Kill School: Slice (11 page)

“You think Wassillie is going to get a Regulator?” I ask.

Demi lowers her eyes at me. “Really?” She shakes her head.
“The Regulators don’t care about Mr. Wassillie. Burke has more power than he
does.”

“What?” I ask, confused. How could a camp counselor have
more power than the camp leader?

“Never mind,” Demi says as Burke walks back over to us.
“Tell you later.”

Burke introduces us to the others with him. Vladimir
Korchev, I already know. However, what I didn’t know is he’s going to bring us
on the ice. Skating. I get to learn how to skate. The next teacher, a lean
woman who is missing an arm below her elbow, is a hunter and the third a
bespectacled man with thin lips is a biologist.

Burke sits back down with us after the teachers leave. He
picks at his plate.

“Lost your appetite,” I ask.

He ignores me.

“Cat got your tongue?” I ask. I prod his shoulder with my
finger.

“Quit it,” he says.

“You’re playing with fire,” Demi whispers. She makes a
clawing motion with her fingers.

“Grumpy,” I say.

I don’t bother Burke anymore. Demi turns to Shah and is
busy flirting with him, so I finish my chicken in silence. Once we are finished
with dinner, we all trek back to our cabins. Everyone is in a lighter mood,
having become more familiar with one another over dinner. Even Erwin seems to
have mellowed out, goofing around with his friends in a snowball fight. The
only one still in a somber mood is Burke.

We enter our cabin to find boxes of clothes on all of our
bunks. Burke murmurs something about our uniforms and retreats to his bunk,
closing his curtain immediately. Vanessa joins Demi and me on our top bunks
while we look through the clothes.

“How am I going to wear this?” Demi asks, pulling out a
turquoise tracksuit. “A little bit of turquoise is alright, but a whole
outfit?”

“How did they get the size right?” Vanessa holds up her own
tracksuit.

“Forms.” I gesture toward the table. “Remember. Height.
Weight. Shoe size.”

“Speaking of shoes,” Demi pulls out running shoes. “At
least these only have a colored stripe.”

“Shut up,” a boy hollers from across the table. “I’m trying
to get some sleep. You girls are so obnoxious.”

“I’m glad we have some kind of barrier,” Vanessa says. “I’m
going down.” She smiles and climbs down the ladder, into her bottom bunk.

“We better change and get some sleep,” Demi says, pulling
out a set of fuzzy turquoise pajamas.

Demi leaves my bunk and goes to hers, closing the curtain
behind her. I catch a glimpse of Shah, on his bottom bunk, watching her as she moves.
If only my love life were that interesting. I’ve only had one or two
boyfriends, and none was as handsome or charismatic as Shah. Or Burke. I glance
over toward his bunk, shrouded in red velvet curtains.

Sometime
in the middle of the night, I wake to the sound of snoring, and not just from
one person. A choir of snores. I’ve slept in the same room as a boy before.
When I was young, and too scared to be alone, I would crawl into bed with my
brother and listen to his breathing. This is different. These boys—everyone
here in this cabin—this is the last night we will sleep as innocents. Tomorrow,
and the next day, and the one after that, we will learn to be murderers. We
will leave Kill School ready to claim our victims.

I blink away tears as I think of my own room with its wide
window overlooking the backyard and the swing set my brother and I used to play
on when we were young. Here, there is no swing set and no playground, only
training camp. My childhood feels like a distant memory, one that may have
never existed at all.

I can’t cry. I get to learn how to skate. I get to meet
many new kids. I get to be free. I can leave the house whenever I want and stay
out all night, just like Sebastian. My lips quiver when I remember what takes
him out at night. Youth are riotous and merciful.

I try to let the rhythmic snoring lull me back to sleep. Muffled
sobs and fragmented breathing mix with the snoring. I am not the only one
awake. Rustling from the lower birth makes me peer out of my curtain. Vanessa
emerges from her bunk and softly walks around the table. She kneels in front of
Mateo’s bunk and whispers into the curtain. They exchange hugs and she crawls
into the bunk with him.

How I wish I had someone by my side, not a lover but a
friend like Vanessa and Mateo.

Without warning, the door to the cabin opens and in walks a
figure cloaked in a long robe and hood covering his face. Three other hooded
figures follow him into the cabin as he turns on the lights.

“Good morning recruits,” the cloaked figure says. “It’s
time for your initiation.”

I grit my teeth and consider squeezing through the window,
but it doesn’t open. Where’s Burke? He should be taking care of this, unless it
is part of training. Either way, whatever they are going to do to us isn’t
going to be nice. I can tell by the way two of the robed thugs walk down the
row of beds and rip open the curtains.

A girl rips open my curtains.

“Get up,” she says.

The girl grabs me by the ankle and pulls. Instinctively, I
kick her in the face with my other foot. She pulls out a small baton and whacks
me in the shin.

