“ Hello to everyone!” he said,“ Thank you for coming to the first step of Byrin Industries advancement to a new era!” As Mr. Esell made his way through the speech, mostly thanking donors and other people of importance, the demolition crew was making the final preparations.“ Now, with this lever,” Mr. Esell took an old fashioned dynamite detonator from the head engineer and put a yellow hard hat on,“ We will leave the past and enter the future!” A countdown appeared on a giant screen overhead.
Jacob and his friends were racing through the building, trying to find a way out. They could hear the countdown outside. None of them spoke as the dashed through the hallways.
“ Five!” Jacob was running faster than he had ever had in his life.“ Four!” Tyler felt like he was about to pass out, but kept running.“ Three!” John’ s progress was hampered by his heavy satchel across his shoulder and frantically tried to keep up.“ Two!” Jacob could see familiar hallways.“ One!” We aren’ t going to make it!“ Zer...” The rest of the word was drowned out by a tremendous boom as the explosive charges exploded, sending the forty story building tumbling down. The last thing Jacob saw was massive blocks of concrete falling on him and then nothing.
Mr. Esell brushed the dust off his suit and surveyed the wreckage. He permitted himself a thin smile. As he turned to face the crowd, he felt a curious feeling that there was something he had forgotten. It was surely nothing to worry about.
Jacob groaned he felt like every part of his had been hit, with great precision, by several hundred ton hammers. He reached for his light and turned it on. When it lit the tiny space he was in, he saw that Tyler and John were also there.
“ Hey, wake up,” Jacob was shaking both of them,“ Please don’ t be dead!” He felt a huge sense of relief when he saw that both of them were still alive and mostly unharmed. Tyler groaned and then laid back down. The light flickered and went out. Jacob shook the light, willing it to turn back on. Nothing happened and it stayed dark. Why don’ t I just give up and lie down? I’ ll just watch this light. A light! Jacob sat up with renewed hope. He started to shift the rubble. John woke up and began to help him. Eventually they made a hole large enough to crawl through. While they were digging it, Tyler had woken up as well. Jacob crawled out of the hole and blinked in the blinding sunlight.
Jacob looked around and saw Mr. Esell and the rest of the crowd staring in total shock. Mr. Esell had an expression that would have looked comical if not for the circumstances. The shock began to melt away from the crowd as they realized the reality of what had just happened.