The Scavengers Strike Back

by Marcus Emerson

  I freaked out and jumped up, which was a stupid mistake. Whoever was at the door was bound to see me wearing my ninja mask.

  Luckily for me, it wasn’t a teacher. Unluckily for me, it was a boy wearing a vulture masks. A Scavenger, and there was a whole bunch of his masked Scavenger friends behind him.

  ‘Of course,’ I sighed, feeling the air get sucked from my lungs. I’m not sure how the office staff missed a bunch of kids wearing creepy bird masks, but whatever.

  A cold gust of wind slipped through the open window and washed over me.

  ‘Where’s the broken statue head?’ I asked, my voice shaking more than I thought it would. After all this time, I was still freaked out by the Scavengers.

  ‘In a better place,’ the boy in the mask said with a muffled sound. ‘Victor thinks keeping it under the principal’s desk is such a waste. It should be out in front of the world for everyone to see.’

  ‘Out in front of the world?’ I asked, stepping around Principal Davis’s desk, keeping it between me and the Scavengers as they entered the room.

  ‘Where it is doesn’t matter,’ another Scavenger said. ‘All that matters now is that we’re here with you, Chase.’

  I didn’t like how the Scavengers knew my name.

  The girl reached for me. ‘Join us, Chase …’ she hissed. ‘Play with us … forever …’

  Uh, yeah, super creepy!

  I backed up, until I hit the ledge of the open window. It was about waist height, and I gripped the ledge.

  The Scavengers slowly moved forwards, reaching out and wiggling their fingers slowly at me. The last time I had a run in with these kids, it wasn’t nearly as creepy. Victor must’ve given the order to take their ‘freak people out’ game to the next level.

  And I didn’t even want to know what would happen if they actually got hold of me.

  I raised my hand and pretended to tip a hat that wasn’t there. ‘G’day y’all!’ I said, and then rolled out the window.

  As I landed behind the bushes outside Principal Davis’s office, I could hear the Scavengers rush towards the open window, but they were too late. I was already crawling across the dirt along the side of the building.

  Other students were just getting to school and walking towards the front doors of the building.

  All I needed to do was take my mask off and wait for a break in the crowd so I could step out without being seen.

  I watched, waiting for my moment, but it didn’t look like it was coming anytime soon. The crowd of students grew thicker as the seconds ticked by.

  At that moment, someone clutched the top of my mask. My hands flew up, grabbing the bottom of the mask before it was pulled off my face. I rolled onto my back so whoever was holding onto me would let go.

  I expected to see the Scavengers in the bushes behind me, but instead it was a small pack of red ninjas.

  ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me,’ I grunted, shooting myself through the red ninjas, away from the front doors.

  The red ninjas seemed to be everywhere all the time, but in the bushes outside the school? One of them had to have seen me fall out the window.

  I figured I only had minutes to get into the school before they sent a mass text to the other red ninjas. I had to hurry if I didn’t want an entire army chasing after me, trying to take my mask as some sort of prize.

  I sprinted against the side of the building, not caring if anyone in the parking lot saw me that time. Getting spotted was better than getting caught by the ninjas who were hot on my tail.

  ‘Just give us your mask!’ one of the red ninjas ordered. ‘That’s all we want! Give it to us and we’ll let you go!’

  ‘Nope!’ I hollered.

  At the side of the school, I dug my foot into the dirt and dashed to my right, still running behind the bushes. The footsteps following me made me push even harder.

  I wasn’t sure where I was headed, but does anyone when they’re getting chased by ninjas? Was that even a question that normal people asked themselves?

  The side doors were coming up quick, but with my mask still on my face, I couldn’t use them. My only shot was getting to the back of the school where nobody else was going to be, over to the dumpsters.

  I slowed a little, but not so much that the ninjas behind me could catch up. They were still several metres away, and all I had to do was make sure I didn’t trip over the spot where the footpath started.

