There is silence... A deafening silence. The kind of silence in an exam room or the silence after a gunshot. A silence that creeps in and chills you from the bone; eats away at your soul. There is silence.

My ears ring, a dull drone. Cautiously, I lift my head, I'm covered in soot with smoke scratching at my throat. Everything and everyone is still and lifeless. Bodies scattered across the blood-soaked carpet. Rows upon rows of dead youth. Then there is a movement. A twitch of a muscle. Evidence someone is alive. Evidence I'm not alone. I swivel around, my heart pumping viciously at my chest, as though the speed is gonna help.

I see her, lying there on her side. Eyes closed but chest rising, she lets out a...