Truancy Origins (57 page)

“Noni, go with the others,” Zen said harshly. “That's an order.”

“What's going to happen?”

“Nothing that you're a part of. Now
go.
”

“But you don't even have a gun, how—”

“LEAVE!” Zen bellowed. “NOW!”

Zen saw the hurt in her eyes, but had already steeled himself against it. She turned, brushing against him, then began walking away. Zen watched her go without remorse. To stand above everyone else is to stand alone. And that was what the leader of the Truancy had to do, in the end.

Stand alone.

“You needn't have sent her away, Zyid. I wouldn't have hurt her.”

Zen smiled at the familiar voice, and turned around to see a lone figure steadily approaching, its long white scarf fluttering in the chill wind. Zen made no motion to greet the newcomer, but gripped his crowbar tighter as his own windbreaker caught the breeze as well.

“You underestimate her,” Zen said. “Who's to say that she mightn't have hurt you?”

“Someday, perhaps,” Umasi conceded. “But she is not ready now—and certainly not ready for the burdens of leadership. The Truancy will end with you tonight, Zen.”

“My name is Zyid now.”

“So I've heard.”

Zen waited for Umasi to speak again, but he didn't. The bright figure before him simply kept walking, maintaining a steady step as he drew closer. Zen searched for some trace of emotion on his brother's face, but found nothing but his own reflection in dark sunglasses. Whoever it was that now stood before him, Zen knew it was not the Umasi that he had known.

“No attempt at small talk, Umasi?”

“Is it common for enemies to exchange pleasantries?”

“Finally made up your mind then?” Zen narrowed his eyes. “That is most unlike you.”

Umasi did not answer, but shifted his head up to gaze at the building that towered behind Zen. Gunshots, sirens, and other sounds of battle could still be clearly heard from around the corner.

“What do you hope to gain by attacking the school?”

“That
building,
” Zen said, “that
institution
is already broken. I will merely make the structure reflect what's inside. Do you really mean to tell me that you'll fight to protect it?”

“My only purpose in coming here, Zen,” Umasi said, “is to kill you.”

The response was surprising in its bluntness.

“You're not going to tell me how wrong I am?” Zen said. “Lecture me on how misguided my ambitions are?”

“No.”

Zen narrowed his eyes as an explosion behind him shattered one of the school's windows. The Enforcers had finished barricading themselves inside the besieged building, and the Truants would be starting their planned withdrawal at any moment.

“So, then you have learned something,” Zen said, fingering the trigger concealed in his windbreaker.

“Many things,” Umasi corrected. “I always was a good student.”

“A good student?” Zen laughed humorlessly. “What has being a good student brought us, brought anyone, but mixed blessings at best and utter misery at worst? No pillar of justice can stand upon a foundation of disparity. School has nothing good to offer us. They only teach us the bad, by their example.”

“I know.”

“I don't think you do, Umasi,” Zen said. “The system
worked
for you. You've never known what it's like to live without hope.”

“Then why did you stay?” Umasi demanded. “Why would you sit back and allow yourself to suffer? I would have expected you to drop out.”

Zen hesitated, knowing that the truth would hurt.

“If I had left,” Zen said at last, “who would have protected you?”

Umasi looked as though Zen had slapped him.

“You stayed for me?”

“Who else?” Zen asked quietly. “Only for you, Brother. I was always ready to sacrifice for you.”

For a moment both brothers said nothing, and the last distant gunshot rang out and gave way to silence. The Truancy had retreated, though the Enforcers remained inside the school for fear of an ambush.

“I'm sorry,” Umasi said at last. “I appreciate everything you did for me more than you'll ever know. But it doesn't change my mind.”

“I didn't expect it to,” Zen said. “But now do you understand? Do you understand my side of this story?”

“I finally think I do,” Umasi replied. “For you, this whole fight was always about school. But the thing is, Zen, for me . . . it was always about you.”

“You would damn the City over our petty differences?”

“I will
save
the City, which is what you wanted to and should have done,” Umasi said. “I admired you
so
much, Zen. For the brother I lost, and the person he was, I will save this City when you are gone.”

