Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Still riding that wave of adrenaline, I turn and dash through the flames, cutting around fallen shelving units and debris engulfed by fire. The smoke is growing thicker, and the ceiling above me is cracking and popping louder and more ominously. Time is running out.
“Keep calling out!”
I hear her again, her voice weak but panic-stricken. The thick veil of smoke in front of me swirls and parts briefly, and I catch a glimpse of a woman lying on the ground, her leg pinned beneath a fallen metal rack. She sees me and raises her hand to me, her eyes wide, her face blackened by the smoke, pleading for help. I rush over to the woman and quickly assess the situation. A sharp crack above me is loud enough to make me flinch. It sends a shower of sparks and small bits of debris down over us, and the woman is on the verge of panicking.
“Please, help me,” she cries, her voice shaking wildly.
“What’s your name?” I ask, trying to calm her down.
“Gloria.”
The rack she’s pinned under is big and heavy. Getting her out from underneath it isn’t going to be easy, and I’m suddenly regretting my decision to send Darnell packing. I could really use his help right now.
“Okay, Gloria, I’m going to lift this rack off your leg,” I tell her. “And when I do, I need you to pull yourself out from under it. Do you understand?”
Her face is etched with terror, but she’s trying to hold it together. As the ceiling above us groans like it’s in agony, she nods quickly.
“Good girl,” I say encouragingly. “Okay, let’s get ready. On three. One…”
She grits her teeth, pain racking her face.
“Two…”
Gloria braces herself, readying for what is likely going to be a painful experience for her.
“Three.”
Using all the strength in my legs, I clench my jaw and growl as I lift. The rack is one heavy son of a bitch and barely moves. Racked by pain, Gloria screams. I’m starting to worry I’m not going to be able to get her out of this and that we’re both going to die here. Tightening my grip, a loud cry bursts from my mouth as I double my efforts and yank upward. Nothing happens at first, but then I feel the rack slowly coming off the ground. One inch. Then two. It feels as if I’m fighting gravity itself, but the rack agonizingly slowly comes up.
“Now, Gloria,” I growl. “Pull yourself out. Now. Let’s go, go, go.”
The woman screams in torment as she pulls herself out from under the metal rack. When she’s clear, I drop it and the rack hits the concrete floor with a resounding clang. I see blood on her leg, but with the cascade of sparks and flaming debris falling faster all around us, I know we’re just about out of time and don’t have time to check her out.
“This is going to hurt,” I tell her. “You need to suck it up so we can get out of here.”
She nods and tries to stifle her cries as I scoop her up. Her face is tight. Strained. And tears cut clean lines through the blackened soot that stains her face. Carrying her in my arms, I hustle back toward the entrance, the thunderous crash of the building coming down in flaming heaps ringing in my ears. I come around a corner so fast, I nearly run into Darnell, who’s rushing back in. He makes me stop so short, I almost drop Gloria, eliciting a sharp yelp of pain from her.
“What the fuck are you doing here? I ordered you—”
“Give me the woman,” he cuts me off. “Now. We need to go, Hunter. We need to go now!”
Without waiting for me to reply, he snatches Gloria out of my arms, turns, and sprints for the door. Deep down, I’m grateful he came back. He’s got a ten-yard headstart on me and is moving fast, so I get my ass moving. Up ahead of me, I feel a rush of satisfaction when I see Darnell, with Gloria in his arms, plunge into the safety of the bright sunlight beyond the doorway.
I’m just a few yards from the safety of the fresh air and sunshine myself when a roar so powerful and deafening fills my ears. It’s such a violent sound that it shakes the ground beneath me and rattles my very bones. My stomach lurches and fear, something I don’t often feel, overwhelms me. All at once, the heat of the flames consuming the world all around me intensifies, growing hotter as a deluge of debris cascades down over me, knocking me to my hands and knees.
The weight on my back is enormous, smothering, and the heat is rapidly growing unbearable. I try to get to my feet, knowing if I don’t, I’m going to die. The crack that sounds above me reverberates in my ears, sounding loud and strong enough to be the world splitting open. I turn my head just in time to see what looks like the sky falling down on me. The weight that lands on me is crushing, forcing the breath from my lungs, and steals the last of my strength.