34

MIN

The earth heaved beneath my feet.

I fell to the grass as the rumbling intensified. Windows shattered up and down the block. The crowd, already spooked by the execution of Tack’s father, scattered for cover. Alarms began blaring all over town.

Then, just as abruptly, the shaking ceased. Rattled faces rose, looked around. When nothing happened, my classmates and I climbed nervously to our feet. Ethan and Derrick made a break for a gap in the line, but the soldiers closed it quickly, marching them back at gunpoint. No one doubted they’d shoot.

Myers finally got the bullhorn to work. “May I have your attention!” his voice boomed.

We all fell silent, years of training heeling us to his voice like dogs. “There’s no need for anyone to panic. We have everything under control.”

My rage burned white-hot. Myers had been my principal since I was six. Though never warm and fuzzy, he’d always been reliable. Solid. A comforting, unyielding presence in my life. The weight of his betrayal pressed down on me as he played spokesman for soldiers who’d just killed Wendell Russo in cold blood.

What’d they promise you, Myers? What’s in your deal with the devil?

His shoulders slumped as he addressed us. “I love each and every one of you. I . . . I did my best. Whatever happens next, this is all on me. Put it on me.” His head sank to his chest.

Two more people climbed onto the flatbed. The taller man was Dr. Fanelli, incongruously dressed in a natty three-piece suit. The shorter man gently took the bullhorn from Myers, who surrendered it without resistance.

“Lowell,” I spat like a curse.

Before he could speak, the earth bucked again, then vibrated ominously as the mountains groaned. Screams caused me to whirl—the fountain was shaking to pieces, bone-crushing chunks of stone collapsing to the cobbles below. We all scrambled away.

A thunderous crack echoed across the valley. Startled, I glanced around, trying to locate the source. Then I watched in horror as a peak to the south split near its apex, sending a landslide of rock and earth tumbling downslope, wiping a section of mountainside clean before rumbling to a halt by the lakefront.

The quake ceased.

The proceedings acquired a new urgency.

Officers barked orders. Two squads peeled off from the inner square and surrounded an eighteen-wheel truck parked beside the flatbed.

Lowell regained his feet, seemingly unperturbed. “To the sophomore class of Fire Lake,” he intoned, his amplified voice floating over the plaza. “I wish you all the best of luck. Our part is now done.”

Lowell handed the bullhorn to Fanelli. The two men shook hands. Then, putting an arm around Myers, he helped the old man down from the truck. Left alone on the flatbed, Dr. Fanelli ignored the bullhorn. Instead, he pointed into the crowd of frightened teens, then tapped an index finger against his temple. Finally, Fanelli raised a fist and shook it madly, his placid expression morphing to fierce encouragement.

I spun. Was Fanelli signaling someone? With dazed students stumbling everywhere, it was impossible to tell.

The ground hummed once again.

“Something’s happening.” Noah pointed to a fragment of stone that was dancing between his sneakers. “The earth is still moving, even though we can’t feel it. I don’t like this.”

“I’m gonna kill that captain.” Tack was staring at Harkes as he conferred with Lowell and Commander Sutton. “I just need a chance. Only one. That’s all.”

Behind them, a van door slid open, revealing a mass of computer equipment inside. “That must be their nerve center,” I said, then braced as another tremor shook the block. What is going on?

Suddenly, Noah howled.

I grabbed his shoulder. “You okay? What is it?”

He didn’t respond. I pivoted, following his line of sight.

The black-suited man was standing fifty feet away.

After consulting an iPad, he said something to Commander Sutton, who saluted and hurried away. Alone, Black Suit regarded the penned-in students through his sunglasses. Then he stiffened. He was looking right at me. And knew I saw him, too.

A switch flipped. I stormed forward, making no effort to disguise my approach.

“Min?” Tack called. “Hey, what are you doing?”

Noah started, as if coming out of a trance.

I strode directly toward the murderer of my nightmares.

Soldiers ordered me to halt. Raised weapons. Took aim.

Black Suit barked something. The muzzles lowered. A pair of guards grabbed my arms, stopping me at the line.

I heard Tack and Noah run up behind me. The troops took aim again. Black Suit said nothing this time, watching impassively.

I threw my hands out by my sides. “Stop! Guys, stay back.”

Black Suit nodded, then signaled his men. They released me.

There were a thousand things I wanted to scream in his face, but the words piled up in my head like a freeway crash. “You’re a monster,” was all I could manage.

