Kill School: Slice (26 page)

“Turn around,” one of the guards says.

“I have to get my friends in the woods,” I say.

“Turn around,” the guard repeats, this time a little gentler.
“Go to the auditorium. We’ll get your friends.”

Half of the guards return to the woods, the other half
stand in front of the trees to make sure no more kids enter it. I wonder whom
they will find in there. My brother? I hope that he is long gone.

I walk across the starlit lawn toward the campus by myself,
all the while looking for Demi, or Shah, Vanessa or Mateo. Bright waves of
water shower the emerald cabin in an attempt to put out the fire. Thick smoke
billows in the air twenty feet high. In places, the white snow is streaked red.
I relive Jack falling to the ground every time I smell blood.

I am no longer frozen. I want to run. I want to get to the
auditorium. I run across the lawn and into the campus as fast as possible. The
warm air hits me like the opening of a hot oven. I realize for the first time
that sweat pours from my brow. 

Relief fills me when I hear Vanessa calling my name. I turn
to see Vanessa and Mateo running toward me. Her bandaged arm rests in a sling
around her neck. A jacketless Mateo holds a hand on his shoulder.

“I was grazed,” says Mateo when I can’t take my eyes from
his shoulder. “I’ll live.”

“Mathew and Lily are safe,” Vanessa says.

“Thank goodness,” I say. “Jack’s in the infirmary.”

Vanessa lowers her eyes. “We heard about Jack.” Her voice
cracks. “Demi is crushed.” A sobbing gasp escapes her lips.

“He’ll recover,” I say. “Don’t worry.”

Vanessa and Mateo exchange glances. The air is motionless
around me as if it’s waiting for me to fall.

“You don’t know?” Vanessa asks. “Burke told us you tried to
save him.”

“I
did
save him,” I say.

Jack’s blood covers my jacket. He was breathing when I last
saw him. He has to survive.

Vanessa and Mateo stare at me with water-filled eyes.

“He can’t be dead,” I say. The words sting my lips. By the
look on Vanessa and Mateo’s faces, I know that he is.

I fall to the ground on my knees. My hands stop my face
from planting in the dirt. Jack is dead. I want to be part of the dirt.
Brainless and empty. Forever dark.

“We have to go,” Vanessa says.

More guards march toward us. Their figures are blurry
through my tears, making them look like apparitions. Vanessa and Mateo help me
up. We walk in a clump, each nursing our wounds. Mine are on the inside. A deep
cut has broken my heart in two.

Vanessa,
Mateo, and I enter the auditorium to sounds of crying and hushed tones. The
stench of blood and sweat is thick in the air. Kids pack the auditorium. Dozens
of guards carrying huge weapons stand in the rows and line up in front of the
stage.

The last time I was in the auditorium, it was filled with
loud chatter and animated teenagers. Within a few hours, we have all graduated
into grief-stricken adults.

I glimpse unmistakable blond hair. Burke is rushing up the
aisle. My heart bursts when I see him. I knew he was alive from Vanessa and
Mateo, but seeing him in the flesh makes me want to start bawling my eyes out.
He is safe. I take two more steps and I am in his arms. His greeting is long
and intimate. His strong arms hold me tight to his chest. We are friends. We
are more. My broken heart begins to heal.

“I’m so glad you are safe,” Burke says. “Come on down and
sit with the rest of the group.”

He takes my hand and guides us to our group who sit far
down the aisle, close to the stage.

“I have to go with the other counselors,” Burke says. “I’ll
be back with you all later.”

He touches my cheek and departs across the front of the
stage, disappearing behind it.

I glance from the aisle to the seats. My eyes lock on
Demi’s bent head and dark hair covering her face. She sits in between Lily and
Shah. Mathew sits next to Lily.

Demi’s shoulders heave up and down. She is crying. Mathew
is crying. Many of the other kids are crying. The whole place smells like
smoke. I can’t sit down. I can’t let Demi see me with Jack’s blood all over me.

I take off my jacket and stuff it under a seat. The kid
sitting in the seat looks up at me but doesn’t say anything. His eyes are
hollow and glazed over. I doubt he even knows where he is.

When Demi sees me, she jumps to her feet and points a
finger at me.

“Don’t you dare sit with us,” she screams. “You failed. You
let him die.”

Shah tries to calm Demi down while Lily jumps to her feet.

“Your mother is in my termination pool,” Lily says in an
acidic tone. She doesn’t go on, but I get her meaning. She wants revenge.
Against me.

“Perhaps we should sit over here,” Vanessa says, yanking me
away.

Vanessa guides me to the opposite side of the aisle. Mateo,
Vanessa, and I take three seats away from the rest of our cabin mates.

