Chapter 30

I could hear screams coming from the next house which were followed by sounds of gunfire and I desperately hoped that it wasn't my family. I knew it was selfish but I couldn't care about anyone else at this point.

The rain had either slowly began to let up or had stopped because I could no longer hear it battering the roof.

Heavy footsteps approached our hiding place and I closed my eyes tightly before swallowing. The thought of them finding and killing us had me on edge. Blood rushed through my veins when the man stopped in front of where we were hiding and I pressed my lips together before Daniel began to try to get me to calm down by rubbing my back. I was standing in the middle of Daniel and Laleh in the small space we were in.

I could hear Daniel's heart pounding erratically in his chest and I wrapped my arms around him tightly.

We were currently hiding in a compartment that had a flush to wall door in the study on the first floor. The same material that was used for the wall was the same one that was used for the door so it merged completely with the wall.

When we had hurried upstairs and into the study after the attackers had kicked down the front door, I didn't see the secret door in the wall till Laleh had opened it. So, I was confused as to why this man stopped in front of the door and multiple reasons began to run through my head.

Is he familiar with hidden doors? Could he have found out we were hiding here by using a thermal imaging camera? Is he about to spray our hiding place with bullets?

I bite my lip to prevent myself from making any sound to draw his attention here if he hadn't figured out we were here already.

"Hello?" the man called out and I hold my breath. "Is anyone in here?"

In where? In the study... or in the compartment?

My heart beat accelerated and I got even more scared when an irrational thought of him being able to hear it popped into my head. Laleh began to trace the words 'Calm down' on my back and it didn't really help.

"Allan!" another voice calls out and I bite my lip so hard that I can taste blood.

"Yeah." I could hear one of them moving around in the study.

"Did you find them?"

"... I don't know man. What do you think?"

"No need to be rude. Travis said we need to go now..." their voices trail off as I heard footsteps leaving the study and we all let out a collective sigh of relief when they were finally gone.

"That was the worst five minutes of my life," Laleh muttered behind me and we stood in the compartment for a while before I felt Daniel's hand move to open the door.

The rain had stopped. I couldn't hear gunshots but I could hear people yelling at each and the sound of vehicles driving on the street

Daniel walked up to the window with the trench hawk in his hand and pulled the curtain back a little. "I think they're gone. I don't see anyone."

I joined him at the window and saw that there was no one on the street except for the three bodies that were lying on the ground. The gates of all the houses on the street were wide open.

"Both of you should stay upstairs. I'll go check if they're really gone," he said and turned to head toward the doorway but I grabbed his jacket.

"No... Let's just wait here till the soldiers come."

I didn't think there were soldiers anymore but I just said that to try to convince him to stay.

"We need to find the rest of us," he said as he held my other hand.

He was right. We needed to find them but I still held onto his jacket. I didn't want him to go. What if some of the attackers were still downstairs? What if –

"I'll be right back." He placed a kiss on my forehead and stared into my eyes before he gave me a small nod.

I nodded back and reluctantly let go of his jacket. There was a bitter taste in the back of my mouth that I couldn't seem to get rid of.

"I'll be right back," he said again before he headed toward the doorway of the study.

I felt the muscles of my heart tighten with incredible force when he walked out and I looked out the window again while Laleh went to lean against the wooden desk in the middle of the room. Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I darted my eyes to the building on the left.

My mouth slightly fell open when I saw a man carrying a familiar brown haired girl who was wearing a white shirt out of the compound.

Faye.

I ran out of the study despite Laleh shouting my name repeatedly before she decided to run after me. I rushed down the stairs and headed for the front door but immediately stopped in my tracks when I saw Daniel on the ground.

No, no, no.

A cry bubbled out of my throat as I quickly moved to his side and collapsed to my knees. "No! Daniel!"

I pulled his head onto my lap and began to sob. My hands were stained red when I pulled them away from under his head and another cry escaped me as I kept one finger under his nostrils to check if he was still breathing.

He was but it was faint and his features were so calm that it looked like he was only asleep.

"Laleh," I called out and when I remembered that she was a nurse.

I turned around to see her lying on the ground at the bottom of the stairs just as an arm suddenly went around my neck.

Panic immediately set in and I was about to scream when the person pressed a cloth to my nose and mouth before I began to struggle. The person began to murmur 'shh' in my ear and it felt like I was falling asleep after a few seconds.

I tried to keep my eyes open as my sight wavered but everything I looked at seemed like a mirage. "Take her to the bus," was the last thing I heard before my eyes finally closed.