“Such arrogance, Umasi,” Zen whispered, his posture subtly shifting. “I have never presumed myself a savior. This City hardly needs one. No, what this City of education truly needs . . .”

Zen paused, then pressed the switch concealed in his coat. Behind him, several explosions rocked the school just as its front doors had begun to open. Glass shattered and bricks flew through the air, but for a moment the building still stood, casting its shadow over the brothers, imposing and indomitable as ever. Then it fell, as if in slow motion, collapsing in on itself like a house of cards, burying generations of misery along with the Enforcers. Dust and rubble was cast into the air like confetti, and to Umasi it seemed that one small shadow had lifted from a City shrouded in darkness.

“ . . . is
Truancy
!”

Momentarily awestruck, Umasi had forgotten about Zen. The crowbar cleaved the air like black lightning, yet Umasi dodged the surprise attack as though it had been rehearsed, countering with a swift jab. A wave of dust cascaded over the brothers as Zen twisted to absorb the blow with his shoulder. Suddenly they were engulfed by a storm of stinging wind and debris as what was left of the school reached out for them one last time. Hardly flinching, Zen swung his crowbar around, forcing Umasi to leap backwards out of the way, the ground rumbling beneath their feet.

“I never laid a hand on you, Umasi.” Zen coughed as the rubble, but not the dust, began to settle. “It's something brothers are supposed to do, now and then. But you were just too pathetic, and I never did.” Zen swung again, and smiled as Umasi effortlessly evaded the attack. “Perhaps I've been waiting for this all my life . . . waiting for you to be strong.”

“Then I've kept you waiting long enough,” Umasi admitted, ducking another attack and retaliating with a solid punch to the gut. “I apologize for the delay.”

Zen grunted and staggered backwards, though his face showed no outward signs of pain. Indeed, Umasi had never seen his eyes sparkle with such excitement. Zen surged forward, the crowbar whipping through the dusty air in a whirlwind of impossibly swift attacks. Umasi, for all his agility, barely managed to keep up, and as one of the blows nicked his shoulder he realized that he might have underestimated his brother after all.

In truth, Zen had never fought so hard in his life, nor would he ever do so again. Unburdened by guilt or restraint, and unleashing years of repressed anguish, Zen felt liberated by their battle in a way that comes only
once in a lifetime. For just one day, for just one fight, the full extent of his wrath was unleashed upon the City, and his brother.

Unable to find an opening in the blur of attacks, Umasi was forced to back up as Zen swung relentlessly. Diving aside to evade a particularly wide swipe, Umasi rolled on the ground and came up into a crouch. Without pause Zen came charging on, crowbar raised to strike. Feeling something digging into his knee, Umasi suddenly realized that the ground around him was littered with rubble from the school. Acting on impulse, Umasi seized a chunk of shattered brick and hurled it at Zen. The crowbar rent the air once and the brick shattered to pieces. Undeterred, Umasi began backing up again, bent over so that he could rapidly toss pieces of the demolished school at his attacker.

The tactic slowed Zen, but did not seem to tire him. Again and again the crowbar struck projectiles from the air so forcefully that sparks flew, and still Zen pressed forward, the madness in his eyes never dimming. The two brothers had nearly reached the end of the street now, and Umasi realized that he was being pushed towards an Enforcer barricade. Scooping up an armful of smaller rubble, Umasi hurled it all in one blurred motion.

Surprised by the sudden hail of attacks, Zen reacted as fast as could be expected, his crowbar knocking away every one of the projectiles. But just as Zen swatted the last brick with a feeling of triumph, Umasi's fist connected with his chest. Zen let out a roar of pain and shock. Seizing the opening, Umasi attempted to land a second blow, but Zen recovered in time to duck.

“Fast,” Zen grunted as he struck with the crowbar, forcing Umasi to swing himself backwards over the low barricade. “Consider me surprised that you can fight so hard for no cause at all.”

“And just what cause are you fighting for?” Umasi demanded, kicking the barricade at Zen. “Equality? Justice? Your own gratification?”

“I fight for all that have suffered,” Zen replied, blocking the barricade with an outstretched foot, “in the name of education, because they were unable to fight for themselves.”

