Every breath was hoarse, and ragged and painful. It caught in Tyler's chest and it wasn't enough, it wasn't enough, it wasn't enough.He felt dizzy from the lack of air with each painful, gasping breath as he limped through the hall as fast as he could manage, the acrid smoke bitter and biting on his tongue and in his nose and in his throat.
Not even god knew what kind of chemicals were in the noxious fumes that filled the smokey haze and obscured his vision with every agonizing, hobbling step, as each of the labs behind him started to combust and be consumed.
He was not going to survive this, he was sure of that. Even if he made it out before the whole complex burned to the fucking ground, he could feel the damage each breath was doing to his lungs, coughing and choking.He imagined them filling with blood.
He didn't even have anything to cover his mouth with.
Tyler didn't know why he was bothering to keep moving forward. He couldn't even feel his left leg. If it was broken, or just bleeding out he guessed he didn't need to know about it anyway.
He could just stop here, and collapse, and let the fire take him.
At least Rebecca had made it out.
She had to have made it out, right?
Maybe if he made it a little further he could find out before he… left.
There was a sudden spasm in his ribs, and a wracking, choking coughing fit overtook him. It was like being stabbed, over and over and over deep in his chest, and he felt something wet on his lips, and his mouth tasted like pain and fire and copper.
He didn't stop moving. Just to check on Rebecca. Just to make sure she was alright.
Tyler heard the roar of another explosion, something new and huge catching on fire, just as he saw the emergency door swimming through the haze in front of him.
With a deep breath that was like knives he used the last of his strength to push himself forward, and fall against the lever of the door.
It opened under his weight and he fell through it onto the wet pavement outside, as flames roared over his back.
His vision swam, and he tried not to hiccup as the slightly fresher air tingled in his abused nostrils. There was blood leaking on the ground from his lips.
He tried to push himself up but there was simply no strength left for that. The red and blue lights pulsed as his vision dimmed, and he heard sirens.
The last thing Tyler saw before he lost consciousness was a pair of boots.
Rebecca?