Girls Save the World in This One - Ash Parsons Page 0,77

is palpable.

“Go on, June,” Imani says, giving me a nod.

Cuellar lets out a curse, but he props himself against the wall and crosses his arms.

“What do you think, June?” Siggy encourages me.

I take a deep breath, and try to ignore the way that Cuellar’s lip curls as he listens.

“Here’s what I know,” I start again. “We made it up here, we found our friends and tried for a signal. We don’t have one, and we can’t see anything from those windows. As for the roof access, we can’t locate it unless we want to fight a bunch of zombies while we look.”

Siggy shakes her head, a gesture echoed by Mia and Annie.

“Right,” I continue. “But we’re in the stairwell now. We can make it all the way down to the first floor in safety. If the exhibit hall is locked like the scientist said, we can maybe make it to the atrium and the front doors.”

Cuellar’s lip has stopped curling. His eyes are sharp, calculating.

“I know Cuellar saw zombies when he looked down the escalator, but that was right after it all started. Maybe they were drawn up to the second floor. If any are left, maybe we could fight our way out past them. Or sneak past them! I think we should head down to the ground floor, and try to get out the front doors.”

“But what if they’re locked, like the scientist said?” Mia asks.

“Maybe they are,” I concede. “But maybe not. I think there’s a team of people trying to contain this infection.”

I turn to Siggy.

“Remember those people in hazmat suits?” I ask her.

“Those were cosplayers, weren’t they?” Siggy asks, turning her luminous eyes from me to Imani to Blair. “Weren’t they?”

“No way to tell, I guess,” I say. “But I don’t think so. Not with all this.”

My hand swirls around—an all-encompassing gesture that takes in the whole mess we’re in.

“If there is a government agency here trying to contain the infection, they’ll have a triage area set up. Like in the show. Remember? There’ll be hazmat gear, scanning sections, probably secure trucks or whatnot—but they will have a plan that could be in action right now! They’re probably out there as we speak!”

My heart suddenly thunders in my chest at the thought of it: freedom, safety, and my mom coming to get me.

My mom? Oof. I better not think of her, or my dad. Or even Summer, far away at college. Is she safe? She has to be.

If I keep thinking of her and my parents, I’ll start to bawl, and Cuellar will stop listening to me.

Ugh.

“Maybe it is as simple as the chosen exit point is the front door. Maybe we’ll get there, and the doors will be unlocked, will be the exit point, and we can get out.”

“Or maybe not,” Blair says, but her voice is not needling. It’s just firm.

“Or maybe not,” I agree. “In which case we break out.”

I point at Imani’s disc-weighted microphone base.

“We take out the glass. We can grab another fire extinguisher. We bash the hell out of the glass.”

“What if it’s shatterproof?” Janet asks.

“All glass is breakable,” Imani says. “Shatterproof just means it won’t pulverize or break jaggedly.”

“Oh yeah?” Cuellar pops off the wall. “What about bulletproof glass?”

“There’s no such thing as bulletproof glass,” Imani explains. “The correct term is bullet resistant, but all glass breaks. Besides which it’s mostly used for armored vehicles. The glass in the building is probably just extra thick and shatterproof.”

We stare at her, my gorgeous, brilliant friend. I feel like our collective demeanor is either impressed, confused, or fondly amused by her.

Imani waves her coral-tipped fingers in a let-me-get-through-this-quickly twirl.

“I know because I like studying the—” she begins to explain.

“It’s okay, don’t hurt yourself,” Mia interrupts, cocking a hip out. “You’ve got my vote.”

“So, we break the glass,” Rosa says. “But then the zombies can get out,