Harsh Realm

Prologue

"The kid was alright but it went to his head" - Fame < Infamy, Fall Out Boy

Prologue

"Rounding the corner now, sir."

"Approach with caution, team. We don't want to set off a loose cannon," the police SRU captain communicated to his team through their earpieces.

"You got it, captain," A member of the team said in response.

"Make sure the subject is brought in ALIVE."

"We're closing in on the subject now," The team leader murmured into his mouthpiece as he slowly opened the classroom door with one hand, his gun in the other. He motioned to his teams members that they'd enter the room on the count of three. They nodded their heads in confirmation.

"One... Two... Three," He whispered, gently throwing the door open, so as not to startle the student barricaded inside. They all slowly enter the room behind the team leader, approaching the student who had his back turned to them, sitting in one of the desks, staring straight ahead at the blank whiteboard.

"Put your hands above your head!" A female team member shouted. All guns were focused on him as he sluggishly raised his hands above his head, standing up from the chair, still facing forward.

"Turn around," She commanded. He gradually turned towards them, a crazed look in his bloodshot eyes.

"Are you going to arrest me?" The boy chuckled. A deranged expression written all over his face.

"Yes. You'll be going to jail for a very long time, kid," The team leader explained.

"Careful," The captain warned into all of their earpieces as the boy rolled his eyes.

"Big shocker there."

"It'll be a shock to your parents," the female officer said, "when they find out what you did. Have you thought about that?" The boy moved his eyes from their previous fixation on nothing in particular over to the woman. His eyes were glazed with tears, the realization finally hitting him. "Did you think about how this would affect them? And your family? The families of all those other kids?"

"Will you tell them something for me?" He requested.

"You can tell them yourself, in prison." He violently shook his head, tears leaving his red rimmed eyes, rolling down his flushed cheeks. His hands were barely above his head, faltering slightly.

"Tell them I'm sorry." He quickly turned around and grabbed a gun that was sitting on the table directly behind him, pointing it toward the people before him.

"Shots fired! I repeat, shots fired!" The team leader yelled into his mouthpiece.

"What's going on over there?" The captain demanded.

"He pulled a gun on us, we had no choice but to fire, sir!"

"Do you have the subject now?" He blared angrily, making the entire team wince at the loudness coming from their earpieces.

"N-no, sir," The female mumbled, as another team member went over to where the boy laid on the floor, checking his pulse.

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"The subject is... dead."