Page 58 of Cruel (Brutal Academy)

"Hey, Dane." I squinted into the shadows, roughly in the direction I thought he was.

"What?" Dane asked.

"You said Hunter watches too many movies. What about these guys?" They were about as melodramatic as you could get.

Dane grunt-laughed. "Yeah, sounds like they watch too many of them too."

"Get the others down here," an Italian-voice snapped to someone, presumably speaking into his phone. "Last chance to give yourselves up."

"Oh?" Hunter said. "We didn't realise that was an option. Are you saying if we step out of here, you won't kill us?"

"No, but we might consider killing you quicker," Italian-voice said.

"No deal," Lila said. In my ear she whispered, "We need a distraction."

"We could use an exploding teddy bear right about now," I whispered back.

"We have something better," Zachary whispered.

He slipped over to a cupboard at the side of the room and started doing something I couldn't see. It sounded like he was pouring the contents of one bottle into another. That was followed by the sound of fabric ripping.

He held a bottle with a scrap of his T-shirt sleeve hanging out the top, up to the shelf which still burnt slightly. When the fabric ignited, he hurled the bottle out into the corridor.

The glass shattered, sending liquid and glass everywhere. The liquid ignited and exploded in a flash of flame and a bang loud enough to make my ears ring.

One of the attackers screamed in pure agony. He ran past the doorway, his clothes engulfed in flames.

"Ouch," I remarked. "That wouldn't tickle." I didn't want to be impressed with Zachary, but once again, I was. An impromptu explosive was impressive.

The corridor flooded with smoke thick enough to make my eyes sting. A second or two later, the smoke alarms sounded, deafeningly loud. That was followed by the sprinkler system kicking in and spraying us all with a torrent of water.

"This isn't how I like to get wet," Lila said.

"Me either. We need to get out of here," Slade said. "Everyone will know where we are by now."

"Time for the rocket launcher?" Hunter looked hopeful.

"There's a door at the other end of the corridor," Dane said. "We can head down there and wait for the rest of them."

Slade nodded. "Let's do it." He stepped toward the doorway carefully. Peered out. "I can't see anyone." He gestured for us all to move out.

Tina and Angie stepped out into the corridor first, guns raised. A shot rang out, then another. The first took Tina right between the eyes. The second slammed into Angie's chest.

"Fuck." Slade looked stricken as they fell to the floor. He stepped out, aimed and shot off several bullets.

Turns out a grunt of pain sounds the same in an Italian accent. Especially when it comes to an abrupt end.

"Motherfucker." Slade lowered his gun before gesturing again. "Come on."

I helped Lila to her feet and steered her out of the room. Her expression when she looked down at the bodies of the two other women was grim. Slade was going to beat himself up about that, no doubt.

The Italian asshole must have been hiding in another classroom, waiting to see what we'd do. He could just as easily have been killed in Zachary's explosion. The misjudgement was unfortunate, but not Slade's fault. I made a mental note to tell him that later. Whether or not it would make a difference was another thing.

We reached the door at the end of the corridor and ducked down low to wait. All of us had weapons raised, ready. Dane had a gun in each hand, looking like a character from a computer game. Ironic given how quick he was to judge us for watching TV shows and movies.

I never would have picked him for a gamer, but then again I barely knew the guy. He could be a furry for all I know. Probably a dog, or maybe a bilby. That mental image almost made me laugh out loud. Nothing against the lifestyle, I just couldn't really picture Dane doing that.

I tilted my head back and let the sprinkler wash the smoke out of my eyes.

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