Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Someday, I told myself, I’d have a big, fancy bottling machine like this one. Someday, I’d brew beer in vats the size of Bob’s. I’d have to recover from the current slowdown in business first, but I could get there. I wasn’t going to give up, no matter how much trouble Matthew caused.
It was dim inside, and only half of the overhead lights were on. I walked in further, calling out, “Bob? It’s Avery.”
I’d never been in his office, so I wasn’t sure which direction to head. My eyes scanned the big space. On the other side of the bottling machine, I caught sight of a few doors, all closed. Two had windows that looked out into the main space of the brewery, and in one of them, the lights were on. Bingo. With his door closed, he probably hadn’t heard me arrive.
I made my way across the brewery, ducking under the rolling track of the bottling machine. “Bob?” I called out again, not wanting to sneak up on him.
No answer. No sound at all. A tickle of nerves went up my spine.
There wasn’t anything wrong that I could see, but still—it was too quiet. Why was it so quiet?
Because no one’s here, Avery, I told myself.
I reached the door to the office I thought was Bob’s and knocked. No answer. Okay, that was weird. I stood there for a second, my hands at my sides, wondering what to do. Knock again?
I did. Still no answer. I tried the knob, and it turned in my hand. I pushed the door open.
“Hey Bob, sorry to barge in, but—”
The office was empty.
Not what I was expecting. Lights on, door unlocked, Bob nowhere in sight. Could he be in the bathroom or something? Maybe. I pulled out my phone and texted him.
Bob, I’m here. Can’t find you.
The message went undelivered.
“Bob?” I called out again. I’d take a walk around. If I didn’t spot him, then what? Logic said: go home and try again later. There are things you should know. Fuck, I wanted to know the things I should know, and I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to know now.
Something on the other side of the room caught my eye—a shadow of movement and a sound. A rustle. Kind of a splash. A splash of what? My heart stopped at the thought that maybe one of the vats was leaking. But no. No. These looked like perfectly maintained, newish stainless-steel vats. No way they had a leak.
The smell hit me, acrid and sharp. That wasn’t beer. That was... Gas.
What?
I barely had time to register the scent filling the vast room when flames exploded on the other side of the brewery. Holy shit, that was a lot of fire. I wasn’t close enough to be singed, and still the heat was a slap in the face, the smell choking my lungs.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. How the hell had that happened? My mind raced, thinking through what could cause spontaneous combustion. Nothing came to mind.
I bolted for the front door, only to find it locked. It must have locked behind me, but even as I had the thought, I realized, wouldn’t it open from the inside? There was no reason for it to lock from the outside on its own.
My brain caught up with my panic in a rush. The fire was moving fast, licking up the walls to touch the metal ceiling, consuming the drywall as if it were ravenous. Thank God most of what was in here was metal and glass, but that wouldn’t stop those flames. And I was right in the center of it, thick, black smoke displacing the breathable air faster than I could have imagined.
There had to be another door. Think, Avery. The metal receiving door was on the side of the building where the flames had started. If it had been open, I might have been able to get out that way. But not if I had to stop, unlatch it, and wrestle it up. The whole wall was on fire, and I didn’t know how long it would be before this whole place collapsed on my head. I knew fire could move fast, but not like this. What had it been—a minute, a minute and a half?
Backing away, I didn’t even realize I was retreating from the flames until I slammed into a metal vat. I had to get out. The front door was glass, but... Could I break it by throwing something through it?
I inched past the vat, looking along the wall for another exit. There couldn’t be just the two doors. There had to be another way out. I ran, jumping over a crate on the floor, turning to ease past another vat, looking for a window—anything—and finding only white drywall. Fuck. Black smoke was filling the room. I pulled my shirt over my face, coughing, and got down on my hands and knees.