"Yes," I replied, looking at the red-eyed man. It hadn't been twenty minutes since I'd arrived here, and now he was here. It was almost like he had been right behind me, moving through the same smoke and terror. The thought sent a strange shiver down my spine, but in this nightmare, his sudden presence was the only solid thing.
"We can walk, too," a woman from the group of adults said, her voice trembling but clear.
"Here, too," another man added, pulling a sniffling boy closer to his legs.
"Great," the Alpha replied. His gaze swept away from me, taking in the whole huddled, soot-streaked group.
He turned back toward the wall of fire and smoke, his posture rigid with focus. "We have to move. There's a service access path to the east. It's our only clear—"
A sound like a thunderclap split the air, followed by an agonized groan of splitting wood.
