Smoke poured through the corridors as the laboratory groaned beneath the growing fire. Another explosion rocked the upper floors, showering the hallway with dust and splinters of concrete. The walls trembled around them, but Aleah didn't dare stop.
She tightened her grip on the smallest child's hand and glanced over her shoulder. The others followed as quickly as they could, though "running" was impossible for children whose bodies had endured months of torture. Some limped with bloodied feet. Others leaned on one another for support, struggling to stay upright.
"We're almost there," Aleah whispered, trying to sound braver than she felt. "Just a little farther."
No one answered. They didn't have the strength. At the end of the corridor, pale moonlight spilled through a shattered emergency exit.
Freedom.
For the first time in years, hope flickered inside Aleah's chest.
The children stumbled into the cold night air, coughing as they escaped the smoke. Behind them, flames devoured the laboratory, climbing higher with every passing second.
"We... we made it," one of the older boys said weakly.
Then brilliant white lights flooded the courtyard.
"There they are!"
The shout echoed through the night.
Within seconds, armed guards poured from every direction, rifles raised. Boots thundered across the concrete as they surrounded the terrified children before anyone had a chance to react.
"Run!" Aleah screamed.
The children scattered in every direction while gunfire erupted. The first boy collapsed before he had taken three steps. A little girl cried out as a bullet tore through her side, sending her crashing onto the concrete. Without thinking, Aleah sprinted toward her.
"No!"
She dropped to her knees and slipped an arm beneath the girl's shoulders.
"Can you stand?" she asked desperately.
The girl whimpered, clutching the blood soaking through her tattered clothes.
"I... I don't want to die..."
"You won't." Aleah forced a smile despite the tears welling in her eyes. "You're going to make it."
Ignoring the gunfire around them, she lifted the girl into her arms.
"Hold on to me."
The child nodded weakly and wrapped trembling arms around Aleah's neck. One child fell, then another. Their screams blended with the roar of the fire until Aleah could no longer tell which sound belonged to the flames and which belonged to the children she had sworn to protect. Aleah kept running, even as the little girl grew heavier in her arms and warm blood soaked through her sleeves.
By the time Aleah reached the center of the courtyard, the footsteps behind her had vanished. The desperate cries, the pleading voices, all of them were gone. Aleah slowly turned around. Bodies lay scattered across the ground, illuminated by the burning laboratory behind them. Some had fallen shielding younger children. Others still reached toward the open gate, forever frozen just short of freedom.
"No..."
She looked down at the little girl she had been carrying, the child's arms had slipped from around her neck. Her small body hung limp against Aleah's chest.
"...Hey."
Aleah gently shook her.
"We're almost there."
No response.
"Aren't we supposed to leave together?"
Silence.
Tears blurred Aleah's vision.
"Please..."
She pulled the little girl closer, as though holding her tighter could somehow bring her back. It didn't.
As heavy boots echoed across the courtyard, Aleah looked up through tear-filled eyes. Dozens of rifles were aimed directly at her. The captain stepped forward, his long black coat swaying behind him. His gaze swept over the courtyard before settling on the lone survivor.
"So," he said coldly, "she's the last one."
Two guards seized Aleah before she could move. She fought with everything she had left, kicking, clawing, even biting one guard's hand hard enough to make him curse in pain. His response was immediate, the back of his rifle slammed into Aleah's face.
Aleah crashed onto the concrete, the world spinning around her.
"Stubborn little rat," the guard spat.
The captain sighed as though he were inconvenienced.
"Bring her back."
"Yes, Captain."
Two guards stepped forward.
One grabbed Aleah by the arm while the other seized her shoulder, hauling the exhausted girl roughly to her feet.
"No..."
Aleah struggled weakly, her legs refusing to support her weight.
"Let me go..."
The guard tightened his grip until she cried out in pain.
"Move."
"I don't want to go back!"
She clawed at the guard's hand, but her strength was gone. The second guard grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her head upright.
"You've caused enough trouble."
A cold wind swept across the courtyard. A wet thud followed.
Aleah's eyes widened. The guard holding her remained standing before a thin line of blood appeared across his throat, and he collapsed at her feet. The second guard barely had time to turn, his body crumpled beside the first.
"What the—?"
"Find the attacker!"
"Where is it?!"
Gunfire erupted into the smoke, but the bullets hit nothing. One guard clutched his chest and dropped. Another was pulled into the smoke with a strangled cry. A third fired wildly before a blade flashed and sent his rifle skidding across the concrete. Aleah could barely follow what was happening. All she saw were brief glimmers of movement and the bodies that followed.
The courtyard descended into chaos. Guards shouted over one another, stumbling backward as the unseen attacker picked them apart one by one. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the fighting stopped. Only the crackling fire remained. Smoke drifted across the courtyard as a lone figure stepped through the ash.
A woman.
Her golden eyes met Aleah's. She looked around the courtyard, taking in the bodies of the children scattered across the ground. Her expression tightened almost imperceptibly.
Too late.
The realization passed through Levi's eyes for only a second before she focused on the trembling girl still clutching a lifeless child in her arms. The last survivor. Levi knelt in front of her.
"Can you stand?"
Aleah tried to answer, but no sound came out. Her arms tightened around the little girl.
"She..."
Her voice cracked.
"She said she didn't want to die."
Levi glanced at the child, then gently placed a hand over Aleah's trembling fingers.
"I know."
Aleah stared at her, tears streaming down her soot-covered face.
"I couldn't save them."
For a moment, Levi said nothing. The burning laboratory collapsed somewhere behind them with a thunderous roar, sending sparks into the night sky.
"Neither could I," Levi said quietly.
Levi closed the little girl's eyes before gently taking her from Aleah's arms. Then she turned back to Aleah.
"Come with me."
Aleah stared at the woman through tear-blurred eyes.
"...Who are you?"
Levi was silent for a moment.
"Someone who's taking you home."
Aleah's legs gave out the moment she tried to stand. Without hesitation, Levi caught her and lifted her into her arms. Aleah buried her face against the woman's shoulder, her small body shaking with silent sobs. Levi rose and carried her away from the courtyard. The fire continued to consume the ruins behind them until the walls finally gave way, collapsing into a sea of flames. By morning, nothing remained but ashes.