I didn’t look.
I couldn’t.
Another gunshot exploded through the room, then another, then another—sharp, deafening cracks that felt like they were ripping straight through my skull. I pressed myself harder against the wall, curling in on myself, my hands clamped over my ears like that could somehow make the sound disappear.
It didn’t.
My whole body shook violently. My teeth were chattering, my breath coming out in short, broken gasps I couldn’t control. The floor felt unsteady beneath me, like everything was tilting and I was about to fall into something dark and endless.
Then I felt it.
A hand on my shoulder.
I screamed.
The sound tore out of my throat before I could stop it, raw and desperate. I tried to twist away, my back scraping against the wall as panic exploded inside me—
“
