I don't know what happened.

One minute I'm talking to Sherry, and the next…God, I don't even know. The whole building shakes…like an earthquake. But it isn't an earthquake. God, it isn't an earthquake…

Before I even know what I'm doing, I reach the door, the one that leads to the parking lot. Pull it open. Step outside.

And freeze for five seconds, because in the sudden silence that only I can hear, my heart beats once, twice, five times.

Cool night air. Chaos.

In the first second, I register the light.

Orange light. Yellow light.

Fire. Even from where I stand safely in the doorway, the heat washes over me, the smoke stings my eyes, fills my nose. Burning. Aggravating. Terrifying.

In the next second, I realize that it's my car that's on fire.

My Tom Clancy novel in the backseat. My sunglasses in the glove box. The extra clip to my gun. All the items that I'd left in my car flit through my mind, not really important, yet they're there.

In the third second, I recall that I'd sent Danny to my car to retrieve that ammunition clip for IA.

I'd sent him. I'd sent Danny to my car. That rolls around my head for I don't know how long. An eternity. But that eternity can't be more than a second, because my heart beats again.

In the fourth second, I realize that I don't see Danny.

I look around, but he's not to my left, not to my right, not staring in surprise at the blaze like everyone else. I don't see him.

In the fifth second, I see him.

I see his hand, actually, his arm. He's lying on the asphalt, blocked from my view by a nearby four-door silver Nissan. He must have been thrown. Must have been thrown by the blast, thrown from my car to that spot just beyond my sight. My car keys, the ones I gave him only a minute ago, are in his hand.

And my heart skips a beat, and then pumps faster than ever, feels like it's gonna burst and send me to the pavement right here and now.

And then the silence breaks, and suddenly I can hear the yelling, shouting, running feet.

And suddenly I'm moving, yelling, running towards that silver Nissan.

~finis~

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