Page 32 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
“Where are you? What classroom?!!!”I could feel my heartbeat in my temples as I waited for a reply.
None came.
It was possible Mom had Lucia’s schedule and might be able to tell me where to find her, but she might have a heart attack if she realized I was in here, too.
“C’mon, Lucia,” I hissed under my breath as I shook my phone. I glanced up at Eric, feeling my hope deflate.
What now? Did we canvas the school, knocking on every locked classroom door? That would take forever. Just as despair reached out for my throat, my phone buzzed. I lifted it and read Lucia’s response.
“PE the gym so scared.”
“Do you know where that is?” Eric asked.
“Yes. I used to go here not that long ago.” Since my graduation, they could’ve moved classrooms around, but there was no way they could move the gym.
I quickly typed a response as garbled as hers. “Stay put dont do anything stupid im coming 4u.” I slipped my phone into my back pocket and ignored it when it buzzed with another message.
We were standing at an intersection of two halls. The SWAT team had disappeared, but I didn’t think it would be wise to go in their direction, so I hooked my finger to the right.
“This way,” I said.
We passed several offices, which looked empty. It seemed that maybe some people had been able to escape since they were close to an exit. We rushed to the end of the hall toward a flight of stairs. We climbed them two at a time, slowing down when we reached the top. There, we pulled the door open and peeked out.
“Shit,” I spat under my breath.
Around the bend, I could see someone’s booted feet. From their position, it was clear the person was lying on their stomach. We slunk in that direction, head nervously swiveling from side to side. When we peeked around the corner, I gasped. Several bodies were strewn on the floor, puddles of blood spreading over the beige linoleum floor. The walls and ceiling were riddled with bullet holes and blood splatters. Entire sections of sheetrock were punched in. It looked as if a bomb had gone off.
There wasn’t a single hybrid among the bodies. They were all SWAT team members who had come in with no idea of what they would be facing.
“It was a massacre,” Eric said. “They never stood a chance.
Gingerly, we stepped over the bodies. I tried not to look, tried not to think of their families and all of those who would be mourning their tragic deaths. Eric was less squeamish, squatted next to a couple of men, and took their weapons. He offered me one of their handguns. I took it, aware that the best it could do was buy me a couple of seconds. Though sometimes, that was all you needed to make a difference.
There was a tiny beep that caught our attention. It’d come from the dislodged headgear from one of the fallen men. The beep was followed by a set of orders.
“Use wolfsbane bullets and grenades,”a voice said.“Aim for vital organs. When the hostile goes down...”there was a pause of hesitation, then the rest of the order came in a halting tone,“cut their heads off or they’ll get back up.”
It seemed Damien had gotten the message across loud and clear. I hoped that would be enough to save some lives today.
When we made it to the other side of the hall, we went down another corridor. Huge paw prints stamped in blood stained the floor. Droplets of blood followed the same trajectory. As we went, the drops got smaller, then disappeared. The beasts healed quickly. Too quickly.
“We’re almost there,” I said. Only a few more corridors then—
There was a horrible crashing sound followed by hysterical screams. My heart took a tumble. They were coming from the gym. Without thinking, I ran. Walls and doors blurred by, and I was there in an instant. I skidded to a halt in front of the broken gym doors. They were smashed in as if they’d been pummeled by a gigantic ramrod.
Beyond that point, it was chaos.
Two hybrids stood in the middle of the basketball court, roaring and pawing at the polished floors, tearing huge gashes in the wood. The sound of their bloodcurdling growls mixed with the students’ screams, creating a discordant echo within the hollow space. The students were hiding under a set of bleachers that had been pulled away from the wall. They were huddled together, caged and helpless. The beasts seemed bewildered as if unsure of how to get to them.
“Help the students. I’ll distract the hybrids!” Eric said, startling me. I figured he’d fleeted here since he caught up with me so quickly. “Go!” He urged as I hesitated, then he shifted in a fluid motion, his tawny wolf leaping forward without a care for his own safety.
Shots rang out in the distance.
Witchlights, keep all the children safe.
Doing my best not to let my concern for Eric get in the way, I ran towards the students. When I reached the bleachers from the side, I peered under them. Several pairs of round eyes stared at me in paralyzed horror.
“C’mon,” I hissed. “Let’s get out of here.”
