Kill School: Slice (25 page)

“That’s an awful idea,” Burke says.

“Should I let him kill you?” I ask.

Burke shakes his head.

“I don’t like that idea either,” he says. “He’s not the
worst of the Regulators, Aria. The only one you can trust is Azarian. Remember
that if anything should happen to me.”

“What about Thorn?” I ask. “Apparently, she’s my
grandmother.”

“You can trust your mother,” Burke says. “There are reasons
she doesn’t talk much to Thorn anymore. Reasons I’m not going to get into right
now. There’s not enough time. We need to figure out how to break the algorithm.
I think it’s our only chance.”

It bugs me that Burke knows more about my mother’s family
than I do and I’m not letting the subject drop that easily.

“You think my mother would want me to kill Thorn?”

“No, of course not,” Burke says.

“I want to kill Krish. He has to go. I have to do it now.”

“Relax, Aria,” Burke says. “You’re not going to kill anyone
right now.”

Vanessa’s words flash through my mind
I don’t want to
die
.
That’s why I have to die.
I feel the same way. I don’t want to
kill a Regulator, that’s why I have to do it now. I want to kill Krish so bad
because I don’t want to have to kill anyone.

Burke pulls a book out from under a pillow, Kalstein
Barstow‘s biography. Trying to relax, I settle in next to Burke and look into
the pages of the open book.

“Find anything?” I ask.

Burke’s side touches mine, from his arm, all the way down
to his leg, as if we are glued together. It feels good and helps me relax.

“Barstow was a bit of a freak,” Burke says. “He was married
four times and never had any children. I don’t think he liked kids very much.”

It turns out that Barstow’s favorite color was purple. He
was a bit of a recluse until the old government asked him to help come up with
a solution to the termination issues.

“Before the token system, people had to report to
termination centers,” Burke says.

“I know. My mother told me,” I say. My tone must have been
pretty acidic, because Burke stares at me.

“Your mother will tell you much more,” Burke says. “I
promise.”

I break Burke’s stare and look back down at the book. His
intensity is making my skin prickly.

“They turned the old termination centers into control,” I
say. “I can’t imagine being locked up in the same place people ended their
lives.”

“I am sure it is awful,” Burke says.

I stare at a photo of Kalstein Barstow wearing a purple
scarf wrapped around his neck. Deep wrinkles on either side of his eyes make
him look happy, as if he has lived a life with a perpetual smile on his face.

 “Why do you think Barstow created an algorithm that forces
people to kill kids?” I ask. “Was he that much of a monster?”

 Burke flips through some pages and stops at the dog-eared
page.

“I don’t think so,” Burke says. “This is the page Krish was
reviewing in the library.”

We are so close that I can feel the breath of Burke’s words
on my ear.

I scan the page. The history of the algorithm.

“There weren’t ruby tokens in the beginning,” Burke says.
He points to a picture. “Sapphire, emerald, and pearl were the only ones.
Barstow created an algorithm that learns. He says it here. Shah was right.”

I read the passage that Burke points out. Barstow developed
the algorithm to learn from the data. It makes changes to itself depending on
how many children are born. It recognizes patterns in the data and evolves to
fix overpopulation issues.

“The algorithm created the colors on its own?” I ask.

Burke nods. “There are references to all of the colors. He
seems to have worked out the categories beforehand in the event of another
population problem. But Aria.”

Burke turns to me to make sure he has my full attention.

“I don’t think there’s a population problem. I believe one
of the Regulators is feeding it the wrong data. And, before you use your token,
we need to find out who it is. He or she should be your target, not Krish.”

“How do you know?” I ask. “What if you are wrong? What if
you wind up dead in Krish’s lab?”

“I don’t know for sure, Aria. Promise me you will wait. Don’t
do anything stupid. You are not even allowed to kill before you graduate.”

“I promise that I won’t do anything stupid,” I repeat in a
sarcastic tone.

