NeverSeen

Suddenly there was an enormous flare, and the guy was on fire, writhing on the floor. D’Uno tried to push us along saying, “there was nothing here to see,” but everyone stared at the man burning on the floor, screaming. Dear God, the sound barrier is way too good! Nobody else can hear him! I turned to Mr. D’Uno, yelling, “We have to help this guy!” I ran for the control panel to the burning man’s workstation. Mr. D’uno caught my elbow.

“No can do,” he said calmly, forcing me past me at the torched victim. “That’s not our job. The Guards will take care of it.”

“What Guards?” I demanded, wrenching my arm from his grip. “There aren’t any in here! How will anyone know to help him?”

D’Uno reached behind me and grabbed my neck. “That,” he hissed in my ear, “is none of your God-forsaken business!” He pushed me forward and followed behind the rest of the group, but he couldn’t have stopped me with a legion of faeries.

I casually dropped my notebook and turned around like I was going to get it. Instead I sprinted back down the passage to the man’s station. I reactivated the control panel and cut the power to his machine as D’Uno walked towards me, yelling for me to immediately halt what I was doing. The walls of the protective case slid upward as I took off my jacket and soaked it in a nearby bucket. I threw it over the burning man and a plume of smoke erupted from him. I yelled over the noise, “Stay here! I’ll get help!”