Tick, tick, tick.

The noise, now that I was aware of it, was slowly driving me insane. Each time I heard that tick, it was like a hammer being driven into the side of my head. For a few minutes, I tried to find it, but the noise was echoing, making it seem like it was everywhere at once.

Besides, even if I did find the bomb, I had no idea how to diffuse one. I would probably do more harm than good. My best shot was to escape. That way, I could warn people to evacuate. Even if I couldn’t save my son…

The thought of my son, alone and afraid with a monster, broke my heart. But there was nothing I could do. I needed to focus on the here and now, and pray that Franklin had chosen to save him and not me.

Again, I tried the windows, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get them to open. I couldn’t even break the glass. I was just wasting my time. There had to be another way. A secret door. An entrance to the attic I just wasn’t seeing.

Something.

It was then that I noticed the fireplace. For some reason, there were bricks covering up the mouth of it. One of them seemed to be loose.

I pushed on it, and it fell to the other side, creating a small hole. From there, it was easy to dislodge the surrounding bricks until the hole became larger and larger. Soon, it was big enough for me to crawl through.

Inside, I was met with a pile of soot that flew up at my disturbance. I sneezed, disturbing the ashes even further. It was hard to breathe and nearly impossible to see. Still, I craned my head, peering at the chimney’s long and narrow tunnel. In the distance, I could see a tiny pinprick of light.

It was my only chance.

I placed my hands on the walls and tried to climb. At first, all I did was slip and scrape my palms. I had never done anything like this in my entire life. I had no idea what I was doing, but it had to be done.

So I kept trying. I tried various methods before finally finding one that worked. Inch by inch, I crawled up the chimney, using every ounce of strength I had. My muscles ached in protest, but still, I continued, driven by the desperate hope that maybe, just maybe, I could get out of this alive.

Once I got to the top, I was dismayed to find that the mouth of the chimney had been covered as well. The sunlight filtered in through a tiny hole. I lifted one hand off the wall but doing so severely offset my balance, nearly sending me tumbling down the chute.

I took a deep breath and tried again, this time focusing all my strength into my legs so they could keep me up as I tore at the hole, making it bigger. Just before my legs could give out, I grabbed onto the ledge and hoisted myself onto the roof. There, I allowed myself a moment of rest before getting up again.

Below me, unsuspecting civilians were going about their day.

I stepped closer to the edge, prepared to shout out my warning. Only, before I could so, my fear of heights decided to kick in. The ground, which couldn’t have been more than ten or fifteen feet away, now looked like it was miles and miles down. I gulped and backed away, my heart tightening to the point of pain. I struggled to breathe properly as my body shut down with fear.

Desperately, I tried to overcome that fear, knowing that the lives of hundreds depended on me.

Just then, a car came speeding down the road.

Franklin!

He parked in front of the apartment and was about to rush inside.

“Wait!” I screamed, crawling ever so slowly to the edge. “I’m up here!”

I wanted to ask him why he had come to save me when he should have saved the baby, but I couldn’t figure out how to make my mouth work that way.

“Lauren?” He looked surprised.

“There’s a bomb!”

“I know!”

“We have to find it.”

“And we will.” Somehow, despite everything that was happening, his voice was calm. “But you need to jump. I’ll catch you.”

He held out his arms.

“I can’t…” I shook my head and backed away from the edge.

“You have to, Lauren. Please!” he pleaded with me.

“I can’t!” I said once more. “I’m scared.”

“Trust me. I love you, Lauren, but you’ve got to trust me.”

What had he just said?

“Please! I can’t lose my son and the woman I love on the same day. I need you.”

I managed to get to my feet, looking down at him. Our eyes locked for a moment. “Do you really mean that?”

“Yes! God, yes! But now isn’t the time, Lauren.”

He was right. Taking a deep breath, I took the leap of faith.

The world seemed to go into slow motion as I flew toward the ground. I closed my eyes as tightly as possible, preparing myself for the worst.

And then, I crashed.

For a second, I thought I had died. I opened my eyes ever so slowly, expecting white lights and angels, but all I saw was Franklin’s face, inches away from mine.

“I told you I’d catch you.”