“I know.”

“You ruined my life, you psychopath. I hope you burn for it.”

“I will. Good luck, Min.”

The ground convulsed, harder than before. Black Suit’s head snapped up, then he strode to the control van and disappeared inside.

That wasn’t enough. I needed more. A fight. Closure. Something. Muscles tensing, I prepared to force my way past the soldiers, whatever the cost.

Instead, everything went crazy.

The grass began rolling like a ship at sea. Buildings around the block collapsed. A water main burst, shooting mud into the air.

In the confusion, a knot of parents attacked the barricades, trying to break through. The soldiers opened fire. Townspeople broke and ran, fleeing down side streets that cracked and split beneath their feet. Then the shaking stopped.

The troops tightened their formation, kicking bodies aside. New orders traveled up and down the line. The ones facing us advanced, forcing everyone onto the cobbles surrounding the broken fountain.

“Holy crap!” Derrick screamed. “They’re gonna kill us!”

Ethan and Toby scooped up pieces of the stone, while behind them, Hector and some others had begun to pray. At the northern edge of the square, soldiers dragged sawhorses aside, opening a lane to the eighteen-wheeler. Black Suit emerged from his van as the big rig’s rear doors swung open.

A group of men in hazmat suits climbed down.

“What the hell?” I glanced at Tack, who started chewing on his fist.

The men walked through the gap into the square. Each wore a strange backpack of some kind, with a long hose looping around to the front, topped by what looked like a fire extinguisher nozzle. They spread out around the fountain, encircling us.

“Screw this!” Ethan took a step toward the closest balloon man, but a spray of bullets at his feet stopped him short. The soldiers advanced again, packing us in even tighter. Then Commander Sutton shouted something. The soldiers withdrew smoothly, leaving the entire class backed against the fountain, surrounded by men in outbreak gear.

The earth groaned. A rent opened in Main Street. Tack and Noah pressed in on either side of me. I saw Black Suit yell something at Sutton, then hop into the van and slide its door shut.

“We’re done for,” Noah croaked.

Something exploded across town. The tremors increased in intensity.

Commander Sutton lifted a fist above his head.

I reached out and took Noah’s hand. Grabbed Tack’s on my other side.

Sutton paused. Saluted us with his other hand. Then brought his fist crashing down.

“Engage!”

The hazmat brigade flipped switches on the tops of their backpacks. A thin green mist spewed from the nozzles, filling the air with a viscous film. In seconds the oily spray reached the cobblestones.

Ethan was closest. He dropped to his knees, face purpling as he clawed at his throat.

Then Toby fell, eyes bulging, his mouth working like a fish out of water.

Poison! They’re gassing us!

I tried to run, but my legs gave out on the first step. Crumpling like a pillowcase, I lost hold of Tack and Noah. The mist seeped in everywhere—through my pores, my eyes, and finally my lungs, sealing them shut and blocking out oxygen.

I crawled on hands and knees, trying to get clear.

Tack collapsed beside me, twitching in a ghastly way. Noah was scrabbling toward the fountain, vomit staining his shirt. He dragged his upper body over the rim, then flopped face-first into the water and went still.

Classmates writhed on the ground, tears and mucus coating their faces. The agony was unbearable—a burning, stinging horror that tore at the skin. The moans were piteous and inhuman. Through blurry eyes, I saw Commander Sutton put a pistol to his temple and pull the trigger.

I rolled onto my back. My tongue felt too large for my mouth. I was blacking out, knew I’d be dead in moments. None of this made sense, but I was past caring.

I stared up at the sun, suddenly hypnotized by its blazing presence.

I lose. So I die. For realsies this time.

Lightning filled the sky in a spiderweb grid.

A bright pulse, then a boom like breaking the sound barrier.

My head scrambled. I felt a ripping sensation.

Everything went fuzzy, then snapped into laser-sharp focus, then went supernova.

Light, sound, and sensation disappeared.

•   •   •

A soft breeze ruffled my hair, sending shivers through my body.

I opened my eyes. Blinked. Sat up.

Daylight.

I was lying beside the fountain in town square. Except the fountain was whole and unmarked, its statue unbroken.

The ground was still. The sky clear. Our valley peaceful. Quiet.

Around me, Fire Lake sophomores were sprawled about like driftwood.

Sixty-three souls, unconscious on the grass.

Everyone else was gone.