Lily’s threat to my mother has the opposite effect. Instead
of feeling worse for my part in Jack’s death, I feel angry. Not at Lily. Not at
Demi. The whole stinking token system is wrong. It makes close friends into
mortal enemies. I vow my own revenge against Kalstein Barstow. If he were alive
today, I would surely kill him.

A somber Mr. Wassillie enters the stage wearing a long
multi colored robe. Dozens of counselors, including Burke, walk on the stage
and stand in a ring behind him. I don’t know many of them. The teachers enter
next and stand in front of the counselors. I see the Hunter and Vladimir, Yip
and Professor Hammerschmidt. The only teacher missing is Messier.

Mr. Wassillie holds up his hands, a gesture he uses to
quiet the crowd. This crowd needs no signal. No one is speaking. Not even in a
whisper.  

“I know you are wondering what happened tonight.” Mr.
Wassillie chokes on his the rest of his words.

Mr. Wassillie puts his hands on his knees. The crowd
murmurs with concern. Is he going to collapse in front of us? For the first
time I feel sorry for him. This is his camp. It will never be the same. He
straightens up and puts his hands on his hips as if he’s trying to hold himself
up.

“I don’t know what happened,” Mr. Wassillie says.

He shakes his head and paces.

“Once in a while a kid comes down the tunnel,” Mr.
Wassillie says, his voice becoming softer and softer as he speaks. “Usually the
kid has had a bad time at camp and wants to take out a camper. Sometimes he or
she succeeds. Occasionally we’ve lost a student.”

Mr. Wassillie stands on the stage like a statue. No more
words come out of his mouth. The auditorium lights shine on his tear-streaked
face.

Finally, the Hunter steps forward and places her good arm
around Mr. Wassillie’s shoulder. She whispers something to him and he steps
back. The Hunter turns to us in a rigid salute. She lowers her hand and puts it
behind her back.

“Tonight, several dozen kids came in through the Vactube,” the
Hunter says. “They torched several buildings on campus and over a dozen cabins.
We have all lost people tonight. Cabin mates. Friends. Teachers. Counselors.
Many have perished.”

The Hunter scans the teachers behind her and bows her head.
I watch Burke on the stage. His expression is blank, but he shifts from foot to
foot. Every now and then, he glances in the remaining quad’s direction. No more
Jack. No more Quad Squad.

The Hunter turns to us.

“We don’t have the names of the victims for you tonight,”
she says. “More are in the infirmary. More may die. We caught some of the
children. Several were killed. Others escaped.”

The Hunter pauses to look out over the crowd. 

“Once we review the microdrone recordings and find all of
the raiders, we will determine if they are legally able to kill. If they are,
they will attend their debriefing and be dismissed. If they are not, if they
are responsible for any of the fires, then they will be sent to control.”

Angry questions and speeches fill the air. Most are furious
that some of the raiders will get away with murder. I am terrified that my
brother is dead. If he is not dead, they will find him. If he set those fires,
he will go to control.

The Hunter holds up her hand.

“The Regulators have been notified and will be here in the
morning. Your parents have been notified as well. We have asked them to come
and pick you up, for training camp will close until repairs are completed.”

The Hunter bows and then returns to her place with the rest
of the teachers.

I get to see my parents tomorrow. I get to go home. My eyes
lock on Burke. He is staring at me. He does not look happy.

Mr. Wassillie steps forward again. He instructs us all to
return to our cabins for the rest of the night. The kids whose cabins were
destroyed will be split up and bunk with others. He tells us that we will have
breakfast like any other day. He then dismisses us.

The
walk across campus is both empty and dismal. I feel numb. I am vaguely aware
that Mateo and Vanessa are with me. We are banded together in a haze of misery.
I block out everything else around me. The burning smell. The bloody snow. For
fear, I will relive Jack’s death for the hundredth time.

Once back in the cabin, Vanessa, Mateo and I collapse on
the couch in the common room. Shah comes in and sits in a chair across from us.
He looks at me with heavy eyes.

“She won’t blame you for long,” Shah says. “Burke told her
what happened. She knows you tried.”

I press my knees up to my chest, reminding me that my ribs
are still bruised. The physical pain feels good. I press my knees in tighter as
tears slip from my eyes.

“Where is she?” I ask.

“Burke took Demi to the infirmary,” Shah says. “She’s going
to stay there overnight with the other quads and then she is going home. He’ll
be back here soon.”

Just then, the door opens. We all look up, expecting to see
Burke. Instead, Erwin enters the cabin with a disgruntled look on his face. I
haven’t seen him since we got into our fight. He scowls at us as he walks
through the common room to the bunks. Following him are Aisha and Priyanka who
join us.

