Do or Die

The smoke filled the room so much I could hardly see. I ran for the drawer and grabbed both of the eye necklaces. Man, I had never been happier to see those stupid-looking eyes. I made my way to the door; the boy followed. I knew we weren't out of the woods yet.

About 20 minutes before all of this, I was in Mrs. Shelly's office. "I love the girl with all my heart, but I think it's time to stop all of this. Sweet pea, I'm going to get you two out of here," she said. I looked at Mrs. Shelly with a puzzled face. "Why would you want to help me? I thought this was the whole reason you even brought me here." Mrs. Shelly quickly replied, "We brought you here because we saw what you did to those pigs. We thought we owed it to you to bring you in, you know, take care of you. I was completely in the dark about imprisoning you."

I continued to question her, "What about Finlo? He said you all attacked him and brought him here." Mrs. Shelly continued, "Sweetie, I'm just the nurse around here. I'm in the dark about most things that go on around here that aren't medicine-related. I heard about that boy, though. The twins would go on and on about the things they did to him. It was...it was terrible. I never wanted it to be like this. The people who carry that necklace are terrible people here, but he's only a kid. Not even he deserved that. When it came to you, I truly was in the dark. Sara must have found out about that necklace. I felt it on you when we brought you in, but I kept it quiet. I didn't want you to have to go through what that boy did."

I looked down at the ground, feeling immense remorse for Finlo. I could only imagine what other terrible things had happened to him. "How could you people be okay with going through with a plan like that?" Mrs. Shelly looked at me with a sorrowful expression. "Because it gave us hope... we haven't had much of it in a long time, at least as long as I can remember... Sara puts on a smile, but she's nowhere near the joyful girl she used to be."

Once again, I could see myself in Sara. Mrs. Shelly continued, "When we found out we had an eye, I jumped at the bit to get everything we could out of him. For one, getting answers meant bringing life back to normal. For two, a part of me wanted to make that boy...a part of me wanted to make that boy suffer." Mrs. Shelly's eyes began to water. "Can you believe that I wanted a child to suffer? I've lived my entire life helping kids, and here I was, eager to torture answers out of him, even if I didn't do it myself." Mrs. Shelly began to cry. "I guess the apocalypse really can change you. One of those eyes killed my husband, my fiancé anyway. Ever since then, I've wanted to make them pay, but what I saw in that room, the black eye on that boy's face, Sara hitting you... I just, I can't justify saving the world if it means doing it like this, not anymore."

I looked Mrs. Shelly in the eye. "Thank you." Mrs. Shelly was quick to respond, "Don't you thank me yet, girly. No reason to just yet, but before I help you go through with this, I need you to promise me something..." I looked up at Mrs. Shelly and nodded my head. "Before our boys got to him, I saw that boy use his eye out in the courtyard that night they attacked him. It came out of thin air. I know these eyes are secretive about their ways, probably so that power doesn't get in the hands of someone like Kreel... but when you get out of here, if he doesn't want to tell us, make sure both of you can execute Sara's plan."

I looked at her and asked, "How much time do we have?" Mrs. Shelly responded, "According to Sara, a little over an hour. The idea was that we could kill Kreel during the invasion in the past while his forces were away. Normally, it's said they protect more vulnerable versions of him. They also have the eye, so for someone like Sara, this window was... crucial." I looked down at the ground, feeling the pressure of the situation. She continued, "But... for someone like you and that boy, maybe you could hold your own against his forces. This gives you well...all the time in the world." I would have corrected her from assuming I was talented with the eye and told her that I really had as much experience as Sara did, but eh, I'm a sucker for affirmation. I smiled at Mrs. Shelly, "You've got yourself a deal."

It was at this moment that I realized I had been smiling a significant amount lately, more than I did back home, which was weird considering the circumstances. Mrs. Shelly began to back away from me. "I'm going to get the boy and make sure he's good, then I'll go over the plan with both of you." Moments later, she entered the room with the boy. His youthful expression had returned. He sat down next to me on the bed as the nurse checked him. When she was done, she began to lay out the plan.

