Another story that I'm putting here while in progress. Dystopian. In the future but not so far into the future that I would categorize it as sci-fi.
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“Nia, did you get it?”
What the heck was a boy doing in the dorm?
“Nia, wake up. Did you get it?!” He hissed quietly.
Geez, what was in the koolaid at dinner last night? I didn’t even change into night clothes. I didn’t even take my freaking shoes off apparently. I know this day was supposed to start differently. What is going on?
I heard, “Forget her man. She’s too drugged up.”
“I am not drugged up,” I slurred. “At least not … I don’t think …” I leaned over the bed railing and saw about three-quarter of the beds were empty. “What’s … what’s going on?” I asked Noah, the guy that had just been shaking me awake.
“Nia, listen carefully,” he repeated slowly and carefully. “Did you get the shot?”
“No,” I answered, sure of at least that much. “I’m allergic to the thermal stabilizer it’s grown in. It’s in my records. That’s how I’ve been getting out of it. Now what’s going on? Why do all the rest of the girls in the dorm look like we had a party we didn’t have and where is everyone else and what the heck are you doing on this side?!”
“Quiet,” he ordered. I listened because he was the alpha of our “family.” “Is your stuff ready to go?”
Brain fog was lifting, and stuff was starting to fall into place. I sat up so fast my head nearly hit the ceiling but I caught myself in time. Other people hadn’t over the years and there were dents and cracks up there that had been poorly repaired and painted over. I was shaky but was able to come down the ladder from my fourth level bunk after Noah dropped down like an oversized jungle cat. He was just as quiet too and before my feet hit the floor he lifted me off the ladder and had me backed against it.
“You swear that place is where you say it is?” he said, getting in my face and shaking me a little. I knew why he was doing it. That didn’t mean I appreciated it.
Pulling my act together I answered, “It was there three years ago just like I told you. The summer camp facilities are probably a little worse for wear, but it will still be there and will hold everyone. I re-checked the records on Sunday when staff were out of the library. The lawyers still have it tied up and the developers that wanted it have gone bankrupt, and pulled out of the lawsuit. Now it is just the environmental whack jobs, and they can’t touch anything right now because they got busted for some other crap they were doing over in Charlotte and are tied up in the new case defending themselves.” I was feeling crowded and Noah had my arm a little too tight. “Please back up. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not Trina. I will not let you down.”
He looked uncomfortable just long enough for me to know my point was made but it didn’t stop him from crowding me though he did let go of my arm. “Where’s your stuff?”
I reached over towards the thumb ID lock on the cubby hole that I’d been assigned, and he moved out of the way a little. The cubby was an old gym locker. Instead of solid “walls” it was covered in flat, openwork grating painted some bilious shade of gray-green. The thumb ID lock only gave the illusion of having some privacy and security for your stuff. I’d learned the hard way to keep all my belongings inside my state-issued backpack or risk it being pulled out through the grating an item at a time. That’s how I lost most of my socks and underwear and my gym clothes the first week I’d been reassigned to this facility. But as bad luck as that was, it gave me the chance to apply for, and start working, a couple of hours before and after school because the feds operating this facility believed in us kids, at least the high school population, learning to support ourselves. They say they believe it builds character and prevents you from being more of a burden on society than you are inevitably going to be. They also like it because you have fewer hours to screw around and be a problem. I’d heard they use to have on-site workhouses but that changed when someone sued the Facility System on behalf of all the residents to stop what they termed “slave labor.” One of the few good things to happen for those of us forced to live in the Facility System.
Noah brought me back to the present by asking, “Where’s your coat?”
“I’m wearing it,” I answered referring to the second hand, oversized fleece jersey I had on.
“They never replaced the one Trina stole?”
“No. But I’ve got one at work.”
“Are you fit?” Noah asked with a searching look.
“To take care of business? Yes.” I wanted to ask if that is what we were doing or if this was another drill because plans had changed. But it didn’t feel like a drill, it felt like points were converging, so I kept the question to myself.
