… huh?" Siris said under his breath.
"We don't know that for sure," Michael spoke.
"We saw it avoid the flames," I said, forcing my voice steady. "That's something. Better than standing here waiting to die."
I looked at them quickly. "Does anyone have a lighter? Anything?"
"I don't—!"
Siris didn't finish.
A tentacle tore through the air.
It missed his head by inches, slicing fabric instead of flesh. Siris stumbled back, barely keeping his balance.
The creature didn't target siris specifically.
It was rampaging.
Tentacles lashed out wildly—walls, bodies, screams blending together. It no longer cared who moved and who didn't.
We had no choice.
"We split up!" Michael shouted over the chaos.
"I'll get fuel. Siris—come with me."
Siris hesitated, eyes flicking to me, fear raw on his face. Then he turned and ran with Michael.
"I'll find a lighter!" Xylia yelled, disappearing into the crowd.
And suddenly—
I was alone.
Am i the only one who has nothing to do? Am i rendered useless now...
A tentacle brushed my sleeve, cold and slick. I froze for half a second—then ran.
Thinking could come later.
Surviving came first.
*
Students shoved past me—some screaming, some crying, some already silent on the floor.
Ms. Lyra.
She had to have it. I'd given her the lighter earlier in the hallway.
If she was—
No. Don't think that.
I pushed forward, heart pounding, lungs burning.
Then I saw her.
She stood among a group of students, trying to keep them calm even as her hands shook. Sweat clung to her hairline. Her voice wavered, but she didn't stop speaking.
"Ms. Lyra!" I screamed. "Ms. Lyra!"
She didn't hear me at first. The shelter was drowning in noise.
I forced my way closer.
"MS. LYRA! DO YOU HAVE THE LIGHTER I GAVE YOU?"
She turned sharply.
"Xylia?!" Relief flickered across her face. "Are you hurt?"
"No—please, do you have it?"
She hesitated, then nodded, pulling it from her pocket.
"Yes. But why—what are you planning to do?"
"We're going to burn it," I said. The words sounded insane out loud.
"If we don't try, everyone here is dead."
Her expression hardened.
"Absolutely not. That's reckless. You're children—"
"Ms. Lyra," I interrupted, voice breaking despite myself.
"We're already dying. Please. There's no time. We can't go down without putting a fight atleast!"
She opened her mouth to argue—
Then the shelter shook.
A scream cut off abruptly.
Ms. Lyra closed her eyes for a second.
"…Fine," she said.
"But I'm coming with you. I won't let you face that thing alone."
For the first time since the door broke—
Hope sparked.
"Thank you," I whispered.
I turned, gripping the lighter tightly.
"This way."
And we ran—
Towards the direction of that thing. The place where we are meant to meet up.