Do What It Takes to Survive

My eyes fluttered open. It looked like we were in some kind of attic. There was an old-looking wall to Gerard’s back. From the top of that wall the ceiling sloped down to meet the floor. Yep, definitely an attic. It was almost completely pitched black, except for moonlight and a red, flickering light streaming in through a small window on one of the triangle shaped walls. It was way too small to be considered an escape route. It was maybe a foot by a foot and a half.

It didn’t take time for me to figure out what the flickering light was. I knew it was fire. I could smell the smoke. I looked back at Gerard, panic stricken. He was sitting against the wall, while I was sprawled across the floor. I sat up.

His head hung low and his eyes were closed. I stared at him, concerned. “What is wrong with you? Why aren’t you doing anything?”

“There’s nothing to do,” he mumbled. “I tried kicking down all the walls. I tried untying myself, not that that would help anything. Lana, we’re going to die. Game over. Tattoo Face is done pulling off our limbs just to watch us squirm.”

I gaped at him. Then I exploded. “There has to be a way out of here! I know there just has to be a way out!”

Gerard only sighed. He gave no other indication that he had even heard me.

I tried to think. “Um… I’m good with knots.” Getting ourselves untied seemed like the key. Somehow I knew it was the first step to escape, but I cold not untie myself. Not only that, but Gerard seemed to be way too pessimistic for me to get him to untie me.

“Turn around,” I said assertively. No response. I growled and pushed his back down with my foot, making him lay on his stomach. He didn’t even struggle. It disgusted me how he had just given up. It enraged me, too. Arg! Is it possible to love someone and hate them at the same time? If not, then I’m breaking a lot of rules.

I sat by his side and felt the rope around his wrists. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t see what I was doing, because in order to get my hands anywhere near his I had to be facing away from him. I felt for the edge of the rope that was so thin it felt like string. When I finally found it, I worked on weaving it through the complicated knot.

Minutes passed, and beads of sweat broke across my forehead. Was it just me, or was it getting warmer? Was the smoke smell in my nose getting worse? The house below us was slowly burning, and time was ticking. I don’t know how I did it under so much pressure, but I finally pulled the rope away from Gerard’s wrists and smiled.

He didn’t move.

I scowled, saying, “Um, hello? I just untied you. Time to untie me.”

He opened his eyes and blinked at me. “Why? Why does it matter? We’re going to die anyways.”

I was infuriated. “You don’t know that! Sitting there and waiting to burn is just as bad as killing yourself! What happened to fighting? What happened to getting out of here?”

He closed his eyes; his face was contorted in pain. He shook his head.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I sobbed. I tried to fight it, but a tear escaped my eye and rolled down my face. More followed. “You promised!” I cried. “You promised you were going to get us out of this mess. You promised you were going to save me!”

He didn’t move for a few seconds, and tears continued to stream down my face. I was about to die, and I knew it. I wasn’t ready for death. I was supposed to have a whole life ahead of me! I squeezed my eyes shut.

Then his hands were on my cheeks. “I can’t” he said, almost whimpering. “I can’t save you.”

“Try,” I pleaded. “Please, please try.”

He sighed again, sounding exhausted. Then, miraculously, he pulled me to my feet and led me towards the window. “I need to be able to see,” he explained. “Unlike you, I don’t have the unusually useful talent of untying knots. Even with the light, I’m not promising anything.”

I didn’t answer him. It didn’t matter what he did. We just had to try. I wasn’t going down without a fight.

Minutes ticked by. The smoke in the attic thickened until my throat burned and my eyes watered. I didn’t want to remind Gerard of the pressure we were under, but… “Where is the smoke coming from? How is it getting into this room?” I asked gently.

Still, he exploded. “I don’t know!” he exclaimed. “I think that maybe there’s a fire under us and maybe smoke rises!” I didn’t respond. Suddenly he let go of the rope around my wrists, even though it wasn’t untied. Without explanation, he took off his shoe and rammed it through the little window.

Once he knocked out all the glass he could, I understood why he had done it. There was a breeze of fresh air coming through the window. Some smoke escaped through the hole. If only we could do the same.

“To buy time,” he said shortly, shaking the glass out of his shoe and slipping it back on. He returned to untying my hands. I couldn’t help but notice a few streams of blood running down his arm. I guess some of the glass had cut him.

More minutes ticked by. Finally, the ropes loosened. A few seconds later, I was free. I jumped up and hugged him.

He hugged me back, saying, “Okay, genius. How the heck do we get out of here?”

“I have no idea,” I admitted. The little door they had probably stuffed us in through wouldn’t budge. It must’ve been locked. I searched the walls with no luck. At last, I sat in the middle of the room. I put my head in my hands and started to cry again.

“You were right,” I sobbed. “We’re going to burn to death. There’s no way out.” I tried to accept death. I tried to embrace it, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t ready to die. I just wasn’t ready.

“I’m sorry,” Gerard replied softly. He came to put his hand on my shoulder, and sat next to me.

And then the floor fell out from under us.