This Town Is on Fire by Pamela N. Harris EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Pamela N. Harris
- Language: English
- Genre: Teen & Young Adult Fiction on Prejudice
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
EVEN WITH THE OXYGEN MASK ON, THE SMOKE CREEPS ITS
WAY DOWN my throat and funnels through each lung. It swirls and wraps
itself around the muscle that used to be my heart. Having a heart requires
too much effort, too much empathy. I may have lost both traits somewhere
along the way.
“You have to keep the mask on, ma’am,” the EMT tells me.
Ma’am? I’m only seventeen. This is what Faith hinted at. What Cleo
shouted about during almost every meeting. They try to age us to make us
feel better about their actions.
But . . .
But this guy is only trying to help me. It’s dark and there’s smoke—so
much smoke. He’s not thinking us versus them when he’s simply trying to
do his job, right?
My hands tremble as I push the mask up the bridge of my nose and
breathe in the clean air.
“Look, I know you’re scared,” the EMT says. His pale face gets painted
by red and blue stripes from the light bars on top of the ambulances and
police cars in the parking lot. “But we have a lot of folks here working on
your friends, okay?”
Friends? That’s right. This isn’t just about me. It never was. My friends
are the reason I came here tonight. I leap from the cot and try to jump down
from the back of the ambulance, but the EMT grips my hands.
“Easy, now! I’m not sure how long you were in that building. Smoke
can do a lot of damage.”
“I’m fine.” The words come out as a croak. I touch my neck and try to
massage the words out, but I can’t reach them. I swallow the little saliva I
have left in my mouth and try again. “How many are hurt?”
The EMT shakes his head as he guides me to take a seat on the cot
again. “Not sure.” He squeezes his fingers around my wrist, checks my
pulse.
Not sure isn’t good enough. “What about Kylie?” Her name scratches
my throat. “She . . . she was right next to me.” I see her face, a blur of rage
and sadness. Her eyes stabbing me, accusing me. Her fists clenched at her
sides. Her blond hair puffing away from her face just as the explosion went
off . . .
I pinch my eyes closed—both trying to remember and forget what
happens next. The smoke, the soot. The drywall tumbling on top of me. The
flashlight beams slicing through the dark as voices called for responses: If
you hear us, make a noise. Did I see her when they pulled me out? Did I see
anyone?
“Naomi?”
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