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I went back in, trying to think of so to save us Dusty sheets covered stored furniture that lined the walls, and the fire was using theht to the room ere in

I backed up a few steps, and then turned to face the kids behind ainst the wall Lainey was trying to climb up the cement blocks out of pure terror

"Have you seen Abby Abernathy?" I said They didn’t hear ed me I walked up to Derek and screah me at the fire, a horrified look on his face I looked at the others They didn’t see me, either

Confused, I walked over to the wall, and ju on the ground outside, looking in Derek, Todd, Lainey, Lindsey, and Emily were still inside I tried to open the , but it wouldn’t budge I kept trying, anyway, hoping at any moment it would pop open and I could pull theain, hoping soan to wail "This is just a bad dream This is just a bad dream Wake up! Wake up!" she said over and over

"Get one of the sheets, Lainey!" Derek said "Roll it up and shove it under the door!"

Lainey scrambled to pull a sheet off a desk Lindsey helped her, and then watched Lainey shove it desperately under the door They both backed aatching the door

"We’re trapped," Todd said to Derek

Derek’s shoulders fell Lainey walked over to him, and he touched her dirty cheeks with both hands They stared into each other’s eyes Thick, black smoke snaked under the door and seeped into the room

Emily jumped for the"Lift me up, Todd! I want out! I want out of here!"

Todd watched her jump with a defeated expression on his face

"Mommy!" Emily screamed "Mommy help me!" Her eyes were trained on the , but still she looked past me

Lindsey reached out for Emily, but she wouldn’t be touched "Sssh" she said, trying to comfort her from where she stood She covered her h She looked at Todd, tears strea to die"

"I don’t want to die!" E

As the smoke filled the room I punched the , over and over The adrenaline must have been unbelievable, because I couldn’t feelevery bit of strength I had "Help me! Help!" I yelled, but no one caainst the , and the coughs and crying silenced

My eyes popped open, and I looked around I was on the plane with Abby,the armrests, and every muscle in ," Abby said She touched ht back," I said, quickly unbuckling my seat belt I rushed to the back of the plane and jerked open the lavatory door, and then locked it behindup the sink lever, I splashed water onthe drops of water slide off my face and onto the counter

They were there because of me I knew Keaton wasn’t safe, and I knew too many people were in that basement, and I let it happen I contributed to dozens of deaths, and noas on a plane to Las Vegas What the fuck rong with me?

I walked back to my seat and buckled in next to Abby

She stared at"What?"

"It’s my fault"

She shook her head, and kept her voice low "No Don’t do that"

"I should have said no I should have insisted on a safer place"

"You didn’t know that was going to happen" She glanced around,"It’s awful It’s horrific But we couldn’t stop it We can’t change it"

"What if I get arrested, Abby? What if I go to jail?"

"Sssh," she said, re me of the way Lindsey tried to comfort Emily in my dream "It won’t happen," she whispered Her eyes were focused; resolute

"Maybe it should"

CHAPTER THREE

Lucky One

Abby

When the wheels of the airplane touched down on the runway of McCarran International Airport, Travis was finally relaxed and leaning on as had been visible for the past tenI hated--and everything I wanted

Travis roused slowly, glancing out thequickly before kissing the cusp of htday"

"There’s no way I was going back to sleep after that dreaain"