Apparently that earned me some brownie points. As he helped me to put my backpack on he noticed how light the pack was compared to normal. “Where are your books?”
“They made me turn them in yesterday for some reason. They probably found something in the textbooks they didn’t like. I’ve got my notebooks and school supplies but that’s it.”
The other boy said, “Good. Less for us to dump before we can get out of here. Noah I know … look, we need to move it. We’ve wasted more time than we should have coming for her. Staff will be here for the next batch any minute. Plus, we need to get to the busses.” I finally placed the voice and would have before if my brain had been firing on all pistons. Froggie’s voice – Noah’s beta, or second in command – was pretty distinct.
Noah turned me to him by grabbing my arm again and told me, “We’ve already lost several of the remaining family. Mostly the fresh and soph girls. Nothing we can do, they went off like lambs to the slaughter when they got promised a trip to the salon for getting their boosters.” I made a face and he nodded. “That means you need to stick close to me until the guys figure out you aren’t a party favor. Some of them were hooked up with those others. Unless that’s what you want.”
The “let-‘em-try-and-then-die” look on my face must have surprised Froggie because he gave Noah a concerned look. Good. The sooner the message was received and believed the better and fewer problems tried. While I did what I could to control the rats’ nest on my head before pulling on a beanie to cover the stupid green dye job Trina and her crew had forced on me two months ago when they’d cornered me at school I said, “I’m low man on the totem pole. I get that. And I get the chain of command. But I bought my way in, I ain’t gonna keep paying just so some guy can get his rocks off. I’ll leave and make it on my own.” That message wasn’t just for Froggie, but he took it that way.
Froggie wanted to be mad, but Noah nodded in agreement before anything else could be said. Out of all of them Noah had seen me fight and knew that I could and would if left no choice. And leave the other person down and bleeding if necessary, as I just walk away with zero remorse. Five years in the system had taught me how to fight dirty whether I’d wanted to learn or not. My first year stole whatever remorse I might have once felt.
None of the others knew me as well as they thought they did because I’d come from a different facility last year. The hair attack wasn’t worth losing my camouflage over, especially as I was under threat of being sent to a hard lockdown juvie facility until I turned eighteen or twenty-one depending on offense if there was any more trouble of the kind I was capable of creating. But I always get my own back and all those skanks had paid in various ways and Noah knew that too. Trina had been his long-time girlfriend until he’d caught her giving family secrets away to the Monitors in exchange for privileges. He’d found out about that from yours truly a month before the hair attack.
When I’d been accepted into the Barbarians, I’d promised to follow the family laws even if it meant ratting out a family member. Any promise I bother making, I bother keeping. That’s my way. But I do keep it my own way. I took what I found to Noah directly, going around Froggie because I already less than trusted him and Froggie didn’t like it. Why bother? First, I didn’t want to be a dead messenger because of the interpersonal crap involved. And second, Froggie gives off vibes that I never cared for, and gossip told me he was Trina’s boyfriend before they broke up and she eventually went with Noah after Froggie started dating some other girl. The other girl is no longer in the picture and there was a story there but all I cared about for now is that it is one less complication I must plan for. What was immediately problematical was a big enough mess.
Trina’s betrayal caused a breach in the Barbarian family. A real schism and not just a small one. She’s been picking us off one by one ever since. There were only a few strong ones left and the other remaining two were standing beside me. Mostly there are weak and weaker members like the stupid freshman and sophomore girls who took the bait all too willingly. Too many had gotten used to what Trina could give them in exchange for “favors.” It was a close thing, nearly destroying the entire Barbarian family before plans of retribution could be made and acted on. But Noah is the strongest alpha I’ve run into since entering the system. Problem as I see it is he is too loyal to those that spout off that they are loyal to him. He doesn’t cover his own back enough, is too willing to take the hit to protect the weaker members. My grandfather would have said, the buck stopped on his desk. The problem was that Trina was attempting social assassination on him and there was someone close willing to do her dirty work.
