by Amber Garr
I chuckled again. “You going to tell me what’s going on here?”
“What are you talking about?”
Reaching over, I lifted the piece of pink hair. “When did you do this?”
She slapped my hand away and crossed her arms. “It’s called fashion, Zach.”
Laughing, I continued. “And what’s with the Beetlejuice eye makeup? You’re scaring me.”
A hint of a smile developed at the corner of her mouth before she snapped her angry façade back into place. “Are we going to sit here all day?”
“Relax, Vee,” I said, putting the Jeep into gear and starting our drive to school.
“Stop calling me that. It’s Vivienne.”
“Whatever,” I said. Shaking my head, I prepared for the backlash. “What’s up with you lately, anyway? You’ve been all cranky and menstrual.” Vee punched my arm so hard I winced.
“Mature, Zach.”
“Hey! You’re the one who just hit me.” My arm started to throb as I turned the steering wheel.
“You deserved it. Why do all you guys think that every time women are in a bad mood it’s because we’re on our period? Did you ever think that maybe we’re just sick of idiots like you?”
“Whoa, Vee. Chill out. Forget I even asked.” I didn’t think I’d ever understand the female race.
Vee sat back in her seat and scowled, so I took note of my surroundings more than I usually would. While tents and campers lined the streets of our compound, as soon as we left the gates, the streets were deserted.
“There’s Doomsday Danny,” I said, driving past the homeless man standing just outside our gates with a sign that read The End Is Now. “Hey, he changed the slogan.”
“I guess the end isn’t coming anymore, it’s here,” said Vee. She turned on the radio to the only station available anymore. The National Disaster Response Authority news channel reported on the state of the world, often times only focusing on the bad. True to nature, the reporter with the monotone voice discussed death and devastation like a robot.
“Nuclear attacks in London, Berlin, and Beijing have destroyed everything within a two mile radius and impacted areas more than twenty miles away. The targets appear to be the desalinization plants, although other political agendas may have been a factor as well.”
“Fucking geniuses,” Vee griped. “Let’s destroy the one thing that will help us. Yeah, that makes sense.”
“No one is taking responsibility right now,” the newscaster continued. “However, sources suspect the paramilitary group Dekania has once again infiltrated the facilities in an effort to spread their hate of governmental control. Death tolls are expected to reach at least one million, and threats of more attacks continue to be a concern.”
Vee slammed her hand against the radio button, silencing the never-ending bad news. “The world is blowing itself up and yet we still have to go to school. We should be out there fighting.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “Fighting what?”
“I don’t know. Government oppression, asshole terrorists, those people that keep poisoning the water supplies—”
“Those are terrorists, Vee,” I said, cutting her off. That earned me an evil glare.
“All of them. We should be fighting against all of them and not wasting our days sitting in a classroom.”
“It’s the only way to maintain order,” I said and Vee snapped her head toward me. Shrugging, I continued. “At least that’s what my dad says. It’s why we haven’t imploded like all of the other societies.”
“It’s only a matter of time,” Vee said. “Besides, don’t you think the government has some hidden agenda?”
“Like keeping us safe and alive?”
“No, Zach. Like keeping us under their thumb and forcing us to comply.”
As I pulled into the school parking lot, I couldn’t help think about how ridiculous she sounded. “The government isn’t evil, Vee. They may not be the most competent of species, but they aren’t out to get us.”
“Whatever,” she snapped again.
Her attitude had taken a nose dive the last few days and when I saw who was walking over to greet her, it all made sense. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I groaned.
Nathan Corwin, the king of dark, gloomy, and anti-government, shuffled his way over toward us. Jet black dyed hair that hadn’t been washed in a week, black and gray camouflage pants, and eyes covered in guy-liner identified the idiot as one of the “anarchy kids.” Now Vee’s gloomy outfit made sense. “Please tell me you’re not hanging out with him.”
“So what if I am?”
She slid out of the Jeep and hurried to Nathan. The perpetual frown on his face didn’t change, even as he kissed Vee full on the lips. My stomach turned yet I couldn’t look away.
“You need a ride later?” I shouted, knowing that she didn’t. But the look on wanna-be Gothic Ken doll made it worth asking.
Vee turned to me and glared. “No.”
“All right then. You two be safe.”
Vee flipped me off as Nathan dragged her away toward the school. I didn’t necessarily care who Vee dated, but I really wished she would have at least picked someone I could stand hanging out with. I wouldn’t be sharing my air with Mr. Doom any time soon.
“What’s happening to her?” a voice asked from behind me.
I turned to see Mario, my football and soccer teammate and one of my oldest friends standing there, staring at Vee with shock and lust all mixed together. I think Mario had loved Vee since the first day she’d punched him in the face for calling her a name. “It’s just a phase.”
“Yeah, but those guys are scary.”
Laughing, I grabbed my bag and shut the door. “You really think a bunch of kids dressed in black and wearing makeup are going to fight the government? Please, they’re full of shit.”
“I don’t know,” Mario continued, catching up to me. “I heard that Nathan had something to do with the attack at Whispering Oaks.”
“The compound where the water tower was destroyed last week?”
