It was like everything was moving in slow motion. Taylor stared down at the wall of fire, numbness settling over her as she struggled to comprehend what had just happened. She knew Karlie was yelling at her, telling her to move, but she couldn't hear anything. It was like all of her senses were dulled and all she could see was Arsyn's face as she desperately tried to grab her hand.
Logically, she knew that she shouldn't feel bad - the girl had tried to kill her multiple times, after all - but there was something deeply unsettling about losing the one constant she'd had in her life since she was sixteen. She might hate her, but she didn't want her dead. I should have been faster. I shouldn't have led her up here in the first place. It's all my fault...
"Taylor! The building's going down! We have to move!" Karlie shouted frantically, seizing her girlfriend's arm and tugging her back along the beam. The blonde turned to look up at her, and Karlie's heart clenched at the emotionless expression on her face. "Come on; let's go," she said, leading Taylor back toward the metal platform. The shorter girl followed along after her, as sure-footed as ever, which relieved Karlie tremendously.
They reached the metal platform and immediately took off, racing around the observation area to get to the nearest ladder. Luckily there was one nearby that was a fair distance from the worst of the inferno, and the couple quickly scrambled down, hissing from the heat. "Where do we go from here?" Karlie shouted. The fire had only continued to grow and its roar drowned out her voice.
"I don't know; I haven't been in this room before!" Taylor answered. "Find the nearest door. We'll go from there." A piece of wood fell from where they had just been, landing a few feet behind them and making Karlie shriek. "Let's go!" She grabbed her girlfriend's hand and started running, weaving a path through the flames as best she could.
As they approached the wall, however, it became apparent that there were no doors along the side they had approached. "What kind of factory is this?" Karlie groaned, skidding to a stop. The heat was getting overwhelming, and their lungs were working overtime with the smoke. Luckily they were in a room with a high ceiling, but even that couldn't protect them from the smoke forever.
"There's bound to be one along another wall. Keep moving," Taylor encouraged, taking off again. "Stick to the wall if you can; we don't want to lose each other in the middle of the fire." It was getting harder and harder to see, and their progress slowed considerably as they made their way around the enormous room.
"Nothing on this wall either," Karlie said, coughing slightly. "Maybe Arsyn was right."
"Don't say that," Taylor snapped, wheezing. "We'll make it. Just keep going."
"Maybe we should climb back up on the metal and head for the stairs over to the other factory floor?" Karlie suggested as they turned another corner, stumbling along the third wall.
"Those stairs are long gone," Taylor said. "And even if they weren't, I guarantee the metal is too hot to touch now."
"The vents?" Karlie asked desperately.
"Too hot, and also filled with smoke. We wouldn't get far." Another piece of wood fell nearby, sending up a shower of sparks over Taylor.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" Karlie asked, trying to help put them out quickly.
"...That hurt a little," the blonde admitted.
"Okay, let's try to stay closer to the edge. There's less stuff to fall on us there." They continued, their breathing getting progressively worse and weakness washing over them.
"I can't believe it," Karlie breathed. "How have we not found a door yet?"
"There probably is one large entrance, and it happens to be on the wall that we haven't checked yet," Taylor ground out, focusing strongly on staying on her feet. Her vision was starting to get spotty, and she had an awful headache. Karlie didn't look any better.
"It would be faster to cut through the middle, then," the detective mused. Taylor gave her a terrified look.
"Karls, I don't know if that's a good idea -"
"Babe, we're both barely standing. We don't have much time. Let's go for it." She reached her hand out to the smaller girl, who accepted it, and changed their course to cut a wide diagonal around the last corner. Moving without a wall nearby made Taylor feel a lot less secure, as large pockets of flame erupted on either side of them, but they were fortunate enough to have a somewhat open path to run - or hobble - on.
A ways ahead of them, through the smoke, Taylor thought that she could see an opening, and encouraged Karlie to move faster. Suddenly they heard a loud crack from above. Both looked up to see more debris falling toward them and let go of each other, doing their best to jump out of the way. Taylor was successful. Karlie wasn't.
