“I don’t have it! They took it! They took all of it! Leave me alone!”
The fire shattered one back window and crept through the lab toward the student crouched in the opposite corner sobbing and screaming. More glass exploded, causing several objects to tumble across the metal tables and onto the floor. The agent panted, chancing to peek once more around the corner. Shots pummeled the wall across from him. He wanted to close his eyes, but it was too dangerous.
The poor kid had no idea what to do, and the rest of the team were outside engaging the guards. Why they didn't have better security on this place was a mystery. Surely they were aware of the importance of their inventions. He knelt, gun pointed at the floor,and took a deep breath. Four large interior windows surrounded the room, two around each door front and back. One back window was broken and if its partner went, he had seconds to escape the fire.
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Scuffling footsteps moved toward him, sliding rather than stepping to avoid crunching on glass. There was no time left for thought. He focused his entire concentration within the room, then spun around the corner and shot to the last location of the sound. The man went down.
"Come toward me! It's alright! I'm going to get you out!" He pointed the gun away from the boy and beckoned to him with the other hand.
The boy shook and put his arms over his head, still sobbing. Shock was keeping him from saving himself.
Smoke from the fire was making it harder to see. The agent scuttled across the room, ducking to breathe fresher air near the floor. Broken glass littered the floor like opals, glowing in the light of the fire in the adjacent lab.
The boy pushed himself backward under the lab table, then crawled quickly toward the back door of the lab, which earlier had been guarded by the man who now lay on the floor .
"Wait! It's too hot in there! We have to get out the other way!" The door swung closed. Just as the agent reached the table, he was thrown back, fire whooshing through the door.