The red “Emergency” light flashed across the lobby TV. Maya stared, heart pounding. Black smoke billowed from the Northwood school cafeteria. Off to the side, a digital map showed the student dorms, every exit lit up in angry red. Locked. No way out.
“They can’t get out,” Maya whispered, voice barely making it past the lump in her throat. She could almost hear the students screaming behind those metal doors. The air was getting thinner, heat pushing in.
Julian gripped a plastic chair so hard his knuckles went white. “If the fire hits the gas pipes in the kitchen, this place explodes. Five minutes. Less, maybe.”
David sat at a tiny table, laptop open. Next to it, a little gold microchip caught the light. It looked like a piece of jewelry, nothing special. But it held everything. David’s