“Recruits don’t fight back,” she says.

The girl moves on to Demi’s bunk and does the same thing to
her. Demi slides to the ground with little resistance. Soon, all ten girls and
all ten boys stand in front of their bunks, except for Vanessa who stands next
to Mateo. Burke’s curtains are open and there is no sign of him. He’s deserted
us on the first night. Demi scoots closer to me so that our shoulders are
touching.

“My name is Chopstix,” the first thug says.

A few of the kids giggle. Chopstix shuts the closest one up
with a crack on the elbow.

“These are my helpers, Dwindle, Micro, and Snatch.”

More kids giggle. Chopstix hits frame of the cabin with his
wooden baton. As if he doesn’t know his gang’s names are stupid. I bet he chose
their names just so he can get angry at us.

“Laugh now,” Chopstix says. “Get it out of your system, for
you won’t be laughing much longer.”

He dumps a bag of galoshes on the narrow table. “Galoshes.
We’re going for a walk and don’t want your toes to freeze. We can be nice if
you are.”

No one makes a move for the footwear. We are all too puzzled,
scared, and not used to strangers pushing us around.

“Why don’t you show your face,” I blurt out. I usually
don’t draw attention to myself, but my shin hurts and it makes me angry.

 The one called Snatch walks over to me with her baton held
high. I’m not going to let her hit me again. I duck under the table and end up
standing behind Shah. Snatch tilts her cloaked head and sends the baton into
Demi’s stomach. I retch as Demi cries out in pain.

In two strides, Shah is over the table and has Snatch in a
vise grip. “You’re messing with the wrong recruits,” Shah says. He pulls off
Snatch’s hood and sticks the baton under her chin. “See who she is? A nobody
just like us.”

For the first time, I am relieved that the camp leader sent
the toughest and roughest boys our way. Snatch, on the other hand, looks
terrified that Shah has revealed her identity.

Chopstix drops his baton and pulls out a knife. “We’re not
messing with you. You must comply or die. For real.”

Chopstix pulls the closest boy to his chest and sticks the
knife under his chin. Blood pools at the place where the knife touches the boy’s
skin.

“I graduate on Friday. If you make me kill this little
recruit, I won’t be able to graduate and you’ll be stuck with me for weeks.”

“You kill him, you’re going to control,” Demi says.

I do not want to see another murder. If I only had my mom’s
pocketknife in my hand, I’d poke the mask wearing scaredy-cat in the balls. Forget
that, I’ll just use my foot and kick him. No, I won’t.

Some of the kids pick out galoshes. Others follow. Finally,
Demi walks to the pile and picks out her pair. Shah relents, and releases
Snatch, who quickly covers her face with her hood. I won’t forget her face.
Soft and brown with high cheekbones and a dimple on her chin. I grab my own
pair of galoshes and soon we all stand in a row, ready to follow them anywhere.

Out in the dark, cold air, I look for Burke around campus.
Streetlights highlight the path back to campus and down to the dining hall. Not
another person is anywhere in sight. I wonder why they chose our cabin to
initiate and not any of the others.

“Move it,” Chopstix says.

There are twenty of us and only four of them. We could
easily take them, but we don’t. We walk in twos and threes to some unknown
destination. Maybe we don’t attack because we think this is part of the
process. Maybe we think this walk is better than dying. Shah, Demi, and the
others are watchful, ever aware of the hooded figures around us. We are not a
team. We are scattered. An incohesive unit. Next week, things might be
different, but for now, we are all individuals walking alone in a group.

Chopstix prods us off the path and across the snow to a low
hill. The temperature has fallen to an unbearable degree. My feet are cold,
although the galoshes protect them from the wet snow. My lips are numb. I hear
teeth chattering.

We keep walking in the dark, huddling close together to try
to keep warm. I step on the heels of the person in front of me and someone does
the same to me behind me. No one apologizes. No one speaks. With every step, we
become closer together.

Chopstix brings us to a wooden door on the side of the hill.
“Welcome to the chamber pot.” He opens the door. “This is the first and last
stop. Not so bad. All you have to do is walk through it.”

  A pungent smell reaches my nose and I cover my mouth. One
by one, the kids walk through the door into the side of the hill. Shah, Demi,
Vanessa, Mateo, and I stick together at the end of the group. Dwindle, Micro,
and Snatch prod us along with their batons. Chopstix holds a remaining victim
at knifepoint just in case we change our mind.

I cross over the threshold into the darkness with Demi at
my back and Vanessa at my front. With only the moonlight shining through the
door, I see a narrow passage with dirt walls and a wood frame. It reminds me of
a mining exhibit my mom took me to when I was young. People used to crawl
around underground looking for valuable things such as coal. Sixteen kids are
ahead of me and three are behind me. The hot air is already thick with the
smell of sweat.