Froggie should have been covering Noah’s back more, keeping family members in line, and putting a stop to Trina’s crap, but I am pretty sure Froggie is part of the problem. I’m also pretty sure that Froggie’s loyalties are split. Noah set the example and took care of the family and Froggie’s job was to take care of Noah. I didn’t see that it was happening that way however and started making plans of my own with Noah being a big part of them. Mercenary? They’ve called me worse in my mental health records but oh well, like I give a crap what Central and their stupid little minions think of me so long as what they think of me doesn’t interfere with my plans. Froggie? He started being an interference.
Froggie makes too many excuses for Trina. He should have been beating on the disloyal ones instead of making it easy for them to get away and go to the Dark Side. I’ve even heard him suggest to Noah – when they thought they were in private mode – that the Barbarians should blend with Trina’s crew so they at least retain some autonomy, he and Noah could be her lieutenants and then make a play for taking the crew over. Noah gave him a definitive no and told him not to bring it up again. Period. The Barbarians were a family, not a crew, and that was the end of it. That’s when I made my final choice though Noah doesn’t know it. I figured easy enough that Froggie wishes he went with Trina at the split. She is a rarity. A strong female alpha and popular enough that she has drawn a lot of people to her side. She is so good she could be someone only she’s a selfish bitch that only works for herself long term. Short term she acts like she is all good and crap, but she’ll cut her best friend’s throat in public if that is what it takes to get what she wants. Some staff may suspect her real motivations, but for the most part she is treated like today’s It Girl. She has the staff on her side, I mean she’s golden, and turned them against the Barbarians which has caused those of us who remain with Noah unnecessary grief. Me included which I owed her for “bigly” as my dad used to say. And payment was coming due.
That’s when we heard people in the corridor. Froggie looked like he was going to panic but I grabbed Noah’s sleeve and pulled him towards the bathrooms at the end of the room. Froggie balked but I kept moving and Noah with me. Froggie didn’t have any choice but to follow because if he got caught in the girls’ dorm it was an automatic criminal charge that would send him to juvie, and it would make him a three-striker and those kids go to a federal re-education level facility and most of them wind up with their brains blenderized and only fit for human-testing research along with the rest of the livestock.
I opened and then locked the door with the makeshift and non-regulation bolt after pulling them in to the room covered in tiles of the same bilious green color as the lockers. Geez, they acted like the girls’ bathrooms had cooties. After having to help clean the boys’ bathrooms once as a punishment I knew it was definitely the other way around. I went to the third stall and opened it. Using the toilet tank to climb up to the ceiling I removed the vent panel up there. Instead of having to use the rafters to pull myself up I felt Noah boost me. Once I was up and in I turned to give him a hand but he motioned me to move and he climbed up easily followed just as swiftly by Froggie. Once they were up, I ran a finger across my throat to indicate silence. I put the vent cover back in place and then grabbed a couple of bags that I keep stored up there … hygiene stuff mostly but when I pulled the big knife out of one of the bags Froggie’s eyes got wide and Noah’s brows came down in agitation. Oh well. A girl needs her survival gear. And she sometimes needs to make a point even to family members.
It was dark up there but not bat time dark. Plus, I knew the way and had practiced it enough that I could have found it with zero light. Froggie was small and wiry and followed me easily. Noah was seventeen and despite being in the system his entire life was a big guy. Instead of going down like most would have expected, I took them to a roof hatch that was part of the old fire safety codes. The hatch had been sealed shut when I’d first found it. Needless to say, it wasn’t sealed anymore. We climbed out and wound up between the big HVAC systems on the roof that kept the staff offices comfortable. The units were running so we didn’t need to stay silent but did stay quiet.
Froggie ordered, “Finish the map to the camp. Now.”
I looked at Noah but he was starting to look a little messed up. “Something is wrong with Noah.”
“Nothing is wrong with Noah. He just should have gone when I told him to go.”
“He says when it is time to go. He’s the alpha.”
