Chapter 04

Francine

At one moment, I'm flying and getting butterflies in my stomach, and the next thing I know, I'm waking up to a trashed bus. The front was on fire. It seemed most of the kids were too scared to move on their own, and some were huddled together, crying. I remember when I got on that bus, there was a red lever at the back and on the sides. I specifically remember when I was telling that red-haired girl that she was sitting in my seat that she should move because I should be sitting next to Steven, but that could wait. I'll have to tell her next time, I guess. I got up and shouted at the kids next to the red levers,

"Can you open those up? Quickly!"

My head was moving fast. I was scouring the bus, looking to make sure everyone was okay. The fire seemed to stay contained for now, but we should probably get moving. The kids managed to pull open the windows, and they started moving out. Good, some were even helping the others. I looked behind me for Steven and the redhead (yes, I know her name was Becca, I'm just slightly upset, okay). Thankfully, Becca seemed to be okay, but she definitely had some injuries.

"Can you walk?"

I asked, pulling her up so she could leave.

"Um, it's hard."

Not good. We needed to move fast. I noticed the back window was shattered. I looked for Steven again, but there was no sign. He must've gone out the window already and gone looking for help.

"Come on, let's get you out of here."

I put Becca's arm around mine, and she hopped on one foot to the open window. As we emerged from the crash, I could see the class had made it out all right. I'm pretty sure that's everyone.

"Is anyone missing!?"

The kids grumbled, looking at each other. Someone would've spoken up by now if they had noticed anyone unconscious. Just then, I heard some moaning from the bus. I looked back and saw a bloodied hand reaching out of the back of the bus. Clearly, someone was still in there, and my stomach sank. I should've checked more carefully! I let go of Becca.

"Steven! Are you okay!? Can you move?"

I started rushing towards the bus, then—

BOOM

The front of the bus exploded, sending the rest of the bus further down the mountain. I ran as hard as I could, but it was already so far ahead. I started going too fast, and I fell. I tumbled down the muddy mountain. I could feel rocks scraping my arms as I covered my head. I heard metal screech as if a gate had been ripped apart. I finally landed in a puddle. My body stung, my muscles were sore, but I could still move, and I needed to get to Steven. I picked myself up and looked forward. The bus had gone a little further, but there was Steven, lying next to me in a green pool of some kind of liquid.

"Steven! Wake up!"

Tears fell down my face as I picked him up out of the ooze and held him in my arms. You have to be okay, you have to! To my surprise, Steven looked okay; there wasn’t even a scratch on him. What happened? Behind me, I heard another tumble and a splash into the green ooze. Becca lifted herself up and put on her mostly broken glasses again.

"Is he okay!?"

Why did she come down here? She's injured enough already! How are we going to get back up?

"He looks okay, actually, but he isn't waking up yet. Why'd you come down here!? How are we going to get back up there!?"

She cried loudly, covering her eyes.

"I wanted to make sure you guys were all right... sniff I just... sniff I was so worried."

She cried hard, letting out what could've been some built-up frustration.

"Come on, I won't be able to help you get up. Can you move now?"

She got up and started walking a little easier than before, to my surprise. I lifted Steven onto my back. He was surprisingly light, a lot lighter than I was expecting. I willed myself to climb the mountain with Becca behind me, making sure Steven didn't fall if I lost my grip on him.

How far did we fall? I was exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and lie down right now.

"Francine? How much longer?"

Becca was also tired, but she was walking like she didn’t have any injuries from the initial crash.

"Not sure... I'm sure the teachers are looking for us now... let's take a break."

I hadn't noticed earlier, but the rain had stopped when we reached the base of the hill. The clouds seemed to drift away slowly, and now the sun was shining its warm beams on us. Oh, that feels good. I put Steven down and closed my eyes for just a few seconds.