18. AFTERMATH
ADAM:
I STAYED AT HOME AND TOOK IT EASY FOR THE REST OF the weekend. The house was a lot calmer with PJ away on his visit to the Fox Valley State University. He would be graduating from high school soon and college was naturally the next step for him. His grades were not the best, but he had recently posted near perfect scores on the SAT and ACT. He never really seemed that interested in college, but I suppose he knew that college was the only way that he could make it out of the crappy life that we had.
I figured he must have been having a blast because, by the time I left for school on Monday, he still had not yet returned.
The idea of him going off to college and leaving me alone with our family brought on a sense of dread as I got off the school bus and headed toward the cafeteria. He and I had grown apart as we got older, but I still loved him. It was still nice having him around. It was hard not to feel depressed as I thought about living at home with just my mother and my pitiful excuse of a father.
Howie and Jason were already seated and conversing as I approached our table at breakfast. They both stopped talking as soon as they noticed me. This seemed odd to me but I didn’t mention it.
“Morning guys,” I said. I didn’t look Jason in the eyes. I was hoping that he wasn’t upset about how I treated him at 3D on Friday.
“Good morning, Adam. Are you feeling any better?” Jason asked. I was glad that he seemed sincerely concerned instead of upset. I could always count on him when I needed him. That’s why Howie and I called him “Ace.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Look, I’m sorry about the other night, bro. I was having a rough couple of days and I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
“It’s cool, brother. We all have our bad days,” Jason responded.
“Yeah, but we don’t all take them out on our friends,” I replied, still feeling guilty.
“It’s not a big deal, Reaper. Trust me, I would let you know if it was,” he said reassuringly.
“Thank you,” I said. “So what were you guys talking about just now?”
Jason and Howie exchanged peculiar glances.
“What’s going on, Howie?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Have you heard the news about Fox Valley State?” he asked.
“No I haven’t. My brother visited Fox Valley State this weekend, but I haven’t heard anything about it being on the news. He must be having a blast, too, because he still hasn’t come home.”
“Are you serious?!” Howie asked, almost shouting. His eyes were suddenly wide with fear as he waited for me to reply.
“Yeah, I’m serious. Why? What happened at Fox Valley State?” I demanded as I tried to slow my heart rate. I could tell by the looks on their faces that something was horribly wrong. They sat in silence and looked at each other as if debating over whether or not they should tell me.
“Dammit, tell me what happened!” I shouted, slamming my fists onto the table. I was too distracted to notice the stares of the students at the surrounding tables or the cracks that my fists had left in our table.
“Adam, Fox Valley State was attacked Saturday afternoon-” Howie started.
“What do you mean, attacked?” I interrupted.
“There was an event for prospective students held in the Fox Valley State gym on Saturday. A group of domestic terrorists called The Strangers placed chains on the main exits and threw explosives into the crowd. As the surviving students stormed toward the only exits left unchained, The Strangers were waiting for them with assault rifles.”
I could barely breathe. My heart pounded in my chest so violently that I could hear it echoing inside of my head. PJ was at that college on Saturday and now he was missing. I couldn’t help but expect the worst.
“How many?” I demanded.
Howie stared at me for a moment without responding. I could tell that he was bothered by the look in my eyes. I could feel the adrenaline pouring into my system as I contemplated the fate of my brother. If PJ was dead, I was going to find out who was responsible and make them pay.
“The numbers aren’t final, but the death toll was over 200 as of this morning. A lot of the bodies are in pieces, some of them are missing all together,” Howie said.
“What do you mean, missing?” I asked.
“Some of the students are missing but they can’t find the bodies. The police think the gunmen either kidnapped some of the students or killed them in the gym and dumped their bodies elsewhere. In all honesty, the latter is the more likely of the two.”
I suddenly stood and stormed out of the cafeteria. Howie glanced oddly at Jason before hurrying after me.
OUTSIDE, HOWIE SCURRIED AFTER ME AS FAST AS HE COULD. “Adam, wait!” Howie shouted. “Adam!”
I ignored him and continued onward. He finally caught up to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. I could have kept walking and dragged him along for the ride, but I knew that he didn’t deserve that. No matter how furious and terrified I was at the time, I couldn’t do that to my best friend.
“What do you want, Howie?” I asked as I stopped and faced him.
Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead as he tried desperately to catch his breath.
“Where are you going, Adam?” he asked between gasps.
“Fox Valley State,” I said flatly.
“Adam, that’s not a good idea. The gunmen are long gone. Fox Valley State is a dead end. You’ll just be putting yourself within the scope of the investigation.”
“If they killed him-”
“We don’t know if he’s dead, Adam. We have to let this thing play out, at least until we have more information.”
“That’s easy for you to say! You’re not the one whose brother is possibly in pieces right now!” I shouted.
“I know this is hard, Adam, but you have to listen to me! We have to wait until we have more concrete information. If you rush into this thing blindly, you not only stand to jeopardize your secret, but you could also be putting yourself into real danger. PJ may not be my brother, but you are. And I’ll do anything I can to keep you safe.”
We both fell silent. As much as I hated to admit it, Howie was right.
“I want to know who’s responsible for this,” I said finally.
“They’re called The Strangers. I’ve heard of them before. They appear to be led by a guy who’s calling himself The Suspect. I’ll get you all the information I have on them later today. If they killed your brother, I promise you that I will do everything I can to help you take them down,” he said as he handed me his backpack full of food. “Take this. You’ll need it.”
There was something about Howie’s tone that bothered me. His eagerness to help was genuine, but I couldn’t help but notice that there also seemed to be a hint of excitement in his voice. As I made my way to class, something about the entire ordeal was bothering me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
19. VICTORIA