“Is he? You can only be alpha when you have someone to be the alpha of. He’s supposed to look after people. Ain’t no people that listen to him anymore. And look at him now. The drugs have him messed up like they did you. We could have been on the bus by now, but he just had to go back for your crazy ass. No family member left behind. Crock of shit. There ain’t no family no more.” That’s when he pulled a gun. “You gonna finish this map,” he said pulling out the road map I’d been piecing together for them for the last few months. It was one they found when they’d gone through my personal belongings when they first invited me to join the Barbarians, back when Trina thought I was going to be easy to manipulate and be her stooge.
I was debating how to play the hand before me when Froggie showed he was willing to pop Noah to get what he wanted by putting the muzzle against Noah’s head. I told him, “You’re a jerk.”
“And you’re a dumbass slitch for throwing Trina’s offer in her face.”
“She never made an offer. She told me what I was going to do for her. Well screw her. Even if I do finish this map … oh shut up, she’s stealing my idea so you at least owe me an explanation … how is she planning to get there from here?”
Froggie was a bragger. Ask any girl he is with … and they’ll tell you he doesn’t have near as much to brag about as he thinks. Same characteristic holds in other areas of his life. He gave a proud smile. “You a fool and never have given Trina enough credit. She’s got it all arranged like a real alpha. We’re all getting on one of the school’s busses and we’ll knock out the driver and just keep going. We’ll get there faster than the stupid on-foot plan Noah had. Trina knows stuff and she knows people that can get us more stuff. And some of that stuff is already stashed and waiting for us.
If that was really the plan Trina was dumber than I gave her credit for being. There is a tracker on every student, on the buses, and tracking drones specifically for monitoring student movements. There were holes big enough in that “real alpha” plan to drive a Dispose-All truck through. At that point I didn’t even bother asking what the rest of their plan was because it didn’t matter. They’d sealed their fate. I took the map and pointed to “Camp Recovery” that was already there.
“You’re shitting me,” Froggie griped when he put two and two together and realized everyone had been stupid, including Trina.
Ignoring what I knew he was thinking I played dumb as well and said, “No. It’s been there the entire time.” I didn’t call him some of the names I was thinking because I didn’t want to antagonize him, I just wanted him gone. Time was of the essence.
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Chapter 1
“Nia, did you get it?”
What the heck was a boy doing in the dorm?
“Nia, wake up. Did you get it?!” He hissed quietly.
Geez, what was in the koolaid at dinner last night? I didn’t even change into night clothes. I didn’t even take my freaking shoes off apparently. I know this day was supposed to start differently. What is going on?
I heard, “Forget her man. She’s too drugged up.”
“I am not drugged up,” I slurred. “At least not … I don’t think …” I leaned over the bed railing and saw about three-quarter of the beds were empty. “What’s … what’s going on?” I asked Noah, the guy that had just been shaking me awake.
“Nia, listen carefully,” he repeated slowly and carefully. “Did you get the shot?”
“No,” I answered, sure of at least that much. “I’m allergic to the thermal stabilizer it’s grown in. It’s in my records. That’s how I’ve been getting out of it. Now what’s going on? Why do all the rest of the girls in the dorm look like we had a party we didn’t have and where is everyone else and what the heck are you doing on this side?!”
“Quiet,” he ordered. I listened because he was the alpha of our “family.” “Is your stuff ready to go?”
Brain fog was lifting, and stuff was starting to fall into place. I sat up so fast my head nearly hit the ceiling but I caught myself in time. Other people hadn’t over the years and there were dents and cracks up there that had been poorly repaired and painted over. I was shaky but was able to come down the ladder from my fourth level bunk after Noah dropped down like an oversized jungle cat. He was just as quiet too and before my feet hit the floor he lifted me off the ladder and had me backed against it.
“You swear that place is where you say it is?” he said, getting in my face and shaking me a little. I knew why he was doing it. That didn’t mean I appreciated it.