“Move forward,” a boy yells out. “We’re getting squished
back here.”

I turn, one last time to the moonlit door, to see Chopstix
close it in Shah’s face. Darkness engulfs us to the shrill sound of panic. The
voices get louder and softer and louder again in waves of fear and anxiety. I
feel a finger grab ahold of my pants loop.

“It’s me,” Demi says. “I can’t see a thing in this creepy
place.”

“Move,” shouts Shah. “We need to get out of here as soon as
possible.”

He’s right. It’s already getting harder to breath.

I follow Vanessa’s warm body ahead of me slowly, touching
the dirt walls for balance. I try to keep my breathing slow and steady because
the air is heavy and thick. I don’t want to lose my breath and suffocate.

We pass a wooden frame holding up the walls and ceiling,
and then two more. The tunnel keeps going. People moan, whimper, and gasp for
air. The tunnel turns and winds endlessly. Shah coaxes us forward with reassuring
words. I am grateful for the warmth, but fear I may never be the same again.

“When is this going to stop?” Mateo asks.

Suddenly, someone screams in front of the line. More
screams come from those who follow. I have no idea what’s going on. Is an
underground monster attacking them? The screams come from farther and farther
away, as if the kids ahead of us are being propelled forward. Vanessa, ahead of
me, falls to the ground. I try to help her up, but I slip, too. The ground is
giving way under our feet.

“Hang on, Demi,” I say.

Demi, Vanessa, and I fall to the ground and slide down the
tunnel on our backs. I join the screams as our speed increases. Demi’s feet are
coming down on my head, mine on Vanessa’s head.

Tree roots smack me in the face and tear my clothes as I go
down. The tunnel turns and the walls become smooth. We’re in an old Vactube. I
feel relief. The tube has to go somewhere. I cross my arms across my chest and
hope for a smooth landing.

Seconds later, I land with a thump on top of a pile of kids
at the bottom of a pit. Demi comes down on top of me, and a few more thumps
follow. I am bruised. My nightshirt is ripped. I taste blood in my mouth. I am
alive.

“Is everyone alright?” a girl asks.

Moonlight comes from a hole on top of the pit. I glance
around at the dirty faces. Most of us are standing. Other kids help those who
aren’t up to his or her feet. The ground is flat. No monsters. Air enough for
all of us to breath. Some initiation.  

“How do we get out of here?” Demi asks. I can see her
profile in the faint light above us.

A beam of light shines in my face. “Sorry,” Mateo says.
“Flashlight.”

“Give that to me,” Erwin says.

“Not a chance,” Shah says. He grabs Erwin by the
shirtsleeve. “Mateo, shine it on the walls. All around us. We have to get out
of here. Fast.”

Shah’s urgency makes me nervous. We are stuck, but we are
safe. Mateo highlights our pit. Metal rings circle the wall up to the top. The
pit is about fifteen feet high with an opening at the very top that leads
outside. Hence, the moonlight.

“Shah, what’s wrong?” Demi sounds on edge.

“I think I know where we are,” Shah says slowly, as if he’s
still figuring it out. “My father works for the city. Underground maintenance
crew.”

“So, where are we?” Demi asks.

“Can I see the light?” Shah asks.

Mateo hands Shah the flashlight.

He highlights the tunnel leading to the surface. It looks
old and roots have grown through it, but there are metal rods attached to the
side that could be used as a ladder.

“It’s an old heating duct,” Shah says. “Hopefully one that
is not in use anymore. The caldron fills with water and the metal rods around
the bowl heat it to boiling. Steam emerges from the chimney.”

“Great, we are going to be boiled alive,” Aisha says.

“We can climb out,” I say more bravely than I feel. “If we
can reach the top.”

“Pyramid,” a boy says. “Just like in gym class.”

“It’s getting hot in here,” Priyanka says.

“And wet,” a boy says.

They’re both right. Water pools around our ankles and the
metal rings on the wall begin to glow.

“Crap,” Shah says. “It’s active or someone has just made it
so.”

“Hurry,” I say. “Mateo, Shah, on the ground. You too,
Erwin.”

To my surprise, all three boys and a couple more follow my
directions. Demi, Vanessa, and a few more kids make a second layer. I help the
remaining kids scramble up the two layers of people. The first girl reaches the
top and is able to pull herself up the ladder. We cheer and shout for her to
get help as she reaches the top. The moonlight silhouettes her body and then
she disappears. I hope that Chopstix isn’t waiting for us up top.

The last of the third layer makes it up the chimney, only
the first and second layer are left.

 “Come on, Aria,” Demi says. “Your turn.”

“You think I’m going to leave you down here?” I ask. “You
go.”

“Quit arguing,” Shah says. He glances at me. “Get out of
here, Demi.”

“What about the rest of us?” Erwin asks. He breaks the
pyramid. “How do we get out?”