first.”
Mr. Clark hesitated.
Devon weighed their expressions,
lingering on Ani and Sam, then spoke for the group. “Me three. I think you’ll
have to kill us all.”
Ani looked up at the soldiers,
young men barely older than she was, their faces tight with anticipation, their
knuckles white. She clenched her fists and prepared to leap. Holy crap, I’m
about to die. A dim part of her mind felt it odd that she had no racing
heartbeat, no hyperventilating lungs, no adrenal response. A less dim part
wondered if she’d be able to eat before they took her down.
Mr. Benson licked his lips. “Fire
at—”
“Belay that,” came a voice from
the door. Dr. Banerjee stepped forward and put his hand on Mr. Clark’s
shoulder. “Gentlemen, fall back to the main hallway and await orders.”
The soldiers snapped to
attention, saluted, and backed their way through the door, weapons still
raised.
“Colonel, I don’t think—” Mr.
Benson began.
“I know,” Dr. Banerjee said. “Go
with them, please.” He nodded at Mr. Clark. “You, too, Ed.”
“But,” Mr. Benson said. “You’ll
be alone with—”
“Children, covered by snipers.
Now go inside.”
“Yes, sir,” Mr. Benson said
with a salute. Mr. Clark just nodded. They left.
“You can put your hands down,”
Dr. Banerjee said. “I need you to hold down Kyle so I can inspect his shoulder.”
They did, and he probed the wound with latex-covered hands. He frowned. “Ani,
call your mother. We have a shattered clavicle that needs to be replaced. The
rest should heal up in the bath.” He patted Kyle on the helmet. “You’re lucky
to have a head. Any more funny business and you won’t.”
“They started it,” Teah said.
“Irrelevant,” he replied, his
eyes pinning her in place. “They have rights that you do not. We need due
process before prosecuting them for assault. You can, and will, be shot or
burned without a trial.” He looked at each of them in turn, then back to Teah. “Now,
let me see your face.” He turned her head back and forth. A shallow gouge
marred the flesh covering her cheekbone. It reminded Ani of her own injury from
Halloween two years past. “You’ll be fine.”
“What, sweetie?” came the voice
on the phone. Ani passed it to Dr. Banerjee. He took it and walked away.
He spoke for a few minutes out
of earshot, then stepped back to the group. “You will be returning to the lab.
No school for the rest of the day.”
“What about them?” Devon
pointed outside the fence.
Dr. Banerjee turned his cool
brown eyes toward the protestors, chanting and cheering at the spectacle of a
fifteen-year-old shot in the schoolyard. “I’ll deal with them.”
* * *
Back at the lab, Kyle shuffled
his sullen way to the operation suite while the rest of them were locked in the
rec room under the loving care of Mr. Benson. Ani wrote her essay for English
under the blaring TV while Lydia paced, stepping over her with every lap of the
room, burning off nervous energy that Ani couldn’t bring herself to feel.
Her phone buzzed. A text from
Tiffany. “u hear about bill?”
Ani looked up at Teah, watching
TV and paddling her stomach like a tom-tom. She replied, “No. What about Bill?”
She was halfway through the
next paragraph when it buzzed again. “arrested AWOL lol”
Shocker . She texted
back, “Thanks. Not telling Teah yet. Make sure Kyle’s ok first.”
“I herd about that sounds scary
lol”
“Gotta go,” Ani replied. She
didn’t, but she didn’t want to talk about it, either.
“Kkkkkkk,” Tiff replied.
She put away her phone and
waited for the wrath of God—or Mom—to descend.
Three hours later, her mom came
in with Kyle. Nobody had to explain what had happened. The security cameras had
captured everything, and the offending party would be prosecuted for assault if
Teah’s parents would press charges. The town judge had agreed to push the
picket line back.
They had to listen to an
hour-long
Mr. Clark hesitated.
Devon weighed their expressions,
lingering on Ani and Sam, then spoke for the group. “Me three. I think you’ll
have to kill us all.”
Ani looked up at the soldiers,
young men barely older than she was, their faces tight with anticipation, their
knuckles white. She clenched her fists and prepared to leap. Holy crap, I’m
about to die. A dim part of her mind felt it odd that she had no racing
heartbeat, no hyperventilating lungs, no adrenal response. A less dim part
wondered if she’d be able to eat before they took her down.
Mr. Benson licked his lips. “Fire
at—”
“Belay that,” came a voice from
the door. Dr. Banerjee stepped forward and put his hand on Mr. Clark’s
shoulder. “Gentlemen, fall back to the main hallway and await orders.”
The soldiers snapped to
attention, saluted, and backed their way through the door, weapons still
raised.
“Colonel, I don’t think—” Mr.
Benson began.
“I know,” Dr. Banerjee said. “Go
with them, please.” He nodded at Mr. Clark. “You, too, Ed.”
“But,” Mr. Benson said. “You’ll
be alone with—”
“Children, covered by snipers.
Now go inside.”
“Yes, sir,” Mr. Benson said
with a salute. Mr. Clark just nodded. They left.
“You can put your hands down,”
Dr. Banerjee said. “I need you to hold down Kyle so I can inspect his shoulder.”
They did, and he probed the wound with latex-covered hands. He frowned. “Ani,
call your mother. We have a shattered clavicle that needs to be replaced. The
rest should heal up in the bath.” He patted Kyle on the helmet. “You’re lucky
to have a head. Any more funny business and you won’t.”
“They started it,” Teah said.
“Irrelevant,” he replied, his
eyes pinning her in place. “They have rights that you do not. We need due
process before prosecuting them for assault. You can, and will, be shot or
burned without a trial.” He looked at each of them in turn, then back to Teah. “Now,
let me see your face.” He turned her head back and forth. A shallow gouge
marred the flesh covering her cheekbone. It reminded Ani of her own injury from
Halloween two years past. “You’ll be fine.”
“What, sweetie?” came the voice
on the phone. Ani passed it to Dr. Banerjee. He took it and walked away.
He spoke for a few minutes out
of earshot, then stepped back to the group. “You will be returning to the lab.
No school for the rest of the day.”
“What about them?” Devon
pointed outside the fence.
Dr. Banerjee turned his cool
brown eyes toward the protestors, chanting and cheering at the spectacle of a
fifteen-year-old shot in the schoolyard. “I’ll deal with them.”
* * *
Back at the lab, Kyle shuffled
his sullen way to the operation suite while the rest of them were locked in the
rec room under the loving care of Mr. Benson. Ani wrote her essay for English
under the blaring TV while Lydia paced, stepping over her with every lap of the
room, burning off nervous energy that Ani couldn’t bring herself to feel.
Her phone buzzed. A text from
Tiffany. “u hear about bill?”
Ani looked up at Teah, watching
TV and paddling her stomach like a tom-tom. She replied, “No. What about Bill?”
She was halfway through the
next paragraph when it buzzed again. “arrested AWOL lol”
Shocker . She texted
back, “Thanks. Not telling Teah yet. Make sure Kyle’s ok first.”
“I herd about that sounds scary
lol”
“Gotta go,” Ani replied. She
didn’t, but she didn’t want to talk about it, either.
“Kkkkkkk,” Tiff replied.
She put away her phone and
waited for the wrath of God—or Mom—to descend.
Three hours later, her mom came
in with Kyle. Nobody had to explain what had happened. The security cameras had
captured everything, and the offending party would be prosecuted for assault if
Teah’s parents would press charges. The town judge had agreed to push the
picket line back.
They had to listen to an
hour-long
Similar Books