“Yeah. They say he’s a whiz with homemade bombs.”
While I wanted to pass it off as a joke, something inside of me twisted with fear. If even a small part of that was true, I didn’t want Vee anywhere near him.
As though reading my mind, Mario said, “You should get her away from them.”
“Like I have any control over Vee,” I scoffed.
“Well, you’d have a better chance at it than I would,” he said with a frown. “She doesn’t even know I exist.”
Grinning, I threw my arm over his shoulder and trapped him in a choke hold. “Sure she does. You’re the one she likes to punch in the nose.”
Mario scrambled out from under my arm and rubbed his hands through his dark, shaggy hair. “Whatever,” he grumbled, making sure every last strand was in place.
“Zach!”
Mario and I directed our attention to the bubbly, blonde cheerleader making her way over to me. Her bright pink sweater barely covered her ample cleavage, and the tight jeans didn’t even try to hide the rest of her assets.
“Hi Kayla,” I groaned. Mario just stared, mouth wide open and eyes glued to her chest. “You’re drooling,” I whispered to him.
Kayla bounced to a stop in front of me and wrapped her hands around my waist. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she cooed. Lifting up on her toes, she kissed my lips. I didn’t kiss back.
“Why were you waiting for me?” I felt Mario nudge me in the arm.
Kayla wrinkled her brow and tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
“We broke up last week,” I said.
“Did we?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t recall that.” Her hand squeezed my ass and she pulled me closer. “I don’t think we broke up. Besides, we can’t.”
“Why not?” I asked, trying to pull free of her grasp without making a scene. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Vee standing near the entrance. Despite the
sullen Nathan hanging all over her, blue eyes bore into Kayla’s back.
“Because you’re the football star and I’m the head cheerleader. We’re supposed to be together. It’s one of the cardinal rules of high school.”
“What about the wrestler I saw you sucking face with last week?” I asked.
“Ooh, good one,” Mario added, then cowered when Kayla glared at him.
“That meant nothing, sweetie. You’re my boyfriend.”
Just as I was about to say something I might regret later, the warning bell rang. Thankful, for the first time ever, that classes were starting, I walked toward the door. Kayla continued to rub against my body and Mario chuckled by my other side.
Vee disappeared around the corner and once inside, Kayla turned down the opposite hallway for class. But not before giving me another kiss.
“I think you have a stalker,” Mario teased.
“What part of ‘I don’t want to be around you anymore’ doesn’t she get?” Quickly shoving my bag into my locker, I grabbed the books I needed. “Besides, she’s so annoying.”
“Yeah, but she’s hot,” Mario said.
“Yeah.”
“And she’s sexy.” He started to drool again.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe? Didn’t you say that she was willing to try—”
The final bell rang, cutting off Mario’s question about my sex life and making me regret even telling him some of the stuff Kayla and I had done.
“All right, later man.” Mario gave me fist bump and ran down the hall.
As I entered my first class of the day, I thought about Vee and how she might have been right. School really did suck.
I stared at the newest poster on the wall as Mr. Lenhart took roll. “You Can Be Part of the Solution” it said in bright red letters. Underneath was a picture of a young male and female in fatigues holding one of the portable water sterilizers the government started handing out last year. Below that it said “Conservation Means Preservation”.
It seemed like each week, a new poster would appear encouraging young minds to join the National Disaster Response Authority and help serve the communities. I knew a few people who graduated early just so they could get out of here and work for the government. No one had heard from them since.
Nathan thought there was some kind of conspiracy going on and I couldn’t help but wonder the same. Zach’s dad worked for the government and didn’t seem too thrilled with what he saw at his job, either. Although, he never hinted at a conspiracy. So I still hadn’t really made up my mind as to whether or not I would join them when I finished school. I was leaning toward probably not.
“Vivienne.” A finger poked in my back as Jessa whispered at me.
I turned my head just enough to let her know I was listening but not enough for Mr. Lenhart to notice. “What?”
“Did you hear about Zach and Kayla?”
I spun back around in my seat and rolled my eyes. This was not a subject I had any interest in discussing.
“Apparently, they broke up,” Jessa continued. “Do you think I should talk to him?”
“Why are you asking me?” I whispered through gritted teeth, turning to face her. “If you like Zach, you should talk to him.”
“Can you put in a good word for me?” she asked with pleading eyes. Nervously twisting a red strand of hair in her fingers, she looked so hopeful. As if I could change the course of her life.
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because.” Jessa looked at me like I just sprouted three baby alien heads. “Because you two have a thing and he won’t date anyone without your approval.”
Taken aback, I found myself momentarily speechless—a very atypical situation. And then I burst out laughing. “Trust me, I have nothing to do with Zach’s love life. Where did you get that idea?”
Jessa’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped open, gaping like a fish. “I…everyone knows that—”
“Ladies, would you care to enlighten the class with what you think is so amusing?” Busted by Mr. Lenhart. Jessa slunk low in her seat, thoroughly hidden behind me. Damn her. “Ms. Witterly?”
“Yes?” I asked.
“Do you have anything to share?”