Burke and I stretch out on the pillows and continue reading
Barstow’s biography. Leafing through the pictures, I see many illustrations
from our history. Barstow lived in Greenland before the first great migration.
It was his idea to bring everyone here after the weather changed. He built the
camp in the same location as his original home. He used the credits he received
from creating the token algorithm to build the camp, including the science
building and the auditorium.

Finally, I yawn.

“You should go back to your bunk,” Burke says. “We’ll talk
more about this later.”

We squeeze through the panel and I climb across Burke’s
bed, and sneak back into my bunk.

Burke’s
shouts wake me in the middle of the night. His tone is loud and serious.
Desperate. I’m vaguely aware of an alarm blasting across campus. A warning
siren similar to the one they use for storms in the city.

“Get up,” Burke yells. “Get out of bed. Now.” He pulls open
my curtain. “Get to your feet. Put your galoshes on. Grab your brightest
turquoise jacket. They won’t want to kill you if they see your color.”

“Is this another prank?” Demi asks.

“No, this is life or death urgent,” Burke says. “We’re
being raided.”

Within seconds, we’re all dressed and ready to go.

 “Listen up,” Burke says. “They’re here to kill. They want
to get you before you finish camp. You are easy kills corralled in the cabin.
We don’t know how many of them are out there. We have to get away from them as
fast as possible. Follow me. Be swift. Don’t stop for anything. Those of you
who have weapons, grab them now.”

I scramble up my bunk, open my drawer, and take out the
switchblade, the pocketknife, and the long pine needle that Vanessa gave me.
Vanessa grabs a bag of her own. Shah joins Demi and Mateo comes to Vanessa’s
side.

Burke leads us out of the cabin. We pause for a moment on
the porch. The cabin next to us is on fire. Kids are running all around. Other
kids, ones in black and white camouflage tracksuits, and masks covering their
face, run around and chase the campers. One of the kids has curly black hair,
just like my brother. It can’t be him. Why would he come here to kill us?

“Move, now,” Burke says. “All of you go to my special place
where we did our stealth test. No one will find you there.”

Most of the campers run off.

“I’m not going,” Demi says with Shah next to her side. “I’m
finding my siblings. I need to make sure they are safe.”

A girl runs across the lawn toward the lake. Flames follow
her as if she is on fire. Then I realize she is. Her shirt is on fire. Her hair
is on fire. Her shrieks pierce the cold night air.

“I’m helping Demi,” I say.

“Me too,” Mateo says.

Vanessa, Mateo, and I stand together. We are not going
anywhere.

“Fine,” Burke says. “Demi, you, and Shah go after Lily.
Vanessa and Mateo see if you can find Matthew, he’s right next door. Aria and I
will go after Jack.”

Demi runs off followed by Shah hollering for her to wait
up. Vanessa and Mateo run over to the neighboring cabin.

Burke guides me to the side of the cabin. The eaves shadow
us from our surroundings.

“Time to practice your stealth,” Burke says. “We are going
there.” He points to the cabin that is half in flames. 

Suddenly, several kids run toward our cabin.

“Get back,” Burke says.

I flatten myself against the wall. Several hooded figures
with guns and torches run by. Their moving is rhythmic and practiced. More
torches bob across the lawn to the far cabin.

Burke grabs my hand and squeezes it.

“Come on,” he says.

Two more cabins light on fire. The flames sound like
rushing Maglev trains. The air is thick with smoke, blotting out most of the
stars. Sparks soar high up in the ever-darkening sky.

Kids are running everywhere. A boy screams in pain as his
shirt burns from his body. He drops and rolls on the ground. A hooded figure
comes up next to him extending a knife in his hand.

I freeze as I watch the hooded figure stab the burning kid
in the kidneys. My stomach boils as if a knife has slid into it.

The kid stops moving. The hooded figure removes his mask. I
recognize him. It’s Chopstix.

“He’s mine,” Chopstix yells. “See it, world.” He grasps the
dead boy by the hair. “See my token trophy.”

