The Academie (33 page)

“
Should we leave the
IV?”

“
I don’t know. I guess so,
for now.”

We began slowly pulling tapes from
Stevie’s body, starting with her arms. We left those in the more
intimate areas for her to remove herself.

Her body felt warm. But unlike a
person at rest, Stevie never stirred or turned. In fact, her
breathing was so shallow that several times I put my hand by her
face just to feel the air coming in and out and make sure she
really was still with us.

When we finished with Stevie, we
looked around. “We may as well continue,” Ruby said.

I agreed and we moved on to the next
bed over. It was another young woman, but one that I didn’t
recognize.

“
I think her name is
Sara,” Ruby said. “She’s in my English class.”

The next person down was a
guy. “Sam.” I said. He was in Algebra with me.
The one who answered the problem for me the day I passed out
in class,
I remembered.

It felt strange to me, being in such
intimate contact with people I hardly knew. I glanced at Ruby
periodically, to see how she was doing. She seemed oddly
comfortable, like it suited her. “Maybe you should be a doctor?” I
said finally. “Dr. Ruby Stanford.”

“
Yeah, maybe.” She
continued working with careful, considerate movements.

When we finished the row we were on,
we moved to the next.

We were about halfway down the third
row, when we heard movement.

I glanced around the room, but the
bodies lay still.

That’s when we heard the
footsteps.

I ducked under the table and Ruby
followed my lead.

The door flew open.

Several sets of footsteps followed—too
many to be Matt and Dr. Rupert.

The footsteps moved around the
room.

I looked frantically at Ruby, who held
her finger to her mouth—a reminder to keep quiet that I didn’t
require.

The footsteps continued and from my
place under the table I could see black shoes attached to black
pants.

“
You can come out now
girls,” a man’s voice said.

I didn’t recognize it.

Ruby and I stayed put.

I watched the shoes move closer. There
was nowhere for us to hide.

“
They’re over here,” the
voice said.

I looked up to see a man in uniform
standing before us, and a gun pointed right at me.

49.
the arrest

“
Allie Thompson and Ruby
Stanford, you are under arrest for failure to complete The Academie
program, public disruption, and an attempt to encourage others to
leave The Academie program before completion.”

I felt sick. Then I thought of Bryan.
Somewhere, this could be happening to him too at this very
moment.

Ruby began to stand, and I followed
her lead.

Then the door opened again.

“
It’s not their fault,”
Dr. Rupert said. “It’s mine.

The gun was still pointed at me, but
the officer turned his head.

“
My research led me to
ethical dilemmas with the program,” Rupert explained, “and I helped
the girls escape. And him too,” he said, motioning to Matt who was
standing behind him. “The young people are innocent. It’s me you
want to arrest.”

Another man in a lab coat walked into
the room. “Yes, well, before you arrest him, first I need Dr.
Rupert’s assistance getting these students back into the program,”
the man said. This one was shorter, younger—forties perhaps—with
dark hair that he had to keep brushing from his eyes.

“
I’m not going back in
there,” I said.

“
Then you will go to
jail,” the officer by the door—who apparently was the head of this
brigade—said.

I considered the
possibility.

Then I heard movement from around me.
The bodies on the tables were beginning to stir.

“
They’re waking up,” I
said. “Lots of them.”

“
All of them,” Dr. Rupert
said.

The short lab man brushed the hair
from his eyes. “Rupert, what have you done?”

Rupert smiled. “It’s over
Jones.”

Metal squeaks and tired yawns came
from around the room as students began to rouse and
stir.

“
You can’t arrest us all,”
I said defiantly.

“
Allie?”
Stevie’s voice came from across the
room.

I moved to help her.

“
Don’t move, Thompson!”
The officer still had his gun on me.

“
Shoot me,” I
said.

“
I’m here, Stevie,” I
said, hurrying to her side. “It’s okay.”

I glanced back to see that the officer
had lowered his gun. Ruby ran to join me at Stevie’s
side.

“
Where am I?”
Stevie looked bewildered, as expected.

Ruby helped her pull off the wires
taped to her hands and back. “It’s going to be okay.”