She walked to a drawer behind her and pulled out a miniature ball. It couldn't have been larger than a pebble. It was dark, very dark, almost obsidian. She sat down and held the ball in front of me, if you can even call it that. "This here is a pop rock. We got it off one of those pigs. Don't let its size fool you. The second one of these hits the floor, all hell breaks loose, trust me. Loud hell. You're both going to need earplugs, or your hearing will suffer tremendously. Take my word for it. I've gotten at least three kids in my office every month complaining. I guess that's the downside of having kids steal these things."

She continued as she looked at me, "Anyway, I'm going to leave it up to you to decide when this thing hits the floor. It's going to give you the perfect diversion to get your necklaces back and hit the door. If they're like anything else we've taken from prisoners, she keeps them in the top drawer right behind her desk in the far right corner of the room. The exit is just down the hall. If you run straight, you won't miss it. Once you're out, you'll be followed, just run for the forest. You should be able to lose them there..."

Finlo and I both shook our heads in understanding. "I'll give you two of the last sets of earplugs I have..." She handed us two miniature earplugs small enough not to be noticed, but effective enough to work. "Just go in there, act like you're ready to tell her, then when you're ready, drop it." With that, the lady sent us off. Before letting me leave, she gave me a hug. "Remember what you promised me, girly." The boy and I headed back to Sara's office.

The entire walk there, a sense of nervousness dwelled in my mind, a warm feeling of anxiety twisted my stomach. What I was about to do, there was no going back from it. It was do or die. We entered the office. Sara looked much more collected than when we had left. She sat in her office chair upright this time, her legs off the desk. The twins were up against the wall across the room. There were two chairs in front of her desk. I guess we didn't have to be on our knees anymore. The boy and I sat down.

I tried my best to listen to Sara through the earplugs. For the most part, I read her lips and went off by the little sound I could hear. "Look, we're running out of time. Can we please just put everything behind us and figure this out? I- I don't know what got into me. Let's just please- can you just please tell me how to work that eye?"

I didn't know what else to say. My mind was riddled with how I was going to pull off getting me, Finlo, and those necklaces out of here. Finlo was the same. I began to move my arm as far back behind the chair as I could without it being too noticeable. I felt my heart drop into my stomach as I did this. I knew it had to be now. I impulsively released the pop rock onto the ground as I did. I dropped to the floor and dragged the boy down, bringing him to the floor with me. BAM!!!

The atmosphere of the room had completely changed. I opened my eyes to see the smoky cloud that filled the room. As I got up i saw

Sara was on the floor under her desk, holding her ears. She appeared to be temporarily deafened by the explosion, the twins in a similar state. The smoke filled the room so much I could hardly see. I ran for the drawer and grabbed both of the eye necklaces. Man, I had never been happier to see those stupid-looking eyes. I made my way to the door; the boy followed. I knew we weren't out of the woods just yet.

We ran into the hallway and began to dash down the halls. I couldn't hear much, but I saw the alarms along the walls of the school ringing. Kids ran out of the classrooms nearby, running as well, creating a scene of pandemonium in the hallway. I could see the exit. I began to run harder. Just as I was about halfway there, I was met with four more henchmen in football uniforms, each holding a rifle. I couldn't hear much, but I knew this was bad news. I froze in fear.

In what seemed like a flash, the boy ripped his necklace out of the clutches of my hands and placed it on his neck. What he did next will live on in my head forever. He put his pointer finger and thumb on both hands along the shape of the eye necklace. He closed his eyes as the eye began to glow a turquoise color. Behind the men, a portal began to form. Out of this portal came a swarm of Union soldiers from the Civil War, equipped with muskets. They began to fire at the henchmen, who turned to fight back.

Through the distraction, Finlo and I were able to make our way out of hallway keeping our heads down for stray bullets as we did. We ran out of the exit of the school to be met with a large field full of grass. Behind that field was a row of trees. Finlo and I made a run for it. As we ran, I felt gunshots on the ground. I didn't look back, but I assumed it was reinforcements. I kept my eyes on the forest, running until I could no longer feel the gunshots on the ground beneath me.