A car door slammed. Then another. Movement. Music. The radio? Yes. The call letters of the local station she always listened to as the deejay promised ten songs in a row. Emily inhaled, tried to analyze the smells. Her SUV?
She licked her lips. Moaned. Told herself to wake up!Open your eyes!
Her stomach roiled and bile rose in her throat. She swallowed it back. Had no idea how much time passed with the car moving ... her head throbbing with pain so sharp she had to breathe shallowly to fight it. She floated in and out of awareness.
The forward momentum ceased with jarring force.
She groaned at the ache in her head.
A door slammed. The sound reverberated inside her skull, causing ripples of pain.
Silence.
Another thump ... like the trunk closing.
Water sloshed on her clothes. Emily tried to open her eyes again ... tried to reach up and block the splashing but couldn’t make her arms move.
Not water, her mind argued,chemical ... gasoline?
Her heart stumbled.
Get up!
Her body was too heavy. She couldn’t move.
But the car was moving ... rolling. Or was it?
Smoke?
She smelled smoke.
Get up!
Metal smashed; something popped as she lunged forward. She flopped onto the floor.
Had she crashed?
Was there a fire? She could smell something chemical ... something burning. Her throat convulsed. She coughed. “Ms. Wallace? Emily?”
Was someone in the car with her?
Was she even still in the car?
Her head hurt so bad ... her lids felt too heavy to budge. Her lungs burned. The darkness tugged at her. She needed to go there ... escape the pain.
“Ms. Wallace, this is Safe&Secure. Our monitors indicate that your airbags have deployed. Can you hear me, Ms. Wallace?”
Emily tried to answer the woman, but her mouth wouldn’t form the words.
“Ms. Wallace, if you can hear me, don’t be afraid. We’re sending help. Our monitors also indicate there may be a fire in the passenger compartment. Can you move, Ms. Wallace? Can you get out of the vehicle?”
Fire?
Fear detonated along Emily’s nerve endings, sending a surge of lifesaving adrenaline through her veins, urging her body to react. To move.
She forced her eyes to open. Couldn’t focus. Her lungs seized and her head spun. She coughed and gagged.
“Can you hear me, Ms. Wallace? I can hear you coughing ... Ms. Wallace?”