Pulling my act together I answered, “It was there three years ago just like I told you. The summer camp facilities are probably a little worse for wear, but it will still be there and will hold everyone. I re-checked the records on Sunday when staff were out of the library. The lawyers still have it tied up and the developers that wanted it have gone bankrupt, and pulled out of the lawsuit. Now it is just the environmental whack jobs, and they can’t touch anything right now because they got busted for some other crap they were doing over in Charlotte and are tied up in the new case defending themselves.” I was feeling crowded and Noah had my arm a little too tight. “Please back up. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not Trina. I will not let you down.”
He looked uncomfortable just long enough for me to know my point was made but it didn’t stop him from crowding me though he did let go of my arm. “Where’s your stuff?”
I reached over towards the thumb ID lock on the cubby hole that I’d been assigned, and he moved out of the way a little. The cubby was an old gym locker. Instead of solid “walls” it was covered in flat, openwork grating painted some bilious shade of gray-green. The thumb ID lock only gave the illusion of having some privacy and security for your stuff. I’d learned the hard way to keep all my belongings inside my state-issued backpack or risk it being pulled out through the grating an item at a time. That’s how I lost most of my socks and underwear and my gym clothes the first week I’d been reassigned to this facility. But as bad luck as that was, it gave me the chance to apply for, and start working, a couple of hours before and after school because the feds operating this facility believed in us kids, at least the high school population, learning to support ourselves. They say they believe it builds character and prevents you from being more of a burden on society than you are inevitably going to be. They also like it because you have fewer hours to screw around and be a problem. I’d heard they use to have on-site workhouses but that changed when someone sued the Facility System on behalf of all the residents to stop what they termed “slave labor.” One of the few good things to happen for those of us forced to live in the Facility System.
Noah brought me back to the present by asking, “Where’s your coat?”
“I’m wearing it,” I answered referring to the second hand, oversized fleece jersey I had on.
“They never replaced the one Trina stole?”
“No. But I’ve got one at work.”
“Are you fit?” Noah asked with a searching look.
“To take care of business? Yes.” I wanted to ask if that is what we were doing or if this was another drill because plans had changed. But it didn’t feel like a drill, it felt like points were converging, so I kept the question to myself.
Apparently that earned me some brownie points. As he helped me to put my backpack on he noticed how light the pack was compared to normal. “Where are your books?”
“They made me turn them in yesterday for some reason. They probably found something in the textbooks they didn’t like. I’ve got my notebooks and school supplies but that’s it.”
The other boy said, “Good. Less for us to dump before we can get out of here. Noah I know … look, we need to move it. We’ve wasted more time than we should have coming for her. Staff will be here for the next batch any minute. Plus, we need to get to the busses.” I finally placed the voice and would have before if my brain had been firing on all pistons. Froggie’s voice – Noah’s beta, or second in command – was pretty distinct.
Noah turned me to him by grabbing my arm again and told me, “We’ve already lost several of the remaining family. Mostly the fresh and soph girls. Nothing we can do, they went off like lambs to the slaughter when they got promised a trip to the salon for getting their boosters.” I made a face and he nodded. “That means you need to stick close to me until the guys figure out you aren’t a party favor. Some of them were hooked up with those others. Unless that’s what you want.”
The “let-‘em-try-and-then-die” look on my face must have surprised Froggie because he gave Noah a concerned look. Good. The sooner the message was received and believed the better and fewer problems tried. While I did what I could to control the rats’ nest on my head before pulling on a beanie to cover the stupid green dye job Trina and her crew had forced on me two months ago when they’d cornered me at school I said, “I’m low man on the totem pole. I get that. And I get the chain of command. But I bought my way in, I ain’t gonna keep paying just so some guy can get his rocks off. I’ll leave and make it on my own.” That message wasn’t just for Froggie, but he took it that way.
Froggie wanted to be mad, but Noah nodded in agreement before anything else could be said. Out of all of them Noah had seen me fight and knew that I could and would if left no choice. And leave the other person down and bleeding if necessary, as I just walk away with zero remorse. Five years in the system had taught me how to fight dirty whether I’d wanted to learn or not. My first year stole whatever remorse I might have once felt.
