Smoke.
Ryan jumped off the bed and pulled on his underwear.“Something’s burning down there,” he said, reaching for his jeans.“Get dressed, we’re evacuating.”
After yanking on his boots, Ryan unlocked their door and opened it to check the hallway.The moment he did the scent of smoke grew stronger, and there was a faint haze in the air.Maya and Jackson’s door opened, and Jackson stuck his head out.
“Not a false alarm,” Ryan told him.“Meet you guys outside?”
“Yeah.”Jackson slammed the door shut behind him.
Ryan ducked back inside and turned to Candace, who was pulling on a sweater.“We should go.”
Calm but decisive, his wife hurried to the dresser across the room to grab some things.“I’ll get our IDs and wallets.You get the weapons.”
Good call.Leaving live ammo in a fire wasn’t an awesome idea.He went to the closet, grabbed his jacket and the hunting gear Wade had loaned him.
Candace was pulling on her shoes when he met her at the door.“Any idea where it is or how far it’s spread?”she asked.
“Definitely on the ground floor at our end of the building.Not sure how big it is yet.”Just as he said it the emergency sprinkler system activated overhead, spraying them with cold water.
“Come on,” he said, pulling open the door, rifle in hand and the rest of his gear in the backpack slung over his shoulder.
She stepped into the hallway and turned right, toward the far end of the hall opposite where the flames were, where that stairwell would hopefully be clear.Maya and Jackson appeared behind them a few moments later.There were only four rooms per floor, and no one answered when Ryan pounded on the others, so there was no one else to warn and clear out.
The smoke grew thicker every second, the blare of the fire alarm echoing off the walls and ceiling.He moved in front of Candace as they neared the far stairwell door and opened it to check that it was safe.The lights were still on inside and the air was clearer here.
“Clear.”Ryan took the lead, with Candace behind him, then Maya and Jackson bringing up the rear.They were almost to the third floor when the stairwell door there shoved open to reveal Wade, Erin, Cam, and Dev.“This is sure an exciting wedding trip you two’ve got going on here so far,” he said to Wade.
Wade grunted and held the door for the others while holding his rifle, his own gear packed into a duffel in his free hand.“I was hoping for a lot less excitement, believe me.”
“Yeah, us too,” Devon muttered as she entered the stairwell, the soles of her running shoes slapping against the concrete steps.
Together they headed for the second floor, slowing to allow other guests ahead of them to file down the concrete steps and toward the exit on the first floor.An elderly couple wearing the resort’s robes and slippers were the first to leave the building, then a younger couple with their small daughter, followed by a middle-aged woman and her poodle.
When it was finally their turn, Ryan neared the door and glimpsed the flames at the opposite end of the building.They were already halfway up the front of it and climbing toward their room.
“We’re good.”He held the door open that led to the flagstone patio outside, watching the flames licking at the wooden exterior while Candace and the others filed past him into the open.
The moment he released the door and stepped outside, the unmistakable crack of a rifle filled the air.He froze, automatically scanning to see where it had come from.
More cracks rang out, and a bullet smashed into the front of the building two yards away from him.
Shit.
People screamed and scattered in different directions.Reacting on pure instinct, Ryan gripped his rifle and immediately turned for his wife.
Candace was already looking for cover.He caught her around the ribs and took her to the ground, shielding her with his larger body, one hand wrapped around the back of her head to protect her skull from the impact.
As they hit the hard surface of the stone patio, a hot, burning pain lanced through his right upper arm and tore across his ribs.
