"Freedom"
They stumbled from the building, throats choked with ash, clinging to each other, gasping for the cool night air that seared like molten tears on its way down.
The crowd pressed on all sides, jostling, a mass of nothing but nervous and frightened faces, an endless sea of bodies.
He paid them no heed.
"Christine," he gasped, still clinging to her, ignoring the protests of the aggravated wound on his upper arm. "Christine, are you all right?"
She looked at him, eyes shining bright with tears. "We're free," she whispered.
Freedom.
Never before had he ever tasted anything so sweet.