The classroom filled with quiet snickers and anxious glares. Heat scorched my cheeks but I refused to be embarrassed. “We were just admiring the new poster,” I said. Jessa shifted in her seat behind me, making the chair groan.
“The poster?” Mr. Lenhart continued. “And what’s so interesting about the poster?”
“The guy. He’s really hot.”
Everyone started laughing and several girls nodded their heads vigorously. Mr. Lenhart wasn’t as amused. “Well, I’m glad you’re all so enthralled with that soldier because today we’re going to be learning about survival techniques that I’m sure he knows all about.”
“We’re going to learn how to fight?” someone shouted.
“No—”
“Can we practice hand to hand combat with each other?”
“No—” Mr. Lenhart tried to explain, but the mere mention of survival techniques sent the excitement level in the room into overdrive.
“I want to fight Pete.”
“I’ll kick your ass.”
“Enough!” Mr. Lenhart slammed his hand on his desk and everyone fell silent. “We will not be learning how to fight. We will be learning about how to survive.” He lifted his arm, stopping one of the guys up front from saying something. “And by that I mean we’re going to learn how to take apart the sterilizers and put them back together again.”
“But we already know how to do that.”
“Yeah, we did that last year.”
“This sucks.”
I had to agree.
Mr. Lenhart bent down behind his chair and picked up a large box. Letting it fall to the desk, the contents rattled around like broken pieces. “We haven’t worked with the new ones yet.”
“I thought this was chemistry class. How come we don’t blow anything up anymore?”
“Because we’re using chemistry to survive,” Mr. Lenhart said. “That’s much more important for your future.”
A chorus of groans filled the room and I swear I saw Mr. Lenhart smirk. Most of our regular classes had been reorganized to include lessons about the world we were living in today. History focused heavily on the last two decades leading up to the water crisis. We studied drought tolerant species and extinction science in biology classes. Math was…well math. And chemistry had focused on teaching us the reason why sterilization drops, sanitizing equipment, and desalinization plants worked the way they did.
“Now, first, I’d like you to divide into small groups. I only have a few prototypes of the new sterilizer so we’ll have to—”
A deafening boom shook the classroom floors a split second before all of the windows along the side wall shattered. Tiny glass shards flew through the room, covering most of us in sparkling pieces. Everyone screamed. Some tried to run. I covered my head and fell to the floor, feeling the glass slice my arms like a thousand little teeth.
Jessa’s red hair blended in with the crimson blood running down her face. Her shallow breaths and teary eyes met mine, begging for help. My focus narrowed on her and I lifted my arm. Scrambling to my side, Jessa hugged me tight and sobbed against my shoulder. I looked around the room, ears ringing and adrenaline pumping. Most students were on the floor. Those behind me, and closest to the windows, were covered with scratches and bloody wounds. Some were on the verge of passing out.
Another explosion ricocheted through the air and another round of screams pierced my ears. The blast wasn’t coming from our school but it couldn’t have been more than a couple of blocks away. Glass continued to fall to the floor while I scrambled out of Jessa’s grasp and up to my feet.
“Are you okay?” I asked Brent, the guy hounding Mr. Lenhart with all of the questions earlier.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said, holding his head. He tried to stand and hi
s face paled three shades of white.
“I think you should sit for a little bit.” I ripped off a piece of my shirt and pressed it against his skull. “Just keep pressure on that.”
He nodded and then almost passed out. I jumped forward, cupped his neck, and lowered him to the ground so that he wouldn’t have too far to fall. Sirens started to blare outside and a second later our classroom door flew open.
“We need to evacuate!” one of the other science teachers shouted. I think her name was Mrs. Kraftner. “Someone blew up the bottling company and everyone within a two mile radius has to leave.” She rushed out of the room in a panic, leaving Mr. Lenhart with thirty freaked out teens staring at him.
“Okay everyone,” he slowly pulled himself up to standing, wobbling a little on his feet. “Remember our drills. Please exit—”
Complete chaos interrupted whatever kind of authoritative power he tried to exude. Several panicked students rushed out of the room. I helped Jessa to her feet and leaned down to grab Brent. But someone pushed me to the floor and I fell on top of Mr. Lenhart’s back.
“Asshole,” I growled at them. Trying to untangle myself, I felt a strong pair of arms lift me off the ground.
“Vee! Come on, we have to go,” Zach said.
“Where’d you come from?”
He looked at me like I’d asked the dumbest question in the world. “From my class. Now come on. Someone threatened to bomb the school.”
“What?” Mr. Lenhart, Jessa, Brent, and I asked at the same time.
Zach bent forward to help Brent. “I don’t know,” he grunted. “That’s what everyone’s saying.” He jerked his chin toward the hallway which was now full of panicked students running for the front doors.
“Oh my god,” Mr. Lenhart said.
“Why would they bomb our school?” Jessa asked, standing a little too close to Zach.
“Because we have our own water storage tanks,” Mr. Lenhart said gravely. “If they’re destroying the water sources, we’d be a prime target.”
“Who’s destroying them?” Brent asked. The left side of his face was covered in blood, and his skin still had that pasty, freaked out coloring to it.
