The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 67

Shielding Sloane, Josh retreated with the frantic crowd toward the main entrance. Pungent, thick black smoke began rolling in, plummeting visibility to near zero.

The terrified screams and frantic stampede grew louder. A night that was once filled with glamorous gowns and cheerful laughter had violently shattered into pure terror and chaos.

"This way! To the emergency exits!"

Dean Quinton roared from the front. Completely ignoring his own safety, the elderly dean was vigorously directing the crowd to evacuate.

With his authoritative presence, the panic in the hall subsided slightly into an organized rush, as people nervously followed his directions toward the doors.

Josh just reached out to pull Sloane along, when a faint but unmistakably clear sob pierced through the noise.

"Help... Daddy... Mommy... cough..."

Sloane froze dead in her tracks, turning to him.

"Josh, did you hear that?"

Josh nodded, his expression grim. "Yeah. It sounded like it came from the stage."

"It sounded like a child! Come on, we need to check." Sloane spun around to run back into the hall without a second of hesitation.

"Sloane, let me get you out first! I'll go back in and check myself." Josh grabbed her wrist, trying to pull her toward the exit.

"Tilly! Tilly is inside!" Abigail shrieked, her voice hoarse. "She wanted to play hide-and-seek and crawled in... Then something crashed down inside, and she never came out! The door is jammed from the inside!"

Professor Harrison was ashen, using every ounce of his strength to pry open the warped metal hatch. But the door wouldn't budge.

"Let me try!"

Coach Jensen shoved past the professor, his massive hands gripping the metal grating as he violently shook it. But aside from a horrifying metallic screech, the frame held firm. Garrison rushed over to help, but the clearance was far too tight. Two grown men couldn't even crouch properly, let alone get enough leverage to pull.

tGarrison leaned in to inspect the crawl space. The interior was impossibly cramped and crammed with massive servers. There was no way a grown man could fit through the gaps, let alone navigate a rescue. Worse still, dense smoke was funneling into the room through the vents, steadily cranking up the heat. At any second, the overheating electronics could short-circuit, sparking a massive blaze—or an explosion!

"Help... Help me... cough, cough..."