None of the others knew me as well as they thought they did because I’d come from a different facility last year. The hair attack wasn’t worth losing my camouflage over, especially as I was under threat of being sent to a hard lockdown juvie facility until I turned eighteen or twenty-one depending on offense if there was any more trouble of the kind I was capable of creating. But I always get my own back and all those skanks had paid in various ways and Noah knew that too. Trina had been his long-time girlfriend until he’d caught her giving family secrets away to the Monitors in exchange for privileges. He’d found out about that from yours truly a month before the hair attack.
When I’d been accepted into the Barbarians, I’d promised to follow the family laws even if it meant ratting out a family member. Any promise I bother making, I bother keeping. That’s my way. But I do keep it my own way. I took what I found to Noah directly, going around Froggie because I already less than trusted him and Froggie didn’t like it. Why bother? First, I didn’t want to be a dead messenger because of the interpersonal crap involved. And second, Froggie gives off vibes that I never cared for, and gossip told me he was Trina’s boyfriend before they broke up and she eventually went with Noah after Froggie started dating some other girl. The other girl is no longer in the picture and there was a story there but all I cared about for now is that it is one less complication I must plan for. What was immediately problematical was a big enough mess.
Trina’s betrayal caused a breach in the Barbarian family. A real schism and not just a small one. She’s been picking us off one by one ever since. There were only a few strong ones left and the other remaining two were standing beside me. Mostly there are weak and weaker members like the stupid freshman and sophomore girls who took the bait all too willingly. Too many had gotten used to what Trina could give them in exchange for “favors.” It was a close thing, nearly destroying the entire Barbarian family before plans of retribution could be made and acted on. But Noah is the strongest alpha I’ve run into since entering the system. Problem as I see it is he is too loyal to those that spout off that they are loyal to him. He doesn’t cover his own back enough, is too willing to take the hit to protect the weaker members. My grandfather would have said, the buck stopped on his desk. The problem was that Trina was attempting social assassination on him and there was someone close willing to do her dirty work.
Froggie should have been covering Noah’s back more, keeping family members in line, and putting a stop to Trina’s crap, but I am pretty sure Froggie is part of the problem. I’m also pretty sure that Froggie’s loyalties are split. Noah set the example and took care of the family and Froggie’s job was to take care of Noah. I didn’t see that it was happening that way however and started making plans of my own with Noah being a big part of them. Mercenary? They’ve called me worse in my mental health records but oh well, like I give a crap what Central and their stupid little minions think of me so long as what they think of me doesn’t interfere with my plans. Froggie? He started being an interference.
Froggie makes too many excuses for Trina. He should have been beating on the disloyal ones instead of making it easy for them to get away and go to the Dark Side. I’ve even heard him suggest to Noah – when they thought they were in private mode – that the Barbarians should blend with Trina’s crew so they at least retain some autonomy, he and Noah could be her lieutenants and then make a play for taking the crew over. Noah gave him a definitive no and told him not to bring it up again. Period. The Barbarians were a family, not a crew, and that was the end of it. That’s when I made my final choice though Noah doesn’t know it. I figured easy enough that Froggie wishes he went with Trina at the split. She is a rarity. A strong female alpha and popular enough that she has drawn a lot of people to her side. She is so good she could be someone only she’s a selfish bitch that only works for herself long term. Short term she acts like she is all good and crap, but she’ll cut her best friend’s throat in public if that is what it takes to get what she wants. Some staff may suspect her real motivations, but for the most part she is treated like today’s It Girl. She has the staff on her side, I mean she’s golden, and turned them against the Barbarians which has caused those of us who remain with Noah unnecessary grief. Me included which I owed her for “bigly” as my dad used to say. And payment was coming due.
That’s when we heard people in the corridor. Froggie looked like he was going to panic but I grabbed Noah’s sleeve and pulled him towards the bathrooms at the end of the room. Froggie balked but I kept moving and Noah with me. Froggie didn’t have any choice but to follow because if he got caught in the girls’ dorm it was an automatic criminal charge that would send him to juvie, and it would make him a three-striker and those kids go to a federal re-education level facility and most of them wind up with their brains blenderized and only fit for human-testing research along with the rest of the livestock.
