The group scrambled downstairs in a panic. I was at the back and was the last one to run out the door.
As we descended the stairs, Jessica deliberately turned her head and admonished me, “Eugenia, why are you running so fast? Are you trying to hold us back?”
“Whoever is holding us back knows it in their heart.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the ground began to shake violently under my feet. The staircase from the tenth to the eighth floor had completely broken. When I looked down it was terrifyingly dark.
We stood on the eleventh floor and stared at each other in silence. As the shaking disappeared, our group was completely trapped upstairs. Everyone’s faces were filled with panic, but no one spoke for a moment.
I was the first to break the despairing silence, “Well, we might as well just die here.”
A few timid girls huddled in the corner and started crying. Lorenzo was so angry. He grabbed Damien's collar tightly and punched him.
“You bastard! You want to die and drag us down with you!”
“And you, Jessica! You bitch! You take a shower and put on makeup, right? Are you waiting to have your funeral makeup done?”