The engine of the bus clatters for a brief moment, before fading to a light clicking sound. Gas drips onto the ground from the undercarriage, coalescing with the puddles already forming around the roof. Rain pours down on the bus as the storm finally comes in; the sound against the bus' tin shell is oddly soothing as it echoes loudly throughout the vehicle.

Morgan stares forward at the front window, still caught in a momentary mixture of shock and drunken haze. From the other side of the glass the thick, red substance slowly seeps down from the downpour. The now diluted blood quickly vanishes, as if just a brief hallucination that flashed inside of his head. At least that's what he was hoping it was.

Everyone lies against the windows lined up along the right side of the bus. Julia, coughing, pushes Cesar off of her and he rolls over into the back cushion of one of the seats. Paige rolls to her back and reaches up to dab lightly at the cut on her forehead. She pulls her hand back to see blood on her fingers and her eyes widen as she scrambles to her feet. She sees Riley pull himself up from one of the seats next to her. He looks over at her as he rubs at his aching head.

"You okay?" He groans.

She glares at him. "Peachy."

Everything is flipped to the right. Bus seats extend from the wall they stand on and more hang down from the bus' left side that overlooks them. Cesar helps Julia to her feet. She whimpers as she looks around them, tears quickly flooding her eyes.

"Oh my god, guys. We almost died!" She screams.

Cesar grabs her hand. "Hey, it's okay—"

"No!" She pulls away. "We need to get out of here!"

Paige turns to her, her tone sarcastic. "That's a great idea."

They hear coughing and turn to the front of the bus. Morgan grabs onto the railing near the steps as he pulls himself up off the bus doors. He staggers forward and leans against the driver's seat hanging in front of him.

Paige stares at him, shaking her head. "You idiot."

Morgan, his eyes growing intensely pink as they swell up, looks back at her and opens his mouth but no words come out. He's speechless. There's no defense and no excuse for what he did. He fucked up. Majorly.

"Julia's right." Riley steps forward, his voice steady and calm. "We should focus on getting out of here. We can kill each other later."

Gulping, all Morgan hears is the word kill. He glances back at the front window.

Outside the bus, everything is dark between the flash intervals of orange and red from the bus' extended stop sign. The only other light comes from Taylor's tail lights.

The driver's door opens and she steps out onto the pavement, wielding a flashlight in her hand. She staggers forward, moving toward the wreckage cautiously. She aims her light at the bus. The hood of the bus appears to be ripped upward, but it's hard to tell from the angle she's at. She sees the top of the bus, the driver's window, and that's pretty much it. The flashlight trembles in her hand as she walks by a bent wheel from a bicycle. She knows it's there, but purposely ignores it. She has to make sure her brother is alive. That's her priority.

"It won't open!" Paige yells with frustration, letting go of the lever on the emergency door that hangs vertically above her against the back wall of the bus. She slams her hand against the back window. "Damnit!"

Julia panics, running her fingers through her hair as she frantically paces back-and-forth against the row of windows. "Oh my god, guys. We're stuck!"

"Let me try." Cesar shoves past Paige and grabs onto the lever, his height giving him a clear advantage as he's able to get a better grip. He pulls it and shoves against the door with his shoulder. Nothing happens. He tries again, grunting as he slams into it at full force. "Shit. It won't budge."

"Way to go, Rambo." Paige snarls. She turns back to see Julia, in an even more frenzied state, crawling around the floorboard as she looks for her bag. "Julia, get a hold of yourself."

Julia ignores her and continues to scavenge through the wreckage.

"Is he okay?" Riley asks, peering down from over one of the seat's cushions.

Kneeled down against the bus windows, Morgan squats next to an unconscious Garrett. His head had slammed against the window with such force it cracked the window and probably fractured his skull. Morgan turns his head to examine the gash on his temple. Blood has filled the depth of the cracked window, and slowly leaks out onto the pavement beneath it.

Paige steps forward, overlooking from the other seat cushion on Morgan's right. "Is he... dead?"

"Check his pulse." Riley lets out a deep, frustrated sigh.

Morgan reaches down to do so. With two fingers he presses against Garrett's neck, waits a few seconds, and looks up at them. A worried expression sweeps over his face. "He's not breathing."

"What are you doing?" Cesar asks, noticing Julia as she finally finds her bag.

She quickly digs her phone out of it and tosses her bag aside. "I'm calling the police!"

Morgan jumps to his feet, not noticing Garrett's chest as it extends. "No! You can't!"

"Well, I'm not staying in here to die!"

"Let's just calm down." Morgan insists, holding out his arms defensively as if he were still on the football field.

Julia snaps, "Don't tell me what to fucking do!" She begins to dial on her phone when he reaches over to snatch it from her. He tosses it aside.

A loud popping noise echoes off the narrow walls of the bus, coming from the front, and the metal rattles. Another pop, and sparks are flying from the hood as a fire ignites from the engine. So much for calm.