  At the doors, I leapt through the air, trying to clear the concrete walkway.

  At the same time, someone forced open the doors, smashing them against me. My super heroic escape came to a stop in the blink of an eye, and I hit the ground.

  I pushed myself up, staring at the dirty sneakers of the other kids standing nearby.

  A few sneakers were caked in dirt – the shoes of the red ninjas who had been following me.

  But the sneakers from the other kids were clean – the ones who had opened the door.

  I looked up and got an eyeful of something I’d never seen before.

  Three kids hovered over me. All I could see were their eyes under their ninja masks – their green ninja masks.

  The green ninjas’ masks had two parts – a piece of cloth over the head, and a second piece of cloth tied around their eyes. They were wearing the kind of armour that motocross kids wear – the hard plastic shell that went over their chest and shoulders.

  First red ninjas, and now green ninjas? Wyatt said I shouldn’t be surprised if I saw a new ninja clan sprout up, but that was easier said than done. I was surprised.

  And honestly, I held back a laugh. Red and green ninjas standing next to each other made it look like it was Christmas. I was being chased by Christmas ninjas!

  That only lasted about a second though because all six ninjas dove for my mask at the same time.

  My mind went blank, and my muscles took over. I rolled away before any of the ninjas could touch me.

  As they crashed into each other, I rolled to my feet, and started running across the grass. A couple of adults stared from their cars as I dashed across the lawn. A few of them even raised their phones to take a pic. Being the ham that I am, I waved.

  I cut around the last turn and saw the dumpsters in the distance. All I had to do was make it there so I could sneak in through the cafeteria doors. I just had to make it across the staff parking lot.

  I ran hard, pumping my fists with each stride. The red and green ninjas were back in chase and they were gaining on me.

  Slipping down the side of a bunch of SUVs, I thought that maybe I could lose them for a second. The dumpsters were too far away. I had to try something else.

  Lowering myself onto the road, I scanned under all the cars. I saw twelve feet coming to a stop a few cars down.

  ‘Where’d he go?’

  ‘I don’t know! He just disappeared!’

  ‘He didn’t just disappear, you dolt! He’s here somewhere. He’s just hiding.’

  ‘What if he made it to the school already?’

  ‘Good point. Let’s split up. Red ninjas, search the parking lot. Green ninjas, check the dumpsters.’

  ‘Dangit,’ I said under my breath. ‘Don’t go to the dumpsters!’

  I pushed myself off the road and bolted, trying to make sure all the ninjas saw me. I wanted them to chase after me. My only shot at the dumpsters was to get all the ninjas behind me.

  ‘Hey, Christmas ninjas!’ I bellowed, jumping up and down while I ran. ‘Santa called! He’s pretty unhappy that a bunch of his elves quit to become ninjas!’

  Just as I’d hoped, all six ninjas started running after me again.

  I was weaving through the cars and the ninjas split up behind me.

  The ninjas were still on my tail, but my plan was working. The parked cars were perfect obstacles.

  Suddenly, a group of Scavengers appeared from behind a dark green minivan.

  I imagined what it would be like if my life were a video game. There’d probably be a banner saying, ‘The Scavenger
s have joined your game!’

  I skidded to a stop, looking back and forth between the ninjas behind me and the Scavengers in front of me.

  Forcing myself to move, I ran and crouched between two parked cars, trying to get a grip on where I was in the parking lot. The dumpsters were much closer than I thought – only about twenty cars away.

  And then I saw it – the cafeteria door, the one that led backstage.

  Victor, all by himself, was wheeling my covered project through the door! He must have volunteered to take to the cafeteria for Principal Davis.

  Victor caught me from the corner of his eye. When he turned to me, he laughed out loud.

  I didn’t waste another second. The ninjas and the Scavengers were so close I could see their breath in the air behind the cars nearby. My sneakers hit the ground at a hundred kilometres an hour as I shot across the footpath.

