Kieran was going to do something crazy. Something to hurt his dad.
And I was the only one who could stop him.
I hit the broken door hard, shoving through it like a linebacker slamming another player. I stumbled into a hallway. A brightly lit, clean hallway.
This part of the building was definitely not abandoned. I realized that I must be in that small building I’d seen earlier from the roof. The one that shared a wall with the warehouse. It was still a working office, with desks, computers. Security cameras.
Still running, I reached the end of the long hallway, where it split in two directions. On the right the hallway ended in a waiting area. Big floor-to-ceiling windows looked out into the night. To the left, there was a door labeled Operations and Security. A crack of light spilled out from inside. I wondered where the guards were, and how long it would take for them to show up. I figured we had a couple of minutes to get out of here. At most.
I gently pushed the door open. It was a huge office with a dozen desks spread across it. Racks of overhead lights were shining brightly. It took a second for my eyes to adjust. And then I saw him.
Kieran was sitting at one of the desks farthest away from me. His back was to me, and his shoulders were shaking. I couldn’t tell if he was crying or laughing. “Kieran?” I said.
He spun around in the chair. His eyes were red, and his cheeks were wet with tears.
Kieran looked at me and closed his eyes. “Just leave me alone.”
“Let me help you, man. What’s going on?” I took a step toward him.
“Get back!” Kieran said. He’d gone from crying to yelling in a split second. “You shouldn’t have followed me. You screwed up the plan.”
“Take it easy. What plan, Kieran?” I said. Kieran shook his head, staring off into space.
I wanted to get over to him, try and talk him down. We needed to get out of here before we were busted. I kept thinking about the security cameras I’d seen in the hallway. We didn’t have much time. Maybe I was imagining it, but I thought I could hear the wail of distant sirens.
“What was the plan?” I repeated. There were five desks between us. I’d have to keep him talking while I got closer.
“I needed you to get me into the warehouse,” said Kieran. “Then I’d leave you behind and get into my dad’s office.”
“And then what?” I said. As I crossed the room toward him, I wrinkled my nose. There was a weird smell in the air, a harsh chemical tang. I saw the four steel water bottles Kieran had brought, empty and lying on the desk. It looked like there was liquid all over the desk. Even some on Kieran’s clothes. From the smell, I was pretty sure he hadn’t brought any energy drink in those bottles. More like lighter fluid or something.
“And then,” Kieran continued, “I’d prove to him that all his work didn’t matter so much. The big head of security, beaten by his own son. Look at his desk. Not even a picture of Mom. No sign of a family.”
Keep talking, I thought to myself. Only two desks apart now.
“I just wanted to get in here and start a little fire. Leave my mark. Just to get his attention.”
“Like at your last school?” I said, suddenly remembering the rumors about Kieran when he’d first arrived at school.
There was one desk left between me and Kieran.
“Yeah, but that one didn’t work. Why didn’t it work?” said Kieran. He was mumbling now, staring unfocused at the soaked desk in front of him. “Then he thought he fixed me with those pills. But this fire will be different.”
There were tears running down his face as he pulled out a lighter from a jacket pocket.
“This time the fire takes me with it,” he said.
The lighter shined bright and silver in the glare of the overhead lights.
“Don’t-,” I said. I scrambled over the last desk, flying at Kieran.
He sparked the lighter and dropped his arm to the desk. There was a white flash of flame, and a wall of heat and noise crashed over me. The explosion knocked us both backward. The room was instantly filled with smoke and heat. Over the roar of the flames I could hear an alarm wailing in the distance.
I pulled myself off the ground, coughing so hard I felt like I was going to throw up. My hands were covered in dirt. One arm was bleeding from a cut near my wrist. But I was alive.
Kieran. I found him half covered by bits of wood and twisted metal. Unconscious. The sleeve of his jacket was on fire. Trying not to burn myself, I struggled with his jacket. Finally I yanked it off and kicked it away. Kneeling, I quickly checked him out. His face and arms were pretty badly burned, his long hair singed. But he was breathing steadily.
There was a sudden whoosh from behind us. Turning around, I saw that the fire was spreading fast despite the over-head sprinklers kicking in. The water just seemed to make the oily fire spread faster across the room. Other desks and furniture were catching fire. I pulled my shirt over my mouth and nose, trying to keep out the acrid smell of burning plastic.
I grabbed Kieran under his arms and hauled him back the way we had come in. I hunched lower as the smoke kept thickening. My legs felt rubbery and shaky. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t strong enough.
But we couldn’t wait for help to get to us. We had to get out of here. Now.
I kept dragging, thinking, trying to figure out a plan. I remembered the building plans I’d looked over, where the exits were. Tried to think of something to save us.
The thick black smoke kept following us, covering everything.
Then I had it. That waiting room I’d seen, opposite the door to this office. It had a big floor-to-ceiling window.
It seemed to take forever just to crawl there. Finally, I let Kieran slump to the floor. It took everything I had to pick up one of the metal chairs in the waiting room. I heaved it at the window. The glass shattered into a million tiny pieces, exploding out into the darkness.