Time Bomb(40)

Cas didn’t respond, and her dark hair was hanging in front of her face, so Diana couldn’t see what she might be thinking. She just clutched the bag tighter, making Diana really wonder what was inside.

“Diana, could you come help us?” Frankie yelled.

Cas’s bag would wait.

Turning, she asked, “What do you want me to do?”

“You’re going to pull Kaitlin out once the air conditioner is lifted,” Frankie told her. “We won’t be able to hold it very long.”

“Give me the tape and the paper towels and a sec to get ready.” Trying not to look at Kaitlin’s pale face, Diana ripped several long strips of duct tape off the roll with her teeth and hung them from the leg of an overturned chair. She then stacked paper towels nearby.

“Here,” Z said, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it to her. “You can use this, too.”

“Okay,” she said, putting her hands under Kaitlin’s slight shoulders and wishing she wasn’t in charge of this part. But it wasn’t as if Cas was up to the challenge.

“Are you ready, Kaitlin?” Z asked. Kaitlin clenched her teeth, shut her eyes tightly, and nodded as Z wedged his board in the space between the floor and the metal near the end of the air conditioner. He stood on one side, while Frankie stood on the other. They set themselves, and Frankie yelled, “Here we go. One. Two. Three.”

The guys grunted and pushed down on the lever. The box edged up. Diana dug her fingers into Kaitlin’s armpits and held her breath as it moved again. Then she pulled.

Kaitlin screamed, and Diana almost let go. Kaitlin was still being crushed. The boys groaned, and the box edged up a fraction of an inch more. Diana tugged again. Kaitlin let out another yelp as Diana pulled her backwards.

“She’s free!” Frankie yelled as the air conditioner crashed back to the ground. He quickly helped Diana wrap Z’s shirt and paper towels around her legs while Z bound the makeshift bandages with duct tape.

“Now, does anyone have an idea of how we can get out of here?” Frankie asked.

“We could go back down the way I came up,” Diana said, trying not to look at Kaitlin’s injuries as they worked. But it was hard not to. There was some blood coming from a puncture in one of her thighs, but not as much blood as Diana had feared there would be. Still, the shape and odd angle of both of Kaitlin’s legs made it clear the damage inside them was severe. Frankie wrapped ripped pieces of T-shirt and paper towels around the puncture wound to stop the bleeding, then told Diana to look for something they could use for splints.

“I’ve got it,” Z said, grabbing two pieces of splintered two-by-fours off the ground before Diana had a chance to move.

Every second that Frankie and Z spent winding duct tape around the splints felt like an hour.

Diana checked the time on her phone and shoved it back into her pocket.

Hurry up, she thought. They had to hurry up if they were going to get—

A loud boom shook the building. As Frankie shoved her to the floor, all Diana could think was that they were too late, as somewhere a third bomb was exploding.





12:41 p.m.





Tad





— Chapter 34 —


THERE WAS A FLASH, and everything exploded.

Tad slammed to the floor.

Metal lockers flew open.

The ceiling fell from above.

He put his arms over his face. A blast of heat seared his skin and his lungs as he inhaled the scorching air. Somewhere, someone screamed. There was another rumble, and the screaming stopped.

His heart leaped into his throat, and he scrambled to his knees. A hand appeared in front of his face. He didn’t think twice before grabbing it and letting Rashid haul him up. Together, they bolted down the side hallway. The shaking floor made them stumble, but they stayed on their feet and raced back to the side of the school where they’d come from.

It wasn’t until they reached the end of the next hall, near one of the collapsed stairwells, that they stopped running. Tad’s lungs were on fire. He gulped air, and when he coughed, he tasted soot. His ears rang. Beside him, Rashid sank to the floor and put his head in his hands.

And that’s when it hit Tad. Rashid might not like him, but he had made sure Tad had gotten out of harm’s way. It was hard to believe that someone who was involved with this would have cared if he’d gotten caught in the blast. Not that Tad had really thought Rashid was behind any of this. Not really. He just wished Rashid had told him who he had called.

Tad shook the ringing out of his ears and pushed the thought to the side. All he really knew was that they were back where they had started. Still stuck in this hellhole, with God only knew how many more bombs ready to go off at any minute.

“If we get out of this, I owe you for saving my life.” Tad’s throat burned. The water dripping in the distance taunted him. He would sell a piece of his soul for a drink of cold water.

Rashid slowly rose to his feet. He frowned as he looked up and down the hall as if searching for something.

“The smoke’s getting thicker,” Tad said, breaking the silence.

Finally, Rashid said, “I think we should find a fire extinguisher.”

Tad laughed. “You think a fire extinguisher is going to put out that?” He pointed down the hall at the black smoke billowing their way. “Are you crazy?”