Dark Inside Read Free Page A

shake.
    Hours? Minutes?
    And then it was over.
    The bus was deathly quiet. Aries lay there, her back against the metal window frame and the broken cement, unable to think about anything. Her leg hurt but not enough to make her think it was broken. Liquid dribbled down her face, making her forehead itch insanely. She couldn’t free her hand to scratch or check if it was blood. Was she bleeding? She wasn’t sure. There was too much weight pressed against her chest. Her arms were stuck. Too many people were lying on top of her. Breathing deeply, she inhaled dust and started coughing. The taste of copper was heavy in the air.
    Wiggling her fingers, she tried to pull her hand free. She had to yank hard; her arm was stuck underneath someone’s back. She pushed against the body weighing her down, almost screaming when the head rolled toward her, showing the insane man’s face. A tightness stretched across her chest, cold air filled her lungs, and she was positive she’d stopped breathing. The edge of her vision darkened into a tunnel. She was going to pass out.
    What if he woke up? His lips were practically touching her cheek. The sour milk smell invaded her nose. If he moved she was going to have a heart attack on the spot. She looked straight up through the broken windows and at the sky. Pictured how good the fresh air would feel against her skin once she got free.
    A hand reached out. “Here,” a voice said. Fingers tightened around hers, giving them a soft squeeze. The hand was warm and soft. Firm. Reassuring. The dark-haired guy appeared in front of her. With his free arm, he grabbed hold of the crazy man’s jacket, yanking the body backward and off of her.
    “Is that better?”
    She nodded. Somehow she managed to find her legs somewhere in all that clutter and she brought them up to her chest. The guy continued to hold her hand, helping her maintain balance while she struggled to her knees.
    “Sara?” Her voice was loud and strained.
    The bus was full of bodies, some of them moving, most of them still. Grabbing hold of a seat’s metal railing, she pulled herself up until she was standing. The seats were still bolted to what was now the side of the bus, crowding the small amount of free space. Bits of glass quivered above her head, raining down the occasional shard.
    There were so many bodies.
    “Let’s look for her,” the guy said.
    He was still holding her hand, and she allowed him to gently lead her toward the front. She stepped through the bodies, stopping to check the faces of everyone she passed. What had Sara been wearing? She couldn’t remember. Her jacket? A hoodie? Which one? Other people started to get up, staggering and tripping as they tried to make their way off. Because the bus was lying on its side, they couldn’t go through the door, so someone took one of the emergency hammers off the wall and smashed his way through the front window. A woman whose arm was bent awkwardly began to climb over the steering wheel to get outside. Other people searched around, looking for their friends and family members. She saw Colin step over the body of the elderly lady. Hisfoot came down on one of the mandarin oranges, squishing it into a mushy pulp.
    “Help me,” she called out. “I can’t find Sara.”
    But Colin ignored her. She could see in his eyes that he was set on getting free. Unfocused. Rattled. His hair was sticking up and his cheek was splotchy with grime. She’d never seen him look dirty before. Even his fingernails had been meticulously clean. He moved past her, never giving her a second glance.
    She thought about calling after him, but it seemed pointless. Instead she concentrated on methodically moving among the bodies, desperately searching for her friend. Voices called out, pleading, asking for help. Someone screamed for his mother, begging her to come because he couldn’t understand where he was. Everywhere was pain and death. A few hands reached out weakly for her, and she helped free a