"Karlie!" Taylor screamed, reaching her girlfriend's side in an instant. A small piece of wood had struck her on the head, and she had collapsed instantly. "Wake up! Karlie!" Taylor shook her and lightly slapped her cheeks, but got no reaction. "Come on, Karlie, you can't do this to me! Please get up." She started crying, but her eyes stung from the smoke and her tears evaporated immediately.
Karlie still showed no signs of waking, and Taylor stood, wobbling slightly. She gripped her girlfriend's arms and began to drag her, struggling to continue toward the exit even as she felt more hopeless with each passing second. Karlie was bigger than she was, and in her weakened state, it was very slow going. The blonde also had to take care navigating through the flames so as not to drag Karlie over any embers.
Taylor threw her entire body into her task as she felt herself getting weaker. The oppressive smoke was taking its toll on her and suddenly dragging Karie a hundred feet seemed impossible. There came a point where she tugged as hard as she could and the unconscious girl didn't move an inch, and that's when Taylor realized that this might be it.
She kept pulling, leaning her entire body weight into it, and only succeeded in falling to the floor herself. Disoriented, she struggled to stand again, but couldn't find the strength to do so. She heard a loud, ragged wheezing - Is that me? - and looked up at the exit again, so close yet so far away. She tried to rise again, but couldn't even support her weight with her arms long enough to get a leg under herself.
Turning her head, Taylor looked back at her girlfriend, and felt an overwhelming sorrow and guilt fill her. She crawled painfully to her, collapsing at her side, all of her energy exhausted. "I'm so sorry," the blonde whispered, weakly wrapping her arms around the unconscious girl. "I tried. I'm so sorry." She clung to the taller girl's body, tucking her head under Karlie's chin as if they were cuddling in bed. It made her feel a little better to not be able to see the flames.
"I'm sorry," she whispered again, tears struggling to run down her cheeks. "I wanted so much more for us. I wanted you to show me everything that I never got to experience. I wanted our own house in the country, with a few cats and maybe a dog since you always wanted one. I wanted to spend the rest of my life enjoying your company. I wanted a future."
She hugged Karlie more tightly, her voice getting weaker and her vision darkening as she continued. "I wanted to meet your sisters and the rest of my family too. I wanted our own family, some day in the future. Most of all, I wanted to tell you, every day for the rest of our lives, that I love you." She snuggled as close as she could, wanting the last thing she'd remember to be the feeling of being in her lover's arms, and waited for the fire to claim them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Cat!" a voice yelled. "Cat, can you hear me?" Taylor moaned in pain; her head was killing her, she could barely breathe, and her body felt like she was being cooked. She opened her eyes and looked up at the bleary figure before her.
"...Chucker?" she asked weakly, her voice practically gone.
"Cat, I need you to let go of her. I can only drag one of you at a time," Mother Chucker said, kneeling down next to them. She had a bandana over her mouth and was covered in soot, but Taylor could still recognize her. The blonde felt a thrill of hope run through her, along with confusion.
"But...you? I thought..."
"Act now, talk later," Chucker said seriously. "Come on, you need to let go." Reluctantly Taylor detached her arms from her girlfriend, shifting away from her slightly. Chucker reached down to grab her, but the blonde protested weakly, trying to squirm away. "What are you doing? I'm here to help you!" Chucker growled.
"Take Karlie first." The other girl stared at her.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Taylor hissed, coughing violently after. "Get her out of here." Chucker hesitated for a moment, but nodded and took hold of Karlie's arms.
"Hold on. I'll be back as soon as I can," she promised, taking off in the direction of the door with Karlie. Taylor sighed and closed her eyes again. Although the smoke kept getting worse, she felt like she was breathing easier now that she knew Karlie was on her way to safety. I just hope it's not too late. She felt a wave of dizziness wash over her and was thankful that she was already lying down. She tried to relax, willing it to go away, along with her headache. Karlie's safe. Everything's okay now. With that thought, she drifted into unconsciousness, her fear forgotten, even if just for that moment.