Jay POV
"Jay!"
keifer 's voice echoed behind me as we ran out of the warehouse.
Cold air hit my face the second I crossed the exit.
The harbor stretched out around us, quiet except for the screaming alarms still coming from inside the building.
My lungs burned with every breath.
We had only just reached the end of the street when Keifer finally shouted for everyone to stop.
"This is far enough!"
The boys slowed, turning back toward the warehouse. Some of them bent forward with their hands on their knees, trying to catch their breath after the sprint.
But I wasn't breathing.
Not properly.
My chest felt tight, like something invisible had wrapped around my ribs and refused to let go.
Because my mind kept replaying the same moment over and over.
"Where's Hex?" he asked.
I froze.
For a second my brain refused to answer.
He still inside.
Wasn't he?
Felix looked past me toward the entrance.
"…He didn't come out."
Ci-N stepped forward, scanning the doorway.
Smoke was already starting to spill out of the building.
The timer inside flashed on one of the broken screens through the door.
00:02
Felix's eyes widened.
"Oh no."
Hex face
And his voice.
Calm.
Too calm.
"Go, Jay."
My throat tightened.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, but the memory only became clearer.
"Go."
"I'm not leaving you!"
"You don't have a choice."
The fire alarm had been screaming around us. Smoke filled the air, turning the hallway gray and suffocating.
Hex had grabbed my shoulder.
Hard.
"Listen to me," he said.
His voice wasn't joking like it usually was. There was no teasing smirk in his tone.
Just urgency.
"You need to get everyone out."
"And you?" I demanded.
He looked past me toward the spreading flames.
"I'll hold it."
My stomach had dropped.
"You can't—"
"I can," he interrupted.
Then he shoved me toward the exit.
"Go!"
Hex's last grin flashed in my mind.
"You trust me, right?"
My chest tightened.
My eyes snapped open.
The warehouse stood in front of us, quiet for a moment except for the crackling of growing flames.
My heart pounded painfully in my chest.
I looked around the group.
Keifer.
Hannah.
Carlos.
Nathan
The Section E boys.
All of them were here.
Alive.
Safe.
Because Hex had stayed behind.
My hands slowly curled into fists.
"…Where is he?"
The words came out barely above a whisper.
No one answered.
Felix's eyes lowered.
Ci-N looked back toward the warehouse with a tight jaw.
And Keifer…
Keifer didn't look at me at all.
My chest tightened further.
"No…" I muttered.
The flames suddenly burst through one of the windows with a violent rush of fire.
The heat rolled across the street like a physical wave.
Several of the boys instinctively stepped backward.
I didn't.
My eyes were locked on the building.
"No… he said he'd come out."
My voice trembled.
"He said he'd come out."
Inside the warehouse, something heavy collapsed with a loud metallic crash.
The fire surged higher.
The rising sun lit the smoke from behind, turning it into a massive black cloud stretching across the sky.
It looked wrong against the bright morning light.
Like the day itself was being swallowed.
"Charles…" I whispered.
Then it happened.
The explosion tore through the warehouse again with a thunderous roar.
The entire ground shook.
The blast wave slammed into us like a giant fist.
I barely had time to react before my body was thrown forward.
My knees slammed into the asphalt with painful force. My palms scraped across the ground as I tried to catch myself.
The air exploded with heat.
Burning wind rushed past us, carrying sparks, dust, and fragments of debris.
My mask rattled violently as the shockwave passed through.
I removed the mask.
For a moment, everything went silent.
Not actually silent.
But my ears rang so loudly it drowned out the world.
When my vision cleared, the warehouse was no longer just burning.
It was consumed.
Flames poured from the roof.
One entire section of the wall had blown outward.
Fire raged through the structure like a living monster.
My breath caught.
"No…"
The word slipped out of me without permission.
Keifer's hands grabbed my shoulders.
"Jay! Stay down!"
But I was already staring at the inferno.
My heart felt like it was tearing apart inside my chest.
"He's still in there," I whispered.
My voice trembled so badly I barely recognized it.
"He's… still in there…"
The reality crashed into me all at once.
Hex hadn't been trapped.
He hadn't fallen behind.
He hadn't gotten separated.
He had stayed.
For us.
For me.
Because I listened to him.
Because I left.
My stomach twisted violently.
I pushed against Keifer's grip, trying to stand.
"I have to go back."
"Jay—"
"He told me to go!" I shouted, my voice cracking apart. "He told me to trust him!"
The words echoed across the empty street.
Ci-N grabbed my arm.
"Jay, calm done!"
"I shouldn't have listened!" I yelled.
Tears blurred my vision.
"I should've stayed with him!"
The heat from the fire slammed into us again, forcing several of us to stagger backward.
The warehouse groaned loudly as more of its structure began to collapse.
Flames shot high into the morning sky.
It was too hot.
Too violent.
Too late.
But my body still tried to move forward.
"I have to get him!" I choked.
Yuri stepped in front of me and grabbed my jacket.
"You can't!" he said hoarsely.
"I don't care!"
"Jay!"
"Let go!" I shouted, struggling against them.
My chest heaved violently as sobs forced their way out.
"He stayed behind for us!" I cried. "He pushed me out! He told me to go!"
My voice broke completely.
"And now he's—"
I couldn't finish.
I couldn't say it.
Because saying it would make it real.
The warehouse roof collapsed inward with a thunderous crash, sending a huge pillar of sparks into the air.
The flames roared louder.
The heat pushed all of us back again.
My strength vanished.
My legs gave out.
I dropped to my knees on the asphalt.
The ground felt cold beneath my hands, but the air around us was burning.
My shoulders shook violently.
"I left him…" I whispered.
The words felt like knives in my throat.
"I left him there…"
Keifer knelt beside me, gripping my hand tightly.
"Jay… listen…"
But I couldn't hear him.
All I could see was Hex standing again.
Telling me to go.
Trusting me to get everyone out.
Trusting me to believe he would follow.
My chest ached so badly it felt like it might split open.
"I should've stayed," I whispered.
More tears fell.
"I should've stayed with him…"
Keifer place his hands firmly on my shoulders.
"Jay," he said quietly.
I didn't look up.
My gaze stayed fixed on the burning warehouse.
The morning sun rose higher behind the smoke, painting the sky in pale gold and black.
It should have been beautiful.
Instead it looked like the world was burning.
"Jay," Keifer said again, softer this time.
But I barely heard him.
Because all I could think about was one thing.
Hex had told me to leave.
And I did.
Now the warehouse was collapsing in flames.
And the boy who had saved all of us…
Was still inside.
My hands trembled as I pressed them against the pavement.
"Hex…" I whispered weakly.
"Please… come out…"
But the only answer was the sound of fire devouring the warehouse.
And in that terrible moment, kneeling in the bright morning light with tears running down my face…
I truly believed I had just left my brother behind to die.