Paige backs up into the wall, or rather the roof of the bus. "Okay, not good!"

"We can bust a window out." Riley suggests to Morgan, who nods in assent.

A muffled voice screams from outside as a light shines in through the back windows. "Are you guys okay?!"

The group turns to see Taylor outside, tugging on the handle of the emergency exit but it's no use. The lock is somehow jammed. Morgan approaches her from the other side of the glass and slams on the door. "We're stuck!" He yells, his breath fogging the glass in front of him.

The fire quickly spreads to the undercarriage, the blaze engulfing the axels as the belly of the bus becomes a blistering inferno. The fire reaches the transmission and there's a small burst, rocking the bus back-and-forth. Sobbing, Julia watches in shock as the flames glisten from the windows above her. It begins to get hot. Real hot.

Taylor looks around, her clothes and hair already drenched from the rain. She steps over to her right and aims her flashlight to get a glance of the roof. "Try the roof exit!"She yells.

Riley notices the built-in exit immediately in the center of the wall on his right. He quickly approaches it and pops the latch by pulling it downward. The lock clicks loudly. He pushes it and it opens, the door swinging outwards. "Over here!"

The group swarm to the exit. Julia shoves past everyone and immediately clinches onto the exit. Morgan and Riley lift her up and push her through legs first. From the other side, Taylor drops her flashlight and grabs Julia's legs to help her ease her way to her feet so she doesn't fall to the ground. Water splashes as her feet finally hit the ground and Julia peers upward, taking a huge breath of relief. A large puddle begins to form around the bus as the downpour seems to be getting worse.

"Paige!" Morgan insists she goes next. He and Riley help her up and through the hole. As her arms disappear through the exit, smoke begins to seep in from the cracks in the windows and from the broken window near the driver's seat.

Riley begins to cough and motions for Cesar to go next.

Outside, Paige assists Taylor in helping Cesar through the hatch. Julia, noticing something ahead of her, reaches down to take the still-lit flashlight from the puddle beneath her. She aims it forward at the front of the bus and slowly approaches it.

As Cesar successfully makes it through, Riley turns to Morgan. "Go." He coughs again and wipes at the sweat building on his forehead.

"After you, man." Morgan grabs his shoulder and squeezes it. Riley nods. Morgan helps lift Riley up to push his legs in through the exit. The girls outside help pull him through and Morgan waits until his head pulls through the frame of the hatch before turning around.

He quickly finds his gym bag near the front of the bus and begins to scavenge through the wall under him, tossing Julia's bag and phone inside, Paige's pom-poms, Cesar's iPod. Basically whatever can point back to any of them. Afterwards, he runs over to Garrett and grabs his arms. He pulls him away from the seat cushion and onto the row of windows to drag him toward the front of the bus. He lets his body fall onto the bus doors.

Julia freezes as she notices the water ahead of her turning red. She wraps around to the front of the bus and stops. Her hand trembles, the light shaking crazily in front of her, and she lets out a high-pitched wail. The group helps Riley to his feet and immediately run in Julia's direction. Taylor stays behinds and tries to peer into the emergency exit, but it's too high up.

"Morgan, come on! Hurry the hell up!"

The fire spreads through the busted window next to the driver's seat. The flame touches the cushion and it quickly ignites. Morgan coughs as the smoke thickens, the inside of the bus becoming a dark veiled haze. It feels like he's boiling inside of an oven. He reaches up and pulls back, barely avoiding the blaze as it spreads. He quickly reaches up again and snatches the keys from the ignition.

He rubs them with his shirt, clearing off any fingerprints as a precautionary. He glances around, hoping that the fire burns whatever other evidence that can point to any of them. With his shirt, he lifts the keys over to Garrett's hand and lets them fall to his palm.

Garrett groans, turning his head. He leans up to briefly peer into Morgan's eyes as they widen. "What hap—" His head immediately falls back down, slamming into the glass doors as he again falls unconscious.

Morgan stares at him. He immediately reaches forward when a small blast comes from the engine, shattering the windshield and allowing the flame to spread even faster inside, sending the bus rocking.

"Morgan!"

He slowly backs away.

"MORGAN!!!" Taylor shouts again, distress filling her voice.

He turns to the hatch and tosses the bag through. Then he pulls himself upward, the metal from the roof now scorching hot. He pulls himself out so fast that he tumbles down into the pavement below and groans.

Taylor leans down and helps him lean up. "Are you okay?!"

He pushes her away and struggles to get to his feet. "I'm fine." He grabs the gym bag.

"We have to go." She grabs his arm and yanks him away from the bus. They stop when they see the rest of the group, with Julia, staring at the front of the bus.

As they walk over to join them, Riley peers at Morgan with digust. The grille is bashed inward. Blood and slices of flesh fill the holes in the grating, and a puddle of diluted blood seeps around their feet. Julia shines her flashlight at a broken helmet on the side of the road, and follows it to the grass to their right. She screams.