“
Where
are we?” someone asked across the room.

“
What’s with the cops?”
another asked.

“
What are these
wires?”
a girl started to freak and Ruby
ran to calm her. Others began to wake and scream as panic spread
through the room.

“
EVERYONE, LISTEN!” I
yelled above the ruckus.

“
Allie,” Dr. Rupert
interrupted. He looked at me intently. “Think about what you
say.”

I stood there for a moment, shocked by
his response. I had expected to be stopped, but by the police, not
by him.

“
Think about what they
have been through,” Rupert said. “They had lunch and a nap. They
have been
dreaming
.”

To my right, Ruby continued to try to
console the first panicked girl, but she seemed freaked beyond
consolation. I began to catch on to what Rupert was suggesting.
These students may not have brain damage from the system, but how
we handle this now could determine whether or not they end up with
emotional damage.

“
Because we were living in
a closed environment,” I said loudly to my schoolmates—now thinking
on my feet, “we all knew that a contagion was always a
possibility.”

“
It’s the reason they gave
us shots when we entered The Academie and when we had visitors,”
Ruby said, helping out.

“
Yes,” I said, nodding to
her, appreciative for the support. “But unfortunately, a virus was
still able to get into the system. And it spread
quickly.”

Across the room, someone
gasped.

“
It’s alright,” I said.
“You have each been treated, which is why you are here. You are
fine.”

I hated having to lie,
after being lied to for so long, but it seemed in their best
interest.
Is this how The Academie
started?

I looked to Dr. Rupert, and he nodded
in agreement.

“
Now that you are well,” I
added, “you will be sent home.”

“
Home?” a guy near me
asked.

“
Yes.” I looked at the
police officers, expecting them to stop me, but they said nothing,
so I continued. “The Academie will need to be closed indefinitely
while the contagion is purged from the system and safety protocols
are put into place to assure that this does not happen
again.”

Ruby smiled.

I felt good.

“
After you have removed
the tapes and wires from your body—which you can do carefully
now—and the IV from your hand, please be careful getting up.” The
room became noisy as they began to sit up, and I struggled to raise
my voice over the sound. “Your body will need a few minutes to
re-establish its equilibrium, and your legs will need time to
adjust as well.”

“
Once you are up, if you
could carefully make your way to door,” Rupert added, “I will lead
you to where you can find your clothes.”

The lead officer glared at Rupert, but
allowed him to proceed.

I watched as students around us slowly
made their way from the gurneys to the door, and Ruby glided around
the room to tend to those in need. Again, I followed her
lead.

When the last student was up and in
line at the door, Rupert led them out.

Ruby, Matt, and I followed.

“
Expect a visit from us
later today,” the lead officer said to me, “—for
questioning.”

I nodded and glanced at his name badge
as I passed: Barnes.

Barnes followed us out the door. It
made me uncomfortable, but I knew—at least for now—we were
free.

And as a free person, the first thing
I intended to do was to find Bryan.

Later, Rupert would be booked for all
the crimes Ruby and I had been accused of. And like all things with
The Academie, my emotions felt torn: I felt a debt of gratitude to
the man for helping us escape, and yet I knew that he had helped to
put us in The Academie in the first place.

But now he had helped us. And as Shara
had taught me, this moment—and who we are now—is all that really
matters.

a
cknowledgments

I can’t say a big enough thank you to my amazing
writer husband, Christian James. Without him—for advice,
encouragement, and inspiration—this book would never have come to
be. Thank you to my editors, Christian, Karen, and Michael, without
whom I would be quite embarrassed, and to Marie, Kristen, Julie,
and Angie, who suffered through various versions of the first
chapter and offered honest feedback and suggestions. Thank you also
to Ms. Schoolcraft for being a good sport in sharing her name
(she’s actually quite sweet). And last but not least, thank you to
all my friends and family who encouraged me, especially my
parents—who, I am thankful to say, are nothing like Allie’s.

.

about the author

Amy Joy teaches college writing and
enjoys travelling, making up silly songs, petting bees, and doing
things people say she can’t. Someday she may even learn to
fence.

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