“Cal, dammit, hold on!” a woman screamed into the empty room. “It will take me five minutes to get there. You’ve gotta figure out how to fight back and stay alive that long.” She talked to herself as she ran out of the room, through two doors, and leaped into a crack along the wall.

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  She landed on the ground in the backyard of a house at the end of Cal’s street. The tree behind her had a matching crack on it.

  “I’m coming. Just stay alive!”