A loud shriek blasts through the common room, making us all jump. Silence for a second, then it comes again. My heart races as I look around. People have their hands over their ears to block the shrieking sound. Even the guards look confused. It isn’t until I see the flashing light in the corner that I realize it’s the fire alarm.

Did Kelsey decide to go ahead and pull it? Maybe something happened, maybe she realized there wasn’t time to wait after all? I have no choice but to tell Becca and Ramona about the plan now, and quickly.

“I think maybe—”

But when I turn, they’ve already hurried over—like everybody else—toward the guards and the emergency exit doors. This wasn’t how our escape was supposed to go. We haven’t even worked out the details. And this is the opposite of subtle. The Wolf is standing in front of the exit door already, stopping the girls from heading down. There will be no way to sneak past him in the confusion. No possibility of slipping away.

“We have to go out!” one of the girls near the door shouts. “We can’t stay here.”

Do I actually smell smoke? I could be imagining it, haunted as I am by fire.

“Calm down! It’s just a drill!” the Wolf shouts right back at her, then calls to his partner. “No way I am letting any of them outside unless someone tells me I have to.”

We are rats. Trapped in a cage. Get out now. Kendall was right. We need to go.

Dr. Haddox strides into the common room back from where our rooms are and with him a wave of actual smoke, unmistakable now. Not a false alarm. Not my imagination. Somewhere, something is definitely on fire. Was this what Kelsey went to do when she said she was going to use the bathroom? Did she send a trash can up in flames? But why didn’t she warn me? Unless there wasn’t time. Maybe something happened.

“We have a situation.” Dr. Haddox waves at the guards. “Take them out until the fire department gets here.”

“Outside?” the Wolf snaps. “They’ll be much harder to contain. We can’t be held responsible if—”

“Then don’t go all the way outside!” Dr. Haddox shouts back, then rubs his forehead, trying to calm down. “They can’t stay in here. It’s not safe. Go down to the bottom of the stairs, but not all the way out then. That way at least they won’t be stuck up here with the smoke. I’ll be back.”

Dr. Haddox disappears then, back the way he came. Back toward our rooms and the emergency.

“Come on!” the Wolf shouts at us like this is all our fault. “Let’s go, let’s go. This way. We’ll hold inside the stairwell, couple flights down. Should be fireproofed.”