The Other Side of Greed (The Seven Sins #5) - Lily Zante Page 0,113
attorneys and have as many corrupt officials in your pocket as you see fit, but we’ll stand up to you at every turn.”
“I don’t want it, Kyra. I don’t want anything, but you.”
A scream from the tables catches both our attention, and I run. But the smell of smoke in the air sends shivers up my spine. I look around frantically. Flames spiral out from the bottom of the factory floor.
“The factory’s on fire!” I scream, running towards it.
“Noooooooooooooo!” Fredrich’s voice behind me starts a chorus of people screaming and shouting. Cries of “Call the fire department!” chase me all the way to the factory.
Heat rolls up and through the air, making it harder to breathe.
A fire in the factory?
Our products. The supplies.
Our people. The blood in my veins freezes. Surely there’s no one in there now? And then I remember Dayna. She usually works late. “Is anyone in there?” I scream, rushing towards the main door, my mind a riot of confusion.
“My kids!” Yvette’s piercing scream cuts through the air and sears into my chest.
“What?” I yell. “Your kids are in there?”
She’s a blubbering, stuttering mess. Shivering and shaking, she can’t even get her words out. People have gathered around, a group of them, poised to go in, but the flames are licking out of the ground floor. “My kids!” Yvette cries, screaming again.
Simona’s face wears a haunted look. “Someone said they went to the storeroom to fetch water bottles.”
“Both of them?” Brad yells. Incredulity stretches across his features.
“Stefan and Holly, they went in together,” someone else confirms.
In the heat and confusion of the moment, people are bringing blankets and pouring water onto the flames, as if that might help. We can’t get to the fire extinguishers inside because we can’t get into the building. Flames fan and lick around the entrance.
Yvette screams, and people panic and yell. Commotion fills the air with chaos. I throw a blanket around myself and rush towards the door, determined to get to the children. But someone pulls me back hard and pushes me into the crowd. Before I can say anything, Brad disappears in front of me, through the flames.
Chapter Fifty
BRANDON
My arm hurts. I can’t lift it. Everything hurts. My back and sides feel numb. But I can move my toes. At least it’s something. It must mean that I’m not dead.
“You were injured in the fire. You have first, second and third degrees burns, and you’re suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.”
Something fell on it, something heavy. I didn't even feel the heat inside that furnace. Smoke, the smell, couldn't breathe, couldn't see, but I knew the kids were in there and I wasn’t going to let them down.
I wasn’t going to let them die.
They were crouched on the floor, at the far wall. I screamed out to them, realized that fear had paralyzed them. That’s when I scooped the boy up in my arms and was trying to put the girl’s arm around my waist so that I could somehow drag her out. That’s when Fredrich showed up, and grabbed her.
I remember the desperate urge to survive. To make it out with all of us. We forced our way through the thick wall of smoke, coughing, struggling to breathe, my arm on fire. And then I made it out and collapsed onto a heap on the ground.
I now look around the large clinical looking room and see a doctor looking at her clipboard. “I want to go home,” I announce.
“You're suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation, and you have third degree burns on your shoulder, sir. You’re not going anywhere.”
“I'm not staying here.” I wince as I try to sit up. A sharp pain shoots through my shoulder. My whole body hurts, but the pain in my shoulder is as if someone has hacked a machete through it. Still, I am not staying here. “No.” I pant through the pain, while attempting to turn enough to put my feet on the floor.
“What do you think you're doing?” Kyra stands with a look of displeasure on her face. She has a bottle of water in one hand, and a backpack. “Is he being difficult again, Doctor?”
“I hope you'll have better luck in persuading him. He can’t go home. He’s at an increased risk of infection and he needs to be under observation.”
Kyra lifts the bottle to her lips and takes a gulp before screwing the lid on. “Don’t worry. He's not going anywhere.”