“Come on,” Burke says.

My feet no longer work. My lunges burn with hot air.

Burke drags me away. We arrive at the rear of Jack’s cabin
before I am shaken back into reality. The front of the burning cabin sends clouds
of black into the dark sky.

Burke climbs onto the ledge above the showers and then
helps me up. He tries to open the long and narrow window and curses when he
can’t budge it. We search for something to break the window. Burke finds a
mallet wedged between the wall and the showers and smashes the window.

Smoke billows out, burning my eyes and almost making me
lose my balance.

“Stay here,” Burke says. “You’ll need to help them down.”

“You can’t go in there,” I say. “There’s too much smoke.”

“I have to,” he says. “Jack is in there. I can’t let him
die.”

Burke disappears into the smoke filled cabin. I wait a few
grueling seconds before Burke reappears with a gasping Jack.

“There’s more,” Burke says as he hands me Jack. “Get him
down.”

I help Jack down from the showers. He’s coughing and hurt,
but alive.

I help Jack move away from the cabin, into the snow. I want
to get him to the woods, but they are still far away. Suddenly, I hear the
unmistakable click of a gun.

“Turn around slowly,” someone says. “Hands in the air.”

 I turn to see a boy pointing a shaking gun at me.

“What color is your token?” he asks.

I hold my hands up and step in front of Jack.

“We’re turquoise,” I say. “See my jacket.”

“What about him?” the kid gestures with his gun toward
Jack.

“Same as me,” I say. I glare at the kid, willing him to go
away, refusing to move. I am defenseless against a gun.

The kid steps around me to get a better look at Jack.

“He’s wearing green pajamas,” the kid raises his gun. “You
lied to me. I’ll kill you both if you don’t duck.”

“You can only kill one,” I step cautiously toward the boy.
“If you kill me, you’ll have to kill more. I know you don’t want to.”

“I want to kill him,” the boy says with a wavering gun.

“I won’t let you do it,” I say, making sure to keep myself
in between him and Jack.

“Fine,” the boy says. He raises his gun and aims it at my
head.

“Aria, no,” Jack says behind me.

I hear footsteps and turn my head slightly to see Jack
staggering away. The boy aims his gun at Jack and pulls the trigger. The gun
flies back in the kid’s hands and Jack lurches forward at the same time.

Jack takes a few more steps and falls to his knees. In the
dim moonlight, I can see the bright red blood pool in the wound in the center
of his back. The kid raises his gun for another shot. I can’t let Jack die.

I scream as I run toward Jack, bracing myself for my own
bullet in the back. I take five long strides to Jack and catch him as he
crumbles to the ground.

I hear Burke’s voice and turn to see Burke wrestle the gun away
from the boy. I pull Jack into my arms and tell him that we are safe. He moves
his lips, but no words come out.

Burke aims the gun at the boy.

The boy drops to his knees and raises his shaking hands.

“You can’t kill me,” the boy says. “Or you’ll be a
murderer.” He points to Jack. “He’s my token kill. Emerald replaces turquoise.
I’ll go kill an old lady and then I am done.”

The boy starts sobbing and runs away.

Burke lowers the gun.

“Do something,” I scream. “Shoot him. He shot Jack.”

Jack’s blood is pooling on my pants. I can feel the warmth.
His breathing is weak, but he is still alive.

“I can’t,” Burke says. He watches the kid run away. “He was
one of the graduates. I’ll be sent to control if I do anything.”

“Then help me with Jack,” I shriek. I feel him fading in my
arms.

Burke comes to my side and picks Jack up.

“You have to be quiet, Aria,” Burke says. “There are
others. We are both targets. I have to get Jack to the infirmary. It’s not safe
for you. Get to the woods with the rest of your team. Be with them. They need
you more than I do.”

“I can’t leave you,” I say. “You’ll need my help.”

“You did your part,” Burke says. “You are worth more alive.
Now go.”