“And I fight for all who will suffer because of what you intend to do. Look at this City, Zen!” Umasi spread his arms to encompass it all. “You presume to fight for everyone, but by doing so you put them all at risk. If the Educators will not yield it, are you prepared to watch the whole City burn?”

“You know me better than that,” Zen accused, hurling the barricade aside.

“No, I don't,” Umasi said coldly. “Not anymore. The brother I knew was never ruled by his fantasies. But you, Zyid, you're so caught up in your dream of a perfect world that you've forgotten the real one.”

“If you don't know me,” Zen snarled, lunging forward again, his jacket billowing behind him, “don't presume to understand me!”

The attack was so sudden and so fierce that Umasi had no time to dodge it. But a crowbar is not a sword, and has no bladed edge. As the weapon flashed towards him, Umasi raised his forearm, wincing as the two collided. Though in considerable pain, Umasi seized the opening and punched Zen hard in the face with his free fist.

“When was the last time you were out in the living districts?” Umasi demanded, clutching his forearm as Zen staggered backwards with a bloodied nose.

“We're in one right now, aren't we?” Zen said, wiping his face with his sleeve.

“This?” Umasi shook his head. “Thanks to your Truancy and the Mayor's Enforcers, this has become a place of death. But life is not yet so far from here, Zen. Perhaps if you see it, you might appreciate it before you die.”

With that, Umasi turned and ran, his white scarf flowing behind him. Without hesitation Zen gave pursuit, every bit Umasi's equal in speed. The streets and buildings seemed more blurred than usual to Umasi as the wind rushed in his ears and the sidewalk flew beneath his feet. Minutes later, he came to a halt, and the world was normal again.

Umasi now stood on the edge of a crowd of people moving to and fro on the sidewalk. The barricaded area and the demolished school had been left behind. Here, neon store signs blended with traffic lights, their luminance cutting through the dimming blue of the winter sky. Beyond the sidewalk a massive four lanes of traffic formed one of the City's busiest streets, divided down the center by the tiniest concrete platform. Vehicles of all sizes zoomed along like a roaring metal river, and for the briefest of moments, Umasi stood there taking in the sight. Then instinct kicked in, and Umasi spun around.

He was just in time to spot Zen in mid-leap, crowbar poised to strike. Without thinking, Umasi jumped backwards, arms outstretched, shoving the pedestrians around him out of the way. Angry cries filled the air, but then Zen landed, his crowbar striking nothing but ground. Without pausing, Zen lunged forward again, sweeping his weapon around in a wide arc. Onlookers now scrambled to get out of the way of the two crazed children as they fought. Zen's ferocious strikes drove Umasi backwards into the street just as the traffic lights turned red and the traffic screeched to a halt.

Umasi placed his hand on the hood of a car and swung himself over it. Zen leaped on top of the hood and jumped down at Umasi, adding the full force of gravity to his attack. Umasi, however, leaped backwards atop another car's trunk, and as Zen came down, Umasi's foot snapped up, connecting
squarely with Zen's chin. Staggering backwards from the blow, Zen hit the side of the car, arms splayed as the driver rolled the window down to yell. Pressing his advantage, Umasi leaped down and punched Zen in the stomach. With almost superhuman tenacity, Zen shrugged off the blow and shoved forward, slamming Umasi against the side of the second car.

“Damn kids!”

“If there's so much as a scratch on this car I'll have you arrested, you hear me?”

“This is why there should be school every day!”

“Where
are
the Enforcers? Didn't they block off the streets for something just a few blocks away?”

“Those two are
bound
to get run over, playing around in traffic like that.”

Neither Zen nor Umasi heard or cared about the shouts and threats from the adult spectators. With enough space to swing, Zen struck with the crowbar again, forcing Umasi to slip back between a car and a van and onto the low concrete platform that bisected the four lanes of traffic. Zen gave pursuit, sliding himself over the hood of another car to land neatly on the platform. The concrete was barely two feet wide, not meant or safe for pedestrians, but the two combatants didn't care as they fought over what little footing there was.