Page 26 of Sinner's Salvation

God damn it.Was he safe? He’d better be safe. She had a lot of questions for him, about the ring he wore, and what Evan knew about her. About why he chose to help her.

First, she had to make sure Brian and these two young idiots got out safely.

“I think that time has come,” she said, as she bent over, trying to find some clean air to drag into her lungs.

The first guard darted a look around the destruction and smoke, then his expression settled into certainty. “Let’s go,” he ordered. He backed up a few steps, his partner following him. Then he gestured with his weapon to indicate they should come out of the room.

Anna stepped out with Brian beside her. The two guards took up positions, one in front, the other in back, all of them hunched over to stay out of the smoke.

No one had to urge them to walk fast. The fire was spreading quickly enough to alarm even her.

They rushed down the hall, slowing down only when visibility was so reduced that they literally couldn’t see what was in front of them. There was no one else in the hallways. Everyone must have evacuated or left via other exits.

Still no sign of Evan.

They turned a corner, and there was an exit, just fifty feet and one set of doors away. They hurried toward it, and Anna could see relief on Brian’s face out of the corner of her eye.

They were going to make it out.

Movement above her had her glancing up. A black river of smoke hugged the ceiling, racing toward the exit ahead of them. Heat radiated from it, growing hotter and hotter, beating against her skin. But as they approached the exit doors, the smoke slowed down.

It should have been sucked outside, but instead it rolled like waves crashing against the shore. As if the doorframe was airtight. As if the world outside the building didn’t exist.

Her gut twisted into that black hole she’d been trying to avoid.

She’d seen this before, and it terrified her like no hail of bullets ever could.

If those doors were opened, introducing all that fresh oxygen to the space, it would cause another explosion. A natural one, but just as deadly as any designed bomb.

A backdraft or flashover.

It would kill them all, leaving not much more than ash behind.

“Wait,” Anna called to the guard in front of them, leading the charge to the exit.

He showed no sign that he’d heard her.

She surged forward and tugged on his body armor.

He spun around, raising his weapon.

She put her hands up to show she wasn’t a threat.

“Wait,” she said, pointing at the door in front of them. “Look at the pattern of movement in the smoke. If you open that door, the injection of fresh oxygen will cause an explosionin here.”

He whipped his head around, stared at the doors, then turned back to her. “If we don’t go out that door, we’re going to die of asphyxiation,” the soldier said. “If the heat doesn’t kill us first.”

He was right. Neither choice would get them out alive.

She could probably survive it, though it would likely cause injuries so severe she’d want to die.

She glanced up again and noticed something strange about the ceiling. A growing bulge ballooned out, right above the guard at their rear.

If it broke open...

“Move,” she screamed at him. She leapt toward him, hoping to push him out of danger in time.

He resisted her for a moment, holding her off with one hand while he brought his weapon up with the other.

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