Graham slowly pulled himself toward the distant light under the door. He focused on it. That light could mean life.

Suddenly the light expanded to encompass the entire doorway. “Hello?” A woman’s voice called. “Anyone alive in here?”

“Yeah!” Graham shouted, desperate for her to hear him. She made her way around the rubble toward him. The beam from her flashlight danced around the destroyed room. “We have to go,” she said, bending down to examine his leg. “We have exactly 12 minutes before they descend on us like all Hell and kill everything not already dead.”

“What about those of us who are mostly dead?” Graham asked weakly.

She stared at him.

“Not the time, I get it. We have to do something about this rebar though.”

“I’m not pulling it out,” she said, “That’s for medical to take care of.”

“Medical was the floor above that fell on our heads. I’m pretty sure it’s from medical.”

“Ironic, but I’m still not pulling it out.”

“The rebar comes out, or I can’t go very far.”

She stared at his leg uneasily.