45. Hayley

45

HAYLEY

I can’t stop shaking.

Everything around me is chaos, loud and terrifying. The train’s shaking, the fire’s crackling, and all I can hear is the sound of my parents shouting, their voices muffled by the ringing in my ears. But it’s not the noise that’s making me freeze; it’s the sight of it.

The wreckage. The twisted metal. The way the train’s engine keeps running, even though it shouldn’t be. The fire’s everywhere. I can’t breathe.

My hands are gripping the edge of the seat, and I don’t even know if I’m still on the damn train. Everything’s blurry, spinning, and I’m dizzy from all the smoke, the heat, the shock.

And then, there’s the face. A flash of it. The conductor—his body is half out of the window, and he’s not moving. His neck is twisted at an impossible angle. My stomach turns, but I can’t look away. I don’t want to look away.

I need to focus. But it’s like my body’s refusing to move, refusing to do what I tell it to. It’s not fear. It’s something else. Something cold, like I’m already dead inside, like none of this is real .

I glance around. I don’t know where Sophie is, or Malik, or anyone. At first, I see my parents scrambling, running, but they’re not running fast enough. Then they’re gone; I can’t see them anymore. The fire’s spreading. The smoke’s getting thicker.

This is a nightmare. It has to be.

I grip the seat harder. I need to find them. I need to find my sister.

The air feels heavy, like it’s suffocating me. I can’t get enough of it, and I can’t think straight. But I have to move. I have to do something. They can’t be dead. They can’t.

I push myself off the floor, my legs barely holding me up. I stumble into the aisle, and I see Mom and Dad are struggling to get out. They’re running toward the back, but they’re running into more fire, into more destruction. They’re running straight into it like it’ll save them. Like it won’t burn them alive.

My heart’s pounding so loud in my chest, I can barely hear my own thoughts. But then I hear something else. A scream.

It’s Sophie. It has to be.

I turn around, my eyes darting toward the back of the train. That’s where she was sitting. That’s where she was?—

The train jerks again, harder this time. The floor beneath me shifts, and suddenly, I’m falling.

I crash into something—someone—and for a second, everything stops. The world freezes.

It’s Sophie.

She’s there, but she’s not okay. She’s gasping for air, her face pale and bloodshot, eyes wide. She’s shaking, too.

"Hayley," she mouths, like she’s trying to make sure I’m real.

“I’m here,” I say, but no sound comes out. Everything else is too loud. "We need to get out of here.”

She doesn’t respond, but she reaches for me, pulling me toward the emergency exit. My hands are trembling, and she can barely hold me up, but that doesn’t stop her from trying. The fire’s getting closer. The heat’s suffocating. There’s no time to waste.

We don’t speak as we stumble toward the door. We don’t have time for words.

I hear someone shout—Dad, maybe. But I can’t tell who it is. The train’s groaning, creaking, like it’s about to collapse. I don’t think we’re going to make it.

But then, Malik’s there, and somehow, he’s pulling us out of the wreckage. He’s not even breathing hard. He just… moves. Fast. Like he’s done this before.

He’s not looking at us. He’s looking ahead, calculating, planning. I don’t know what’s going on in his head, but I don’t question it. Not now.

He shoves me toward the door, a hard grip on my arm. “Go,” he says. “Now.”

And before I can even process it, he’s pushing me out. The wind’s cold, the night’s freezing, and then the ground’s gone. I’m falling, falling, but I don’t scream. I don’t make a sound.

I land hard, the shock of it knocking the air out of me. But I don’t stop. I don’t look back. I just get up, run, and keep running.

I don’t look for anyone. I don’t know if they’re behind me or not. But I know one thing for sure.

I’m not dead.

Not yet.