As we dive back into the Core’s buildings, I can see that here the fights seem to be even worse. Masks are being swamped with people, and, as I feared, they’re shooting. As Arden and I run past an intersection, I catch a glimpse of a guy falling to his knees, his pained yell echoing off the walls. I stop in my tracks, backing up. But by the time I’m back at the intersection, he’s lying face-down on the floor, a dark puddle quickly spreading around his chest, and the Mask who shot him is long gone.
I choke back a sob, holding my hand over my mouth. That’s one of us. An innocent boy who only wanted to be free. Look what you’ve done, my mind snarls at me. If only you had stayed quiet.
I walk toward him, realizing now that this hallway contains more bodies than just his. There must be almost ten. Propped up against walls, lying on their backs, twisted into gruesome positions as they fell. I slump onto my knees in front of the guy I just saw fall. His eyes are open, his body still warm.
Arden puts a hand on my shoulder. “He’s gone, Arthemis. You can’t do anything for him anymore.”
“But--” I start, but I really have nothing to say. Tears well up in my eyes and the strong smell of his blood washes over me.
“You can’t save everyone,” Arden says softly.
He’s right. I’m just a girl who happened to have more resolve than others. Those who decided to fight back did it on their own terms, knowing the consequences. I can’t save everyone, but I really wish I could.
I get to my feet and follow Arden out of the hall littered with bodies. I don’t look back, because I know the longer I look at them, the more fuel I’ll be adding to the nightmares that will inevitably come tonight.
If I manage to sleep.
After a while, Arden doesn’t know which way to go. He doesn’t know the halls as well as I do, and so he lets me lead. But he slows down when we pass a hall lined with rooms, and veers off to one end.
“We can’t stop!” I yell at him. “You said it yourself: we can’t save everyone.”
He ignores me and pushes open a door in the hall, going inside. I heave a frustrated sigh and go in after him.
Inside the room, the red lights and sprinklers aren’t present. But the loud alarms still are, and I can barely hear anything that Arden says. The room feels constricting. I want to get out.
Arden’s not talking to me, anyway. He’s yelling someone’s name, opening the closet doors, turning the beds over and looking underneath them.
“Whoever you’re looking for isn’t here!” I yell over the alarms.
He reaches that conclusion about the same time as I do, looking panicked. “Where is he then!”
“Arden?” someone yells. “Is that you?”
I turn around, pressing my hands against my ears, to find a guy standing behind us. He’s leaning heavily against the doorframe and looks hurt somewhere. He sees me, almond-shaped eyes darting over me, before he pushes his black hair out of his face and hobbles into the room, heading for Arden.
“It’s me,” Arden replies, catching the guy as he almost plummets to the ground. “Why aren’t you outside?”
“I was looking for you,” he says, then explodes into a fit of coughing. His face is pale; too pale. He looks like he’s about to pass out.
“Angelo, you need to go outside!” Arden says. “This building’s going to burn up any minute now!”
“Then you need to come with me! You can’t stay behind.”
“Of course I’m coming. That would be crazy to stay in a burning building.”
“No,” Angelo wheezes, coughing some more. “No, I mean you need to come with the rest of us. To a better place. We’re going to get rid of this place and go live somewhere better.”
Arden stumbles a little, Angelo doing nothing to hold his own weight. “I know that. I am.”
The boy smiles. “Then they can fix my lungs and they can fix your behaviour and then we can live a good life again. Without having to go through all of this.”
Arden’s face falls. “You’re going with the Masks?”
He pushes himself onto his feet, teetering back and forth. “You’re not?”
The two stand there for a moment, looking at each other. Neither seems to know what to say.
“I warned them about the fire,” Angelo says hoarsely. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. I thought you would be on my side, since you warned me!”
Arden shakes his head sadly. “I can’t live like this. I can’t.”
“And I can’t live the way you can, Arden. As much as I wish I could.” Angelo explodes into another fit of coughing, gripping his chest and folding over. When he recovers, he looks back up at Arden. “My lungs are getting worse. If I go with you, I won’t survive. I want to live, and this is the only way I can. I’m sorry.”
A Mask appears at the door and I yank out one of my knives as quickly as I can, aiming at her. But one of her gloved hands shoots out before I can hit her, and she gently pushes it down.
“Don’t, Arthemis,” Captain says gently. “I’m not here to fight you.”
Angelo turns to her. “They’re not coming. I tried to explain it to them.”
“Don’t bother,” she replies. “They’ve chosen their way, we’ve chosen ours.”
“Captain, you can still come with us, though!” I say to her. “Just because you’re a Mask doesn’t mean you can’t come! Everyone should have a choice.”
She shakes her head. “How do you think I would be treated if I were to go with you? I’ve hurt too many people, and I’ve contributed to the Masks’ reputation. Even you keeping that mask on makes you a target right now.”
Angry, I rip the mask off, showing Captain my face. “You think I don’t know that? They’ve ruined my face, they’ve ruined my friendships, they’ve ruined my life. But I’m still choosing this way. And you can too. Come with us, both of you.”
She shakes her head again, and Angelo joins her. “I’m sorry. It won’t work out.”
“Until we meet again, I guess,” Angelo says.
And then they’re gone.
Arden lets out an angry yell and hurls the first thing he touches at the wall -- which happens to be a glass vase. It shatters, sending shards everywhere, and Arden storms out of the room. I follow him, managing to guide him in the direction of where this Elliott boy should be, and reattach my mask.
“Arden, come on. They’re gone already. They’ve made their decision.”
He huffs, and we run the rest of the way.
YOU ARE READING
The Normals | ✓
Science FictionWhen Arden stumbles across a half-conscious, bloodied girl at his local train station, he doesn't know what to think. But once she tells him what happened to her, he gains a whole new perception of his world. Arden lives in pretty much the perfect s...