“They kicked him out of the infirmary,” Aisha says,
referencing Erwin.

“There has to be a better way,” Mateo says. “We can’t just
keep killing each other.”

“There is a better way,” Shah says in a conspiratorial
tone. “I have heard rumors. Some people have formed a resistance on the
outside. They are banding together.”

“To slaughter innocent kids,” Aisha breaks in. “Like they
did here tonight.”

“Just the opposite,” Shah says. “They refuse to kill.”

“You saw the Regulator’s army,” Priyanka says. “You heard the
Hunter. Those armed guards are here to enforce the rules. No one can refuse to
kill unless they want to die and then their tokens just go to someone else.
It’s hopeless.”

Mateo sits forward on the couch, leaning into Priyanka.

“The Hunter told me they exist,” Mateo says, pressing his
thumb on her knee. “Those who refuse to kill. The Regulators find some of them.
Some escape. You’ve heard the stories. Kids disappear. The Regulators want you
to think they’ve gone to Control. What if they haven’t?”

“Mateo, what if it’s true?” Vanessa says in a dreamy voice.
“We won’t have to duel to the death. We can just run away.”

“But where would we go?” Aisha asks.

I think about telling them what I know, what Burke told me
about my mother, but I decide to remain silent. I don’t want to involve my
family any more than they are already involved.

Suddenly, the door opens and Demi walks in followed by
Burke. Her face is puffy from tears. In one bound, Shah is up and scooping Demi
into his arms. Vanessa, Mateo, and I jump to our feet at the same time.

“I couldn’t stop her,” Burke says.

Demi turns toward me. “I had to see you to tell you I am
sorry. I had to see all of you.” Her voice is strong and confident. “I’m not
going home without letting you I’ll be back. I want to finish training. I want
to find out who did this to my brother and take him or her out by myself. My
sister and Matthew. They can’t help. They have the wrong colored tokens.”

“I know who did it,” I say.

“So will my father,” Demi says. “We’ll know all of their
names soon enough and then we’ll go after them one by one.”

“But Demi, you can only kill one of them,” Vanessa says.

“All of you can help me,” Demi says.

“I’ll help you,” Shah says.

Slowly, one by one, everyone agrees to help Demi, myself
included.

“War is on,” Demi says.

Burke tells us that camp will be closed for a week. We will
get a week off but then will have to report back to Kill School. We all crawl
up back into our bunks to try to get some sleep.

The
morning comes faster than I expect. Burke wakes me by opening my curtains. He
squeezes my hand and rests his eyes on mine for a long time. For a moment, I
forget everything that has happened. I am at Burke’s frozen lake, skating with
him in the rays of the rising sun.

“You know I care about you,” Burke says. “Probably too
much.”

My lower lip trembles. “I care about you, too, Burke.”

Burke leans forward and touches the spot where my neck and
shoulder meet. His eyes are bright and glossy.

“You have to be strong,” he says. “For Demi and the others.
Especially your mother.” His fingers trail up my neck and rest behind my ear.
“Especially for me.”

My hands feel moist. I part my lips.

“You have to stay safe,” I whisper.

“I will,” Burke says. “Vladimir and I are going to leave
after the last student is gone. We won’t be back until camp is open again.”

“You’ll stay far away from…”

Burke moves his thumb to my lower lip.

“I’ll stay far away from everyone,” Burke says. “It’s just
going to be Vladimir and me and the birds and snow foxes. Maybe we’ll see some
seals and reindeer.”

“Stop it,” I say. “You’re making me jealous.”

When someone snickers from the boy’s side, Burke pulls
away.

“I don’t want you to miss breakfast,” he says. “So get up
and go shower.”

Burke goes down the line of bunks to wake up the rest of
the campers. I swing my legs over the side of my bunk and sit at the edge. I’m
too tired to move any farther. My body is sore. My nerves are fragile. Sound
hurts my ears. Lights hurt my eyes. I can’t wait to go home to cuddle in my own
bed.

Demi opens her curtains and slides her feet over the edge
of her bunk. To my surprise, she smiles at me. The way her lips curl up and her
eyebrows raise remind me of Jack. She resembles her brother so much that I
flinch, as if I’m reliving the bullet entering Jack’s body as if it enters my
own.

Demi blinks a few times and then turns away from me.

“I’m going to have to see my dad later,” she says as she
stares across the cabin. “They’ll be plenty of time for crying then.”

I can tell she’s trying hard to remain composed. I am, too.

Shah enters the cabin with a towel around his neck and wet
hair.

“Ready?” he asks Demi.

“Sure,” Demi says. She jumps from her bunk with her shower
bag in her hand. “Shah’s going to guard the door while I shower.”