#Chapter 181: The Message

We woke to the sound of screaming. More than just one person. Their voices were filled with such horror that it set my heart racing. The screams cut off abruptly, but Matt and I were already awake and alert. We’d slept in the back of his car, naked and tucked under a blanket he kept in the trunk for emergencies.

“What was that?” I asked, reaching for my clothes.

Matt was struggling to get his jeans over his hips in the narrow space. “I don’t know, but we’d better find out.”

We stumbled out of the car, shrugging our coats on over our shoulders. I tied my boots so fast it was almost a record for me, then we were running toward the sound of the screams, Matt with a gun in his hand. We weren’t the only ones. A crowd was gathering outside what had once been a library.

Dawn had just broken, and golden light spilled across the street. Figures in black rushed toward the building, their guns drawn. They must have been the reinforcements Nina’s father sent. I didn’t recognize a single one of th