He runs off toward campus carrying Jack in his arms. I am
stuck alone in the dark covered with Jack’s blood. It doesn’t feel real to me. I
want to scream. I want to cry. I want someone to tell me this was just another
inclination test.

Another masked figure approaches me. This time I know it’s
my brother. I don’t move. Ice grows in my veins. My brother is a part of the
raid that injured Jack. If Jack dies, I’ll never be able to forgive Sebastian.

Sebastian stops in front of me and catches his breath.

“Aria, I’m so glad I found you,” he says.

Sebastian sees the blood all over me and grabs my arm.

“Your blood?” he asks. His voice is desperate.

“No,” I say.

I rip my arm out of his grasp and back away from him.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Sebastian says. “We were
just going to torch the campus. Not the cabins. No kills, they told me. The end
of Kill School. That’s what they said.”

A group of kids with torches jogs toward us. Sebastian
steps in front of me and waves them on.

“She’s mine,” he says.

Once they are out of sight, he turns towards me with such
fierceness that I almost fall to the ground.

“Get out of here,” he says. “Or you’ll be dead.”

Sebastian runs off before I can tell him what a big jerk he
is.

“Wait until I tell Viviane,” I yell after him even though I
know he can’t hear me.

Suddenly, a figure runs toward me.

I hear a swish by my ear and see a knife slide through the
snow. I pick it up and almost trip as a gun sounds behind me. A puff of snow
explodes on the ground near me. Someone is shooting at me.

I am a target.

Before I can get to any knife, someone tackles me to the
ground.

A girl flips me over and crams her knees into my shoulder.
She’s sitting on top of my sore ribs, making it almost impossible to breath.

She takes off her mask.

“I want you to see my face,” she says.

I recognize her. The senior that trapped me in the caldron.
The senior that graduated a few short days ago. Snatch sits on top of me. 

“Don’t struggle,” she says. “I have to do this.”

Snatch pins my shoulders to the ground with her knees and
pulls out a long dagger.

“I am turquoise,” she says. “And I get to terminate you.”

She hesitates. I can tell she really doesn’t want to do it.
Her hesitation is all I need. I press my knees against my chest and flip my
legs around her shoulder.

Her knife goes flying. She rolls away from me.

We both crawl after the knife.

I grab her ankle, but it’s too late. She reaches the knife
and swings it at me, slashing at my fingers.

I dig out my switchblade just as she lunges at me again.
This time, I end up on top of her. I stick the point of my knife under her
chin. She is helpless. I could kill her by a short shove of the blade.

I am not a murderer.

I push her away and knee her in the gut in the process. She
jumps to her feet and looks like she’s going to lunge at me again.

A helicopter shines its bright light down on us.

“You are not going to kill me today,” I say.

“I still can,” Snatch says.

Instead of lunging at me, Snatch runs away. She could have
killed me. She could have legally tried right in front of the helicopter. I
sink to the ground, grateful that I am still alive.

Swarms
of helicopters hover all around camp, shining their lights in the woods, on the
cabins, and across campus. They must have come from the Northern Outpost,
arriving here so fast. Some of the copters land on the ground and uniformed
troops disembark. The raid is over.

I want to collapse on the ground in a ball of tears. I want
to run away into the woods and never come back. All around me, I hear cries of
pain and shouts of anguish. The raid is over but the suffering has just begun.

A voice comes over the loudspeaker telling us to report to
the auditorium. I cannot move. I do not want to face anyone, to see the horror
in his or her eyes. Death is everywhere. I can smell burning corpses in the air
and see the blood on the snow. I have to walk. I have to get the others. I have
to find out if Jack survived.

I turn to go back in the woods, to go to Burke’s private
spot across the stream. The others are supposed to be there. They must know
it’s over. I have to get them.

A dozen guards march in a row out of the woods. I have
never seen the Regulator’s guards up close. Their uniforms are slick and their facemasks
impenetrable. I don’t know if they are male or female. They march toward me
with their guns slightly raised as if I’ve done something wrong.