They all turn to follow her gaze, and Cesar covers his mouth to hold back his vomit. They see the boy—or rather—what's left of him. Among his remains are the remnants of his bicycle, mixed together in a twisted, bloody carnage.

The grill pops outward, extending as if it were slowly swelling up as the bus swallows something. Cesar notices and quickly backs away. "Guys..."

Fire shoots through the grill of the bus. The group notice and immediately turn to run away, toward the direction of Taylor's car, when the entire hood ignites, engulfed by flames. There's a bright flash, followed by an ear deafening boom, as the front of the bus explodes. Shards of metal and debris land before them, scattered out throughout the pavement. One of the wheels break apart from the bus, and the engulfed rubber rolls out into the street.

Garrett screams hysterically. Riley and Paige quickly turn to Morgan.

"You said he was dead!" Paige cries as she shoves him into Taylor's car.

Morgan stutters, "He was!"

A black, smoldering hand is pressed against the bottom half of the broken windshield. Garrett knocks the small piece of glass out and clasps onto the window seal. Garrett's screams soon become faint and his hand pulls back inside.

"Goddamn liar." Paige glares at him.

He steps forward, growing red with frustration. "Back off, bitch!"

Riley grabs him by the collar of his jersey and shoves him up against the trunk of Taylor's car, pinning him with his forearm. "You sick son of a bitch. How could you leave him?!" It's a rare sight to see Riley lose his temper, but he had good reason.

Morgan's eyes swell up, his tone genuine. "I didn't know..."

Shaking his head, Riley lets go and backs up. Taylor stares at Morgan in disbelief, not knowing what to think or let alone do.

"We have to help him!" Riley screams.

"He's already dead." Julia mumbles, still crying. She's just being realistic. The fire has already spread to the end of the bus.

"We need to call the cops." Paige suggests, glancing over at Morgan's gym bag.

Riley grabs the bag from the ground, already knowing how Morgan's mind works. He tosses it onto the trunk, next to Morgan's head, and begins to dig through it. He pulls out one of the cell phones. The touchscreen is cracked down the middle, but the display still manages to light up when he pushes the button.

"No!" Morgan stands up. "Don't you guys see? If we call the cops, we all might as well have stayed on that bus with him!"

"Are you crazy?!" Paige screams frantically.

Morgan's stare transitions from petrified to cold and heartless. The flames burn behind him like a tall wall ablaze in the distance, resembling hell and he's the devil. "Well, it wouldn't just be me going down. Paige, you're the one who gave me the keys. Cesar, you provided the alcohol. We'll all be held responsible for just getting on that bus."

They stare at him. Nobody knows what to say. He continues.

"Consider the fire a blessing. Hopefully it'll be such a mess that they won't find anything that points back to us."

"A blessing?!" Riley shakes his head. "Our friend was just burned alive in that blessing! And what about—"

"The boy..." Taylor finishes him. "He was just a boy."

Morgan gulps and glances back at the bus' hood. "We can't let our lives be ruined for something that has already happened. We just can't." He turns back to them. "We might as well kiss college goodbye. Or fuck, the rest of our lives for that matter!"

Sirens wail in the distance. Down the long stretch of road they see lights faintly flashing from an ambulance or fire truck. Or maybe even the police. A cloud of dark smoke overlooks them as the fire grows higher.

Unexpectedly, Taylor steps forward. "He's right. Let's just go."

Riley turns to her in disbelief. "Taylor, are you serious?!"

"Yes." She takes a deep breath, already knowing that what she's doing is wrong. But this is her brother's life at stake. If he's arrested, she knows he would be held accountable for two deaths and who knows how many other charges. "They're already dead. We can save ourselves."

The sirens grow louder and Morgan steps into the center of the group, holding onto the gym bag. "So, school tomorrow? Or jail?" He walks over to Taylor's car and climbs into the passenger's seat.

"Taylor..." Riley, still finding Taylor's reaction unbelievable, approaches her.

She glances at him as she also walks over to the car. She climbs into the driver's seat. Julia and Cesar don't hesitate to follow. Paige exchanges worried looks with Riley as she steps toward the car. She shakes her head as she climbs in the back to squeeze next to Julia and Cesar.

The red light from Taylor's tail lights cast upon Riley as he's the only one standing there. He turns to get one more look at the bus, seeing the fire truck as it approaches, and walks over to the back door to climb into the backseat.

Within seconds, Taylor's ignition starts and the car speeds off down Shady Grove Blvd. Bright red and white lights flash through the trees warping around the narrow road.

♫ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴀ ᴄᴀʀ ᴄʀᴀsʜ ᴀᴡᴀʏ / ᴍᴀʀɪʟʏɴ ᴍᴀɴsᴏɴ ♫