  The Scavengers were easy to lose first since their weirdo vulture masks messed up their vision. Most of them had to stop because they could barely see anything through the tiny eyeholes.

  It was the ninjas I had to worry about.

  There were only fifteen cars between me and the cafeteria doors. I ran fast, but the ninjas ran faster.

  Ten cars to go.

  They say you’re never supposed to look behind you when you’re racing because it’ll slow you down. Whoever said that was right.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I saw all six ninjas, like, right behind me.

  That was it. I was toast.

  It was impossible.

  …

  And then I realised the ninjas didn’t want me. They wanted my mask.

  I felt so stupid. I could just get another mask from my locker! I had tons of them!

  Ripping my ninja mask off, I tossed it into the air like that lady at weddings who throws a bunch of flowers to her friends.

  I slowed to a stop at the dumpsters since they were just outside the cafeteria. Catching my breath, I looked behind me.

  There was nothing. The Christmas ninjas had disappeared, along with my ninja mask. The Scavengers were gone too, but I knew those guys wouldn’t have gone far. If there was one thing I’ve learned since meeting the Scavengers, it was that they were never far away …

  I waited until I wasn’t breathing like a fat cat before entering the cafeteria. I didn’t want to attract any attention, but after seeing the whirlwind of students in the room, I wasn’t sure I could if I tried.

  The cafeteria was so packed with kids that it was almost impossible to move around.

  The stage curtain at the front of the cafeteria was shut. Zoe, Faith and Principal Davis were at the short staircase on the right side of the stage, nodding and talking. All three of them looked excited for the assembly to start.

  The clock on the back wall said it was nine o’clock sharp, which meant that the curtains would open at any second.

  Gidget, Slug and Brayden were standing against the wall right under the clock.

  I jumped as high as I could a few times to see over the heads of the taller seventh and eighth graders. What was wrong with those kids? There were seats everywhere! Take a seat already!

  Victor was nowhere in sight, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was getting to my project. Victor wheeled it in, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t because he wanted to help out.

  The three pieces of broken statue had been taken from Principal Davis’s office, and after seeing Victor with my project, it didn’t take too long for my brain to catch up. The broken head of James Buchanan was going to be somewhere on my project for the whole school to see when Principal Davis opened those curtains.

  ‘Morning, Chase,’ a voice said as I tried pushing my way through the crowd.

  I turned around. It was Victor.

  ‘You should find a seat,’ Victor said. ‘The show’s about to begin.’

  Victor held a bag of popcorn with one hand while stuffing his other hand inside it. I’m not sure if he was eating the snack or just running his fingers through it. Either way, it was weird.

  ‘What did you do?’ I said, pushing my way through the crowd, towards him.

  ‘You’ll find out soon enough,’ Victor said as he smiled. There were bits of half-chewed popcorn in his teeth.

  ‘You said you weren’t going to do anything like this!’ I said. ‘You told me your plan wasn’t to make anyone hate me!’

  The other kids around Victor and me starting looking at us because of how loud I was.

  Victor smiled while pressing his lips together. His eyes closed halfway as he raised his eyebrows. He sort of looked like a duck.

  ‘I lied,’ he said coldly.

  Zoe’s voice came through the speaker system. ‘Alriiiiiiiiight, everybody!’ she said into the microphone. ‘It looks like it’s about time for us to start, so if all of you could find a seat, we’ll get things going!’

  At once, everyone in the cafeteria started moving towards the chairs that were set up for the show.

  I turned back to Victor so I could try and talk some sense into him, but he was gone.

  Naomi was standing in the back of the room, filming the assembly on her new phone. When she saw me, she lowered her phone.

  We stared at each other for what seemed like forever.

  Finally, I mouthed the words, ‘Help me!’

  That’s when Naomi looked away.

  Most of the students in front of me, closer to the stage, had taken their seats. It was only me and a handful of other kids who were still standing.

