Time Bomb(44)

“Is she still okay?”

The boy glanced up at her, and she could see the answer in his eyes. “Her legs are crushed, and I think she’s in shock. She really needs a doctor.”

People were always going into shock on TV shows, but Cas couldn’t remember what they did when it happened.

The boy clasped and unclasped his hands. “For shock, the doctors would normally raise her legs and keep her warm, but I think it’s already too warm for her. And raising her legs might do more harm than good. Could you stay with her while I run to the classroom down the hall? I think Mr. Lott might have a stash of bottled water. She needs fluids.”

The boy raced out of the room, almost knocking Diana over as she came in, holding a backpack that she hadn’t been carrying when they were on the third floor. Diana walked over to one of the windows to see what was happening outside. A minute later, Z burst through the door with Frankie and the boy in the tux shirt right behind.

“Where’s Rashid?” Tux-Shirt Guy asked.

Cas realized he was talking about the boy who had been helping Kaitlin. “He went to a room down the hall to get water.”

“That’s good,” Z said as he went to take Kaitlin’s hand. “We have to figure out a way to get Kaitlin out of here.”

The injured girl was small, and despite the slight rise and fall of her chest, she looked dead.

Cas turned her back on the girl as the others huddled around Kaitlin’s incredibly still body and moved toward the open windows, wishing she were anywhere else but here. Looking out, she could see more fire trucks arriving and being directed toward the back of the school.

“They must be trying to get the fire under control,” Frankie said, slapping the tuxedo guy on the back. “Once they put out the fire and the bomb squad gives the all clear, they’ll be able to get us out of here. We just have to hang tight, and it’ll all be okay. Right, Tad?”

Tad shrugged off Frankie’s hand as Z said, “Did you hear that, Kaitlin? It’s almost over. We’re going to get you out of here. You just have to hang on.”

Maybe the worst was over. Cas turned and smiled at Diana, but she didn’t seem to notice. Her eyes were fixed on the emergency workers climbing the steps to the entrance below—getting ready to come through the front doors. So Cas watched them too. If they were going to be rescued, then tomorrow really was going to come, and she wasn’t sure how she was going to face it.

“I have water.” They all turned toward the doorway, where Rashid was juggling a twelve-pack of water bottles.

“We think firefighters are coming in,” Tad said as he turned away from the window. “We just have to wait, and it’ll all be—”

The cracking boom sent Cas to the ground as the building once again began to shake. Pain flared in her arm. Tears welled as outside the window, people screamed. Kaitlin moaned, and Z held her hand between both of his.

This was bad.

No. Things were already bad. This was worse, she thought, pushing up with her good arm while her injured one felt as if it were on fire. Her heart stalled, then stormed in her chest. Another bomb had gone off just when they thought they were going to be rescued. “They targeted the firefighters,” she whispered.

“You okay, Cas?” Frankie asked. “Is everyone okay?”

Tad and Diana both called out that they were unharmed. Rashid said he was fine too, but nothing was fine, Cas thought as she coughed and shook off Frankie’s attempt to help her sit up.

Smoke billowed into the room, and she coughed again. Were the firefighters still fighting the fire? Could they?

“The bomb,” Cas said, getting to her knees. “It must have been set off because the firefighters tried to come in and help us. And there could be more bombs.” Four had gone off so far. How many could be somewhere, just waiting to explode? How soon before the fire reached the survivors trapped in this room or before they breathed in too much smoke? “Close the door,” she called, but Rashid must have had the same thought, because he was already slamming it shut.

“Tad!” he yelled. “Help me wet down some paper towels and shove them under the door to block out the smoke.”

The two worked side by side, with Tad wetting the paper towels and Rashid shoving them under the door until the smoke coming in was less noticeable.

“It would also help if we opened a window,” Rashid said.

“But won’t letting oxygen in feed the fire?” Cas asked, looking out at the chaos of several injured firefighters being carried to one of the ambulances in the visitors’ parking lot.

“Breathing in smoke will be even worse,” Rashid said. “Especially for Kaitlin.”

Z didn’t have to be told twice. He slid over a chemistry table and headed for a window while Frankie made a beeline for the other one. A minute later, the latches were flipped and the windows were opened as far as they would go. Which wasn’t all that far, but it was better than nothing.

Or not, since Z stepped back and kicked hard at the window, making them all jump.

“What are you doing?” Cas asked.

“Trying to break the arm on this thing to open it farther. If the firefighters aren’t coming in to get us, we have to rescue ourselves.”

“Kicking isn’t going to break that thing,” Frankie said at the same time Cas asked, “You want us to go out the window?”