I opened and then locked the door with the makeshift and non-regulation bolt after pulling them in to the room covered in tiles of the same bilious green color as the lockers. Geez, they acted like the girls’ bathrooms had cooties. After having to help clean the boys’ bathrooms once as a punishment I knew it was definitely the other way around. I went to the third stall and opened it. Using the toilet tank to climb up to the ceiling I removed the vent panel up there. Instead of having to use the rafters to pull myself up I felt Noah boost me. Once I was up and in I turned to give him a hand but he motioned me to move and he climbed up easily followed just as swiftly by Froggie. Once they were up, I ran a finger across my throat to indicate silence. I put the vent cover back in place and then grabbed a couple of bags that I keep stored up there … hygiene stuff mostly but when I pulled the big knife out of one of the bags Froggie’s eyes got wide and Noah’s brows came down in agitation. Oh well. A girl needs her survival gear. And she sometimes needs to make a point even to family members.
It was dark up there but not bat time dark. Plus, I knew the way and had practiced it enough that I could have found it with zero light. Froggie was small and wiry and followed me easily. Noah was seventeen and despite being in the system his entire life was a big guy. Instead of going down like most would have expected, I took them to a roof hatch that was part of the old fire safety codes. The hatch had been sealed shut when I’d first found it. Needless to say, it wasn’t sealed anymore. We climbed out and wound up between the big HVAC systems on the roof that kept the staff offices comfortable. The units were running so we didn’t need to stay silent but did stay quiet.
Froggie ordered, “Finish the map to the camp. Now.”
I looked at Noah but he was starting to look a little messed up. “Something is wrong with Noah.”
“Nothing is wrong with Noah. He just should have gone when I told him to go.”
“He says when it is time to go. He’s the alpha.”
“Is he? You can only be alpha when you have someone to be the alpha of. He’s supposed to look after people. Ain’t no people that listen to him anymore. And look at him now. The drugs have him messed up like they did you. We could have been on the bus by now, but he just had to go back for your crazy ass. No family member left behind. Crock of shit. There ain’t no family no more.” That’s when he pulled a gun. “You gonna finish this map,” he said pulling out the road map I’d been piecing together for them for the last few months. It was one they found when they’d gone through my personal belongings when they first invited me to join the Barbarians, back when Trina thought I was going to be easy to manipulate and be her stooge.
I was debating how to play the hand before me when Froggie showed he was willing to pop Noah to get what he wanted by putting the muzzle against Noah’s head. I told him, “You’re a jerk.”
“And you’re a dumbass slitch for throwing Trina’s offer in her face.”
“She never made an offer. She told me what I was going to do for her. Well screw her. Even if I do finish this map … oh shut up, she’s stealing my idea so you at least owe me an explanation … how is she planning to get there from here?”
Froggie was a bragger. Ask any girl he is with … and they’ll tell you he doesn’t have near as much to brag about as he thinks. Same characteristic holds in other areas of his life. He gave a proud smile. “You a fool and never have given Trina enough credit. She’s got it all arranged like a real alpha. We’re all getting on one of the school’s busses and we’ll knock out the driver and just keep going. We’ll get there faster than the stupid on-foot plan Noah had. Trina knows stuff and she knows people that can get us more stuff. And some of that stuff is already stashed and waiting for us.
If that was really the plan Trina was dumber than I gave her credit for being. There is a tracker on every student, on the buses, and tracking drones specifically for monitoring student movements. There were holes big enough in that “real alpha” plan to drive a Dispose-All truck through. At that point I didn’t even bother asking what the rest of their plan was because it didn’t matter. They’d sealed their fate. I took the map and pointed to “Camp Recovery” that was already there.
“You’re shitting me,” Froggie griped when he put two and two together and realized everyone had been stupid, including Trina.
Ignoring what I knew he was thinking I played dumb as well and said, “No. It’s been there the entire time.” I didn’t call him some of the names I was thinking because I didn’t want to antagonize him, I just wanted him gone. Time was of the essence.