  Zoe was up the front with Faith by her side. I knew that Zoe didn’t have a clue about what was going on, but I wasn’t sure about Faith. Was it possible that she was doing her own thing behind the scenes? Like, I had been working behind the scenes, but was Faith working behind behind the scenes? But the smile on Faith’s face made me pretty sure she was clueless. She would have been too busy helping Zoe with the Bash.

  Light peeked out from under the curtain, where the velvet fabric hung half an inch above the old wooden boards of the stage. The light stopped right at the centre, and then started a metre over again. That must have been my project.

  I started pushing through the kids in their seats, trying my best to not look frantic. All I had to do was get to Zoe, explain the sitch, and then fix whatever Victor did to my project while the curtain was still closed. After that, everything could go on perfectly normally.

  I was halfway across the room when Zoe spoke into the mic again. ‘Students of Buchanan Schooooooool,’ she sang. ‘I’d like to welcome you to our assembly! As you know, our Bash is going to be held after school today, but we’re here right now to get you pumped! We’ve got a little taste of what to expect tonight with some talent acts, games, and a couple of prizes, but first …’

  Uh-oh.

  Zoe grabbed at the thick, braided rope in front of the velvet curtain at the side of the stage, and starting pulling down on it.

  I went into the panic mode as I started racing through the crowd to get to Zoe before she opened the curtain.

  Zoe laughed, huffing and puffing as she stopped pulling the rope. She pretended to wipe the sweat off her brow and the crowd laughed.

  Faith grabbed the rope as well, and together they both pulled, putting all their weight into it.

  The velvet curtain at the centre of the stage shook slightly, and then started parting slowly.

  I turned towards the stage and started running faster. It was too late to stop Zoe and Faith from pulling the rope, so the only other thing I could think of was to try and hold both sides of the curtain shut.

  I flew to the front of the stage as the curtain split open a little more. My project was right behind the fabric and I could see what Victor had done.

  The broken pieces of the statue were sitting on the sign at the very top of the entryway I had built.

  I jumped onto the wooden stage, and grabbed both sides of the red velvet curtain, pulling them shut to keep my project hidden.

  I used every ounce of muscl
e in my scrawny arms to get the curtain to shut again, it was too late.

  Zoe and Faith let go of the rope, gasping when they saw me. I probably looked like I was trying to be a class clown or something. I clenched my fists around the red velvet fabric, but the curtain was already opening on its own.

  I refused to let go, but my arms opened so wide that it felt like my bones were about to break, and then I was thrown to the side of the wooden stage.

  The crowd gasped when they saw the head of James Buchanan at the top of the entryway. I didn’t move. I just let the sounds of all the angry voices fill my world as I stared at the project I had worked so hard on.

  Victor had won. The Scavengers had won.

  Through my blurry vision, I saw two kids climb on the stage towards me. When they were close enough, I saw that it was two hall monitors in suits.

  Principal Davis took the broken pieces of statue off my project and cradled them in his hands. He looked at me, disappointed and shaking his head.

  I slid off the stage onto the cafeteria floor. Everyone had been pretty upset about the broken statue all week, but I had no idea just how upset.

  ‘How could you do something like that to our statue?’

  ‘Don’t you have any respect for President Buchanan’s memory?’

  ‘Take him away! Get him outta here!’

  I started defending myself, but it was useless. The mob was so loud that nobody could even hear me.

  Zoe and Faith stared, shocked, from the side of the stage.

  I only hoped that Zoe would hear my side of the story before joining the club of kids who hated me, which at that point, was the entire school. I’d kept everything about the Scavengers a secret from Zoe, and I was beginning to think that was a mistake.

  How was it going to sound when I started blaming a mysterious group of students that almost nobody knew about? It would be like blaming a bunch of ghosts!

  I looked around at the faces of everyone shouting at me. Gidget, Slug and Brayden were still at the back. Naomi wasn’t standing in the spot that I had last seen her.

  Victor was near the other end of the stage, shouting at me with the other kids around him.