Justin didn’t know what to do. He remembered he was supposed to stop, drop, and roll if he ever caught on fire. But he wasn’t on fire—the house was.
“Call 911,” he said aloud. But that probably wouldn’t work. Nothing worked anymore.
Suddenly a loud beeping noise. Really loud. It was upstairs. Justin covered his ears but he could still hear it.
“Justin!” It was Roger yelling from upstairs.
Then he appeared at the top of the stairs. He was choking from the smoke.
“I’m down here!” Justin yelled.
“Hang on, I’m—” Roger started coughing then. He tripped and went falling down the stairs. He fell all the way on his face. Roger hit the bottom and stopped.
Justin waited for him to get up.
“Roger. Wake up. There’s a fire!” Justin said.
The fire was coming out of the living room now. It was like it was eating the carpet and the walls. It was so hot. Hotter than an oven.
Justin started choking from the smoke. He wanted to run away.
“Roger, wake up! Wake up!”
Justin ran to Roger and tugged on his shirt. “Wake up!”
He couldn’t move Roger, and Roger did not wake up. Roger made a moaning sound and kind of moved, but then he fell back asleep.
Justin pulled and pulled and cried and the fire must have seen him there crying and pulling because the fire was coming to get him.
TWENTY-THREE
14 HOURS, 7 MINUTES
TAYLOR WAS STARTING to worry by the time she popped into the hallway outside Lana’s Clifftop home.
She would never bounce straight into Lana’s room. Everyone knew that Lana had been through an unspeakable hell. And no one believed she was totally over it.
But more than concern for Lana’s possible delicacy was deep respect and affection for her. There were far too many kids buried in the plaza. But without Lana the number would have been four or five times as high.
Taylor knocked and earned an instant barrage of loud barks from Patrick.
“It’s me, Taylor,” she called through the door.
A voice that betrayed no sleepiness said, “Come in.”
Taylor bounced in, ignoring the door.
Lana was on the balcony, back turned to her.
“I’m awake,” Lana said unnecessarily. “There’s some trouble.”
“You know about it?”
“I can see it,” Lana said.
Taylor stepped out beside her. Off to the north, up the coast, the orange glow of fire.
“Some idiot burning down their house with a candle again?” Taylor suggested.