Cade nudged Jayden's shoulder. "Hey, come on. Get up."
Jayden began to straighten up, coughing fine powder and dusting the gravel off of his face.
Cade helped Jayden to his feet and the both of them began making their way out of the narrow hall they were in.
"What happened?" Jayden asked as they blindly made their way through the tight darkness while crouching.
"It seems like the building's core gave in. Whoever designed this used the cheapest material they could find."
"Look." Jayden pointed at two bodies laying on top of each other. "Do you think they're still alive?"
He made his way towards them, not waiting for Cade to tell him how many flying fucks he could give.
"Hey. Hey." Jayden began shaking them, pulling one girl he'd never seen before off Nico, who was lying shirtless under her. Jayden began checking their pulse, wondering if they had died, before he'd gotten to the other guy, both began to moan and stir.
Jayden sighed in relief and smiled. He looked at Cade. "They're alive."
"And we need to get out of here. Let's go."
"What the hell–" Nico muttered, moaning in pain and slowly straightening up.
Camila turned on her back, her eyes slowly opening and confusion filling her eyes. The first person she saw was Jayden, who stared at her and felt immediate remorse. "What's going on?" She asked him.
"Get your fucking legs off of me!" Nico demanded, throwing his leg and pushing her legs to the side.
"Oh, sorry." She straightened up to her knees, then slowly began to stand up. Jayden helped her as Nico ignorantly dusted his jeans and stood to his feet.
"The building we were in collapsed. Thankfully, it seems like we're in one piece." Jayden clarified for them.
"Oh my god!" Camila covered her mouth, and not able to hold back, she began to cry. "I don't live here. My family's going to be so worried!"
"Cammy?" A girl's voice came from another area. "Cammy, is that you?"
Camila looked around. "Corrina?" She stumbled as she began looking around for the familiar voice.
Corrina walked into where they stood. Her face barely recognizable from the lines of blood that made their way down her face.
The two friends reunited and hugged it out, both crying. As Cade made his out of the space they stood in, Jayden and everyone else began following him.
"911, can I get your address please?"
"Its regarding the building collapse that happened in Blue River. I'm one of the survivors here." Jayden said. Cade dialed 911 and had given Jayden the phone as soon as they reached a room with a signal.
"How many others are there with you–if any?" The voice of the woman on the speaker phone was loud in the emptiness of the collapse.
"Right now, four others. There may be more."
"Are any of you hurt?"
Jayden's eyes ran over them, and most of them shook their head in answer. Corinna pointed at her head.
"One. Head injury."
"Does it seem severe?"
"Umm."
Cade looked at Corrina. "Are you losing your vision or do you have any neck or back pain?"
She shook her head.
"No." He answered for Jayden.
"Thank you. Can you please tell me your names and who was with you when the collapse happened?"
They all answered one by one.
"And are you in any way aware of where you are in the building–"
The phone began dying down and the woman's voice disappeared.
"Shit." Cade took the phone. "Do you have yours?" He asked Jayden.
"You took it, remember?"
Their eyes locked for a moment, recalling the moments before the collapse.
"Shit." Cade said again. He looked around at the others, but they all shook their head.
"I put mine on the charger."
"Mine too."
"Mine was on my bed."
Cade sighed. "We need to find one soon. Otherwise they might start digging around, putting us at risk of the building collapsing further down."
They reached the biggest room they had been in yet, one equipped with a lightbulb that would flicker off every few seconds. It seemed like it was the sturdiest too. "Let's settle here for now. I'll walk around and see if I can find a way out." Cade ushered for Jayden to follow him.
Everyone looked at the two, worried. "We're going where ever you're going."
"Suit yourselves." He answered with a shrug.
"Well, look who do we have here." Harley exclaimed, walking into the large room and coming face to face with Cade. "We're not the only ones alive after all."
"Let's go Jayden." Cade made his way to the door.
Like Harley didn't exist.
Like he hadn't said a thing.
Harley turned around, looking at Cade's back. Close and bear for him. There was never a more perfect opportunity. He took ahold of his Chris Reeve combat knife and began pulling it out of his pocket.
"What the hell." Corinna exclaimed.
"Hey babe." Aden said, walking towards her. She walked to the body she found, and he followed her.
Everyone, in fact, walked behind her. And they stopped before the body that laid on the ground.
Battered.
Weak.
Fragile.
Hurt.
Naked.
"She's dead, isn't she?" Camila asked, her heart pounding with fear at the sight of what could be a dead body.
"Probably." Aden answered.
"Most likely." Corinna agreed.
"She's not dead."
They all looked at Cade.
Jayden pushed past Harley, who stared at the body with drool making its way out of his mouth.
Found you.
"Her head's bleeding. Cade, please." Jayden was shaking, having no idea what to do. He looked at Cade, pleading for help.
"It's alright." Cade answered. He walked over to the both of them, and began taking her head in his lap, inspecting it under the little light they had.
They all saw her. They all, ALL, saw her. The girl that was invisible. The girl no one knew. They finally.... saw her.
"It's deep." Cade muttered. He looked up at Jayden. "I saw a pack of ground coffee two rooms ago. Can you get it?"
Jayden left for it, and Cade took off his sweatshirt. In a single moment, his eyes roamed over the bodies around him, watching their reactions towards her.
Then he looked away, as if he saw nothing.
He began slowly dressing her in it. After he zipped it up, he noticed how it worked as a dress on her body. nearly reaching her knees.
She's sexy as fuck. Was she living in our apartment this whole time? Nico bit his lip, checking out her legs. He couldn't erase the size of her breasts from his mind.
Leave. Harley's eyes looked around at the others, begging them to step out and leave him with her. Fucking leave.
He took a few steps towards her.
Cade looked up at him, and the deathly gaze in his eyes stopped Harley short. "Is she dead?" He asked.
Cade, again, ignored him. He put his head on her chest and listen for her heart beat and her breathing.
He raised his head closer to her throat, then while still listening, he put two fingers on her carotid artery for a pulse.
She opened her eyes.
He lifted his head.
And their eyes locked.
Maybe it's the pain. Maybe it's the past. Maybe it's the fears and secrets and dark memories.
Maybe it's fate.
But as they stared into each other's eyes, nothing mattered. Nothing was there. Everything disappeared. It was a moment made of truth and hate and love and sadness and despair.
And pain.
But what pain? What pain when she didn't even know him?
She pulled her eyes away from his and looked around at the others staring at her. One by one. They all shared one look. One mind. One fear. A weakness that they all had no idea of whether to be relieved that they were stuck in here to not face, or fearful of being saved and having to meet its consequences later on.
It's too late.
Everything changed now. Things happened. Shit blew apart. Truths became envelopes sealed shut, sworn to secrecy and labeled harmful if swallowed.
She looked back in his eyes, the eyes that never left hers. "You–"
A rumble then a scream made of murder came from the other room.
Beautiful cover by Me_For_President_ <3