Half the court was filled with screaming figures, the front doors blocked by a wave of bodies. The gym had transformed into a death trap, cattle driven through it, trapped within its walls.
They needed to get out. Now.
Ana looked around desperately. They were on the furthest side of the gym from the front doors, with a wall of people blocking their way. They would be the last ones out, assuming they made it in time. She looked at the flames now burning wildly across the rafters. Large panels of roofing were peeling back; pieces dropped to the floor in flames. Kids scattered beneath them, screaming.
It was happening so fast. Too fast.
Panic coursed through her. They would have to rununderneaththe fire. The whole roof was burning. What if it collapsed on them? They would be trapped. There was nowhere to go—there was no time.
There had to be another way out. She grabbed Danny’s hand.
“There’s another door. A fire door.” Danny looked at her, confused. She pointed behind them, at the door to the locker rooms and back hallway. “There’s a fire exit at the end of the hall. We can get outside from there!”
It went against every instinct to head in the opposite direction to everyone else, but they were already here. The fire exit was so close—just through the door. They could make it. They would be outside in moments.
Danny nodded. He understood. He turned and ran to the back door, pushing through it, Ana at his heels.
The air in the hallway was black with smoke. Coughing and spluttering, eyes burning, they made their way to the end, feeling their way along the walls, until they found the fire door. Relieved, they slammed into the panic bars. The door cracked open, but then stopped. Something was blocking it. Danny shoved it hard, rattling it. Something on the outside held firm.
“Fuck! Ana, help me!” Both of them crashed their shoulders against the door, together. Over and over. It wouldn’t budge. Through the crackthey could see a heavy chain padlocked between the handles. There was no way they could break through it.
The smoke was unbearable; Ana’s throat was burning with every choking breath. The hallway seemed to be getting hotter and hotter. The fire must be getting closer.Was it in the hallway?They had to get out. Now. They had to.
She banged on the door. Through the glass panel, they could see the dark night outside, figures moving, staring at their trapped faces, pointing. So near, but so far.
“Help us!” Ana shouted to them. “Please!”
“Open the door!” Danny rattled hard on it. Useless.
The figures moved closer, pulling at the chain on the other side. It wouldn’t budge. Scared faces, heads shaking desperately, voices.
“We can’t open it!” “We’ll get help.” “Just stay there.”
Just stay there…? Where the hell else were they supposed to go?
A wave of intense heat caught the back of Ana’s neck. Slowly she turned, terrified to look back. The fire was at the far end of the hallway, fingers of flame reaching, burning towards them. The air was unbreathable; they were choking, coughing, gasping for air. They didn’t have time to wait.
The door back to the gym was blocked by the flames now. There was no way out, short of running through the fire. They were trapped.
The locker room.
There were windows in there. Weren’t there? Ana wasn’t sure. She tried to focus, to concentrate, to picture the locker room in her mind. Yes! There was daylight. She was sure of it.
“Locker room. We need to get to the locker room!” Ana tried to shout, her voice stolen by the roar of the flames. She broke into a spasm of coughing as she pointed desperately behind them. With every breath she was inhaling more smoke, less air, her chest burned.
Danny shook his head.
“No. They’ll come. They’ll open the door.”
Flames filled half the hallway now, violently lashing around, racing through the space. It was like nothing Ana had ever experienced. Wild, terrifying, consuming. Closer and closer. A lick of flame brushed over her. She smelled the hairs on her arm burn. They were going to die if they stayed here.
“Danny, we can’t wait!” Ana forced the words out, forced them through the coughing. “A window…in the locker room.A window.”
“No. They’ll come.” Danny shook his head, turning back to the door, rattling on it, clinging to the handles.
Ana grabbed his T-shirt, turning him to face her. She had to make him understand.
“Danny—we’